“Timothy finished sixth in points last season, and that’s not bad,” said DeLoach. “But honestly, we have higher aspirations than that. I like Todd Bodine very much. But next year, we want to be where he is. We hired Butch Hylton to be Timothy Peters’ crewchief because those two guys are really in tune with each other.” DeLoach revealed that driver Justin Lofton and 2010 crewchief Mark Rette have left the team. “It was all very cordial, with no hard feelings,” he said. “Justin is still not sure where he’s going next year, and I think Mark just looked around and decided it was time to go in another direction.” Former RHR Competition Director Rick Gay will replace Rette, serving as crewchief for newcomer Miguel Paludo. “Rick really missed crewchiefing and was ready to go back to it,” said DeLoach. “He worked a couple of races with Miguel last season and they clicked well together, so that’s what we’re going to do.” DeLoach has hired former driver Terry Cook to serve as the team’s new Competition Director, saying, “He’s done a little bit of everything, and he’s great on the interpersonal front.”
In stark contrast to 2010, DeLoach said the team is nearly 100% funded for next season. Paludo will drive a fully sponsored entry backed by Stemco Duraline, while Peters’ Toyota is already sponsored for 21 of the 25 races. “We also have an open slot for a third truck,” revealed DeLoach. “We ran a third truck last year at Daytona, but were unable to find the financing to have it continue. We’re talking to a few people about it and hope to run a three-truck team full-time in 2011.”
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