Sellers keeping faith that opportunities soon to come

After spending years of grassroots racing, 24-year-old Peyton Sellers feared he might be on his way to home-track lifer status with no chance of advancement.

The Virginia native had more than paid his dues in NASCAR's development series, winning a Late Model championship and races in both the sport's East and West touring divisions.

Still, Sellers finds himself with no guaranteed plan for the 2009 season despite winning the season-ending race in the NASCAR Camping World Series East last weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway.

Howie Hodge/NASCAR

Peyton Sellers won last weekend at Stafford Motor Speedway.

"It was a good race for us," said Sellers, driver of the No. 44 Chevrolet for Andy Santerre Motorsports. "We led 42 laps of the 150. Unfortunately, [Ted] Christopher had been leaking fluid and grease covered my windshield, he checked up after Brian Ickler spun on the restart with eight laps to go and I got into him. I hated it for him."

Nevertheless, the win secured Sellers a starting spot in the postseason NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown in January at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.

The win could also secure him a ticket out of the development ranks and into a permanent livelihood in one of NASCAR's three national touring divisions.

Sellers has been given a handful of opportunities although only one possessed any real potential. That was with Richard Childress Racing in 2006. He was a paid development driver and ran a full season of Camping World Series West with Bill McAnally where he was named rookie of the year. Sellers finished fifth in the final point standings.

"We had hopes of moving to a Nationwide car the following year, but in November [Richard Childress Racing] said they didn't have the funding and that I was free to look elsewhere," Sellers said. "I thought my career was set. It was very disappointing and that was that."

But that wasn't that.

With the help of his brother H.C. Sellers and father Burt Sellers, the young racer launched a family-run team, built cars from bare chassis, and ran a full season of Camping World Series East the following year.

He finished third in the final point standings and qualified for the Toyota All-Star Showdown, where he finished second of 40 cars in the 250-lap event. (Continued)