3/24/2015
Peck Faces Unforgiving Season-Opening Weekend
(Photo by TeeJay Crawford Photography)
TULSA, Okla. – Looking back on a successful Turnpike Challenge at Port City Raceway in 2014 where Justin Peck stood on the podium on night one, the Monrovia, Indiana driver was ecstatic to return to the Tulsa, Oklahoma eighth-mile to take another stab at a feature win with the POWRi National Midget series. However, a weekend marred by being in the wrong place at the wrong time would keep him from accomplishing that feat.
Starting off action on Friday with a mammoth car count of 69 midgets, Peck seemed like he was well on his way to finishing up front, as he logged the sixth-fastest time in hot laps with a 9.72 second circuit. Heat race lineup based off pill draw put him starting sixth in the second of nine heat races. Battling for several laps for the fourth spot, the race eventually ended for Peck with less than two laps left when contact with another car broke a shock, relegating him to a seventh-place scoring.
Forced to run a non-qualifier race, Peck looked like a man on a mission. After starting ninth in the 15-lap race, he moved up seven positions to finish second, transferring him to the rear of one of three qualifier races, where the top seven cars in each would earn a spot in the main event. Firing off 15th in the qualifier, Peck would again move forward quickly, moving to 11th in the first five laps. A torrid three-way battle for the ninth spot broke out, and continued for the next six laps. An incident in front of the trio caused Peck to make slight contact with one of the other cars involved, and the Dura Coat #5x would come to a halt in the second corner with another broken shock, ending the race and the night for the team.
Peck was ready to rebound on night number two; again fast in warm-ups (eighth-quickest with a 9.64 second lap) with 66 midgets signing in for competition. With nine more heat races on tap for the night, Peck’s pill draw slated him to start third in heat race six. With a track surface that had not yet begun to widen out, the Mooresville High School sophomore moved to second, and appeared faster than the leader, but couldn’t find his way around and settled for finishing second, still moving him directly to a qualifier.
Peck’s 20-lap qualifier saw nearly every car working the treacherous cushion that had developed around the top of the speedway. A complete restart after a yellow involving a car starting in front of Peck moved him forward one row, and then he made the move for fourth soon after the restart. The top three had begun to pull away, but Peck’s DRC/Esslinger came charging back, going slider for slider for third for two laps before finally taking control of the position before the checkered flew.
Finishing third would garner the seventh starting spot for the 40-lap main event. Peck was primed for a great finish, but before the first lap was even completed, that task got much harder. Contact in turn three sent him above the cushion and cut down the left front tire, netting seven lost positions by the time Peck was able to gather it in. He continued on with the flat tire for 17 long laps until the first caution flag came out, going a lap down just three laps before the yellow. He brought the car to the pit area to get the tire changed, then returned to the track to restart at the tail. Soon after the restart, several cars, including Peck tangled on the front straightaway when a car in front of them lost power. A third broken shock on the weekend, plus a bent front axle, brought the weekend to a close for the #5x. Summing up the Turnpike Challenge with a brief report, Peck simply said: “Definitely not our weekend… Glad this one is over.”
Peck is next scheduled to compete at Montpelier Motor Speedway’s season opener in Montpelier, Indiana on April 4.
Peck would like to thank Dura Coat Products, Factory Kahne Indy, Simpson Race Products, Lucas Oil, Keizer Wheels, Hoosier Tire, Saldana Racing Products, Brownsburg Pit Stop, and Spider Graphix, as well as his parents, Joe Devin, Carl Thomas, Rich Gabel, Jon Steed, Mike Gass, Zack Burks, and all of his fans for their continued support.
Quick Results
March 20 – Tulsa, OK– Midget – Heat: 7th (6); Non-Qualifier 1: 2nd (9); Qualifier 1: 15th (15)
March 21 – Tulsa, OK –Midget – Heat: 2nd (3); Qualifier 1: 3rd (7); Feature: 19th (7)
2015 Stats
4 races, 2 features, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top ten, 1 DNFs
Social Media
Website: http://www.justinpeckracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.racing.9
Twitter: http://twitter.com/justin_peck5
Instagram: http://instagram.com/justin_peck5
Article Credit: Redbeard Promotions
