Sellers Takes 2nd Pole of Season and 2nd Place Finish

Nashville, TN:   Peyton Sellers and Andy Santerre Motorsports went back to the basics this weekend in the seventh race of the NASCAR Camping World East Series at the historic Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tennessee.  Basics, that is, in terms of race preparation and car setup, as well as performance.

Sellers posted the fastest time in the first practice session, but the team was concerned with the longevity of the set-up during the race so they changed the car prior to qualifying.  That decision proved to be the right one as Sellers set the fast time with a lap of 19.508.  It was Sellers’ second Coors Light pole of the season.

The #44 Castle/ EJ Prescott Chevrolet was dominant through the first half of the race, leading the first 77 laps and leaving only 16 cars on the lead lap. 

Sellers, concerned with the handling of the race car pitted under caution on lap 78 to make a minor chassis tweak and take fuel.  Sellers restarted the race in the 12th position and within 10 laps had raced his way back into the top-five.

By lap 99, Sellers was back in the top-three, where he continued to battle through the remainder of the race.  There were 12 lead changes among four drivers during the fast paced event.  The crowd was on its feet several times in the final 20 laps, with three additional cautions, the last one coming with just five laps to go and involving the two leaders.

Sellers was able to avoid trouble and finished a strong second, moving him to 12th place in the standings overall among 63 drivers.

“It was good to get the pole and finish up front again”, said Sellers.  “We’ve just had a run of bad luck lately, but it was good to see the hard work and talent of this entire team show itself again.  We went back to basics – in how we prepare and in how we set the car up.  Sometimes you change things to try to improve performance, but there are some things that just work better the way they were.  We’re really feeling back in the groove again now.”

The series heads to Adirondack International Speedway in Lowville, NY Saturday for The Edge Hotel 150 presented by Casella Waste Systems, one of the team’s major sponsors this season. 

Sellers is also sponsored by Specialty Fertilizer Products, who will return as primary sponsor of the #44 Chevrolet for the Mansfield race on August 23rd.  The team also has a partnership with SkillsUSA, a national non-profit student organization for students entering the skilled trades. 

The race on the 26th in New York will be broadcast live on HDNet and tape delayed on SPEED Channel’s Racing Across America segment.  Check your local listings for full details.