(Photo by High Fly’n Photos)
WHEATLAND, Mo. – A POWRi trip to the Show-Me State for a pair of race nights sent Justin Peck on a long journey west from Monrovia, Ind. to two Missouri ovals, seeking his first victory of the season. Running near the front in both events, he was able to bring home third place on Friday at Valley Speedway before a water temperature gauge failure at Lucas Oil Speedway Saturday indicated that the engine was running too hot, with Peck retiring his entry.
35 midgets came out to the Grain Valley, Mo. third-mile track to contend for success in the Jeff Osborn Memorial. Peck proved he was all business in heat race action, rolling out fifth and stealing three spots in the first corner of his heat race en route to a second-place finish.
With a passing point total that was fifth-highest throughout heat races, Peck earned the fifth grid spot for the main event, set for 30 laps. After capturing fourth on the first lap, he would move into third before the first caution with two laps down. On the restart, he would attempt to make a pass for the second position, but couldn’t quite take the spot. Still facing challenges from behind, he would slip to fourth on lap seven. Peck wouldn’t move off the extreme high side of the speedway. A caution just after halfway set up a massive slidejob from Peck into turn three on the ensuing restart, with a feverish battle ensuing for spots two through five. Racing contact would eventually result in Peck moving to the third spot, but the top two were setting sail, leaving Peck to take the final step on the podium. “Wish we could have been up a little closer,” Peck said in his post-race interview on the front stretch. “We probably could have given Tyler [Thomas, the runner-up] and Darren [Hagen, the winner] a little bit of a fight.”
On Saturday, Wheatland, Mo. would host the POWRi series at Lucas Oil Speedway, bringing 27 midgets to the three-eighth-mile facility. Starting seventh in his heat race, Peck again took three spots on the first lap, but would eventually drop one spot to fifth by the checkered.
Still earning the transfer into the feature, Peck would take the green from outside row six. After a lap five caution, Peck would restart in seventh, and earned the sixth spot on the following lap. When the fourth caution emerged near the halfway point, Peck had charged all the way into the fourth position, and appeared primed for another podium finish, if not his first victory of the year. Unfortunately, the Dura Coat Products No. 5x soon came to rest atop turn two, with the temperature gauge reading that the engine was running hot. Unbeknownst to him at the time, the issue wasn’t with overheating, but simply a gauge malfunction. But having in mind that the team only has one engine, Peck wisely took his machine to the pit area. “We were really fast and all it was was a broken gauge. On to next week.”
Peck would like to thank Dura Coat Products, Factory Kahne, Simpson Race Products, Lucas Oil, Keizer Wheels, Hoosier Racing Tire, Saldana Racing Products, Pit Stop BBQ & Grill, Quick Change Products, 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.
Peck is next scheduled to compete on May 8 at Belle-Clair Speedway in Belleville, Ill. with the POWRi National Midget Series in the No. 5x midget entry, and on May 9 at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Ind. in the No. 63 410ci sprint car entry.
Quick Results
May 1 – Grain Valley, MO – Midget – Heat: 2nd (5); Feature: 3rd (5)
May 2 – Wheatland, MO – Midget – Heat: 5th (7); Feature: 15th (12)
2015 Stats
8 races, 7 features, 0 wins, 1 top five, 4 top tens, 3 DNFs
Social Media
Website: http://www.justinpeckracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/justin.racing.9
Twitter: http://twitter.com/justin_peck5
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