By Jacob Hord @HordRaceWatcher Photo Cred: Jacob Hord
It was another beautiful, but blustery day at Attica Raceway Park, where 30 of the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions did battle for their points season opener. Thirty-five 305’s also joined the card for the all sprint car show.
It’s no secret that Justin Peck is one of the hottest drivers in the country right now, collecting two wins in Central PA and a few other strong runs in the Buch No. 13 machine before the All Star season kicked off. Peck looked to be in good form from the get-go Saturday evening, setting the fastest time in hotlaps, and almost setting quicktime in time trials before Ian Madsen laid down an excellent lap. Peck’s qualifying time and heat race finish were good enough to get him into the dash, where he finished third and that’s where he would start the 40-lap feature event.
As the green flag flew, it was Cory Eliason and Zeb Wise who were battling for the lead early. Eliason held the early advantage, but Wise was right on his heels, as Hunter Schuerenberg got by Peck for third. Wise couldn’t find a way by Eliason for the first six laps, but couldn’t make anything work. A yellow flag flew for Cole Macedo, who was having motor issues all night long, which would give Wise a shot at Eliason. On the restart, Wise tried to power around the outside of Eliason, but a yellow for a spinning Cap Henry would slow the field.
Wise knew what he had to do on this restart though, and he took full advantage; driving around the outside of Eliason in turns one and two. Peck also got back by Schuerenberg for third on the restart. By Lap nine, Wise had pulled a 1.565 second lead, and added almost another half-second to it on Lap 10. Wise’s lead over Eliason got up to 2.269 seconds on Lap 12 before Wise started dealing with traffic. Peck was also starting to make himself known to second-running Eliason. Peck would claim the second spot on Lap 15 after a brief battle.
“In the beginning, I could work the middle really well,” said Zeb Wise. “That’s how I got around Cory for the lead.”
A Lap 16 caution got Wise out of heavy traffic and back into clean air, but it put Peck on his rear bumper, and Peck was looking strong. On the restart, Wise gapped Peck by just shy of one second, and that lead grew to 1.628 seconds by the halfway point. Lap 22 is when things got fun. Wise was in traffic once again and Peck was on a charge, closing the gap between the two. Peck tried to take the lead with a slider on Lap 24, but couldn’t get the drive needed, allowing Wise to get a lapped car between them.
“I knew the feature would be hard on tires,” Peck said, “I knew I would have to be a little more conservative tonight and I think that helped me tonight because I was able to save my tire early, fall in line, and take guys when I could get them. It wasn’t my plan to let Zeb jump out as far as he did on that restart, but it just worked out that way and I knew that if I could figure out how to run the top in one and two, we would have a good shot at him in traffic.”
Peck never gave up, and got a huge run down the backstretch on Lap 27 that allowed him to set up a Lap 28 pass for the lead. Peck went around the outside of Wise in turns one and two, and took the lead convincingly.
“Once I got to the lapped cars and saw that they were keeping pace with me, I knew that the bottom was starting to take rubber, so I moved down there, and of course, four or five laps after I moved down there, Justin got around me on the top. I think I was more of a sitting duck than anything. I wanted to move around, but I knew that if I went to the top, Justin would go to the bottom,” said Wise.
With 10 laps to go, Wise was still in striking distance, and Peck was dealing with traffic. Wise may have had a shot at Peck on Lap 33, but Peck was able to put Lucas Wolfe in between him and Wise, and Peck set sail after that.
“I was trying for a few laps [to get by Wolfe], I just wasn’t able to make it happen. It was taking rubber on the bottom of three and four, so I had to really be careful on trying not to be too aggressive,” Peck said. “It worked out that I was able to move up a little bit and get a lapped car between me and Zeb.”
Peck cruised to a 1.315 second win over Wise, Schuerenberg, and Brent Marks who both got by Eliason late. For Peck, it was his third win of the year, and his second career All Star win. That No. 13 machine is winning races no matter where it goes, and by the looks of it, this is just the beginning of a huge year for Peck and Company.
“Our team has a lot of confidence right now,” said the race winner. “Our team is making the right calls when we need to and I feel like I’m doing what I need to do behind the wheel and its just adding to the success. We just have to keep putting ourselves in good positions like tonight- qualify well, and get in the dash. That’s key to winning these things, starting up front.”
Peck added: “The margin for error was very small tonight, you had to be very critical of your lines, and know when to dip and when to dive. It all came together tonight.”
305 Feature: Tell me if you’ve heard this before, but It was the Paul Weaver show once again in the 305 feature. Weaver started third, and passed Chris Verda on Lap two and set his sights on leader Jamie Miller.
It didn’t take long for Weaver. He passed Miller on Lap five and was seemingly on autopilot, until late in the race. With five laps to go, Weaver boasted a 2.374 second lead, but was mired in heavy lapped traffic. Miller started taking big chunks out of Weaver’s lead. Miller had worked his way up to Weaver’s back bumper as they took the white flag, but Miller just ran out of time, falling just .261 seconds short of the win.
For Weaver, it’s his third win to start the season at Attica. Kasey Jedrzejek, Dustin Stroup, and Steve Rando rounded out the top five.
All Star Feature, 40 Laps: 1. Justin Peck, 2. Zeb Wise, 3. Hunter Schuerenberg, 4. Brent Marks, 5. Cory Eliason, 6. Craig Mintz, 7. Tyler Courtney, 8. Ian Madsen, 9. Chris Andrews, 10. DJ Foos, 11. Caleb Griffith, 12. Trey Jacobs, 13. Travis Philo, 14. Cale Conley, 15. Bill Balog, 16. Byron Reed, 17. Brandon Spithaler, 18. Cap Henry, 19. John Ivy, 20. Stuart Brubaker, 21. TJ Michael, 22. Lucas Wolfe, 23. Ricky Peterson, 24. Cole Macedo
305 Feature, 25 Laps: 1. Paul Weaver, 2. Jamie Miller, 3. Kasey Jedrzejek, 4. Dustin Stroup, 5. Steve Rando, 6. Brandon Moore, 7. Chris Verda, 8. Luke Griffith, 9. Larry Kingseed Jr., 10. Zeth Sabo, 11. Jim McGrath Jr., 12. Tyler Shullick, 13. Seth Schneider, 14. Logan Riehl, 15. Mike Keegan, 16. Dylan Troyer, 17. Shawn Valenti, 18. Jerry Dahms, 19. Mike Moore, 20. Kody Brewer, 21. Justin Lusk, 22. Garret Craine.