ORRVILLE, Ohio — Persistence and patience certainly paid off for Justin Peck on Monday night at Wayne County Speedway, ultimately cashing in for a $6,000 payday on night four of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires.
Peck, now a three-time winner with the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 in 2022, took command of the 25-lap Duffy Smith Memorial program on lap 15, utilizing a slider through turns one and two to put race-long leader Cory Eliason in his rearview mirror.
It took not only one, but three tries for Peck to take control over the Rudeen Racing No. 26 entry, first attempting a slider on lap 13, then again on lap 14. Needless to say, Peck’s persistence eventually worked in his favor.
“I feel like we’ve always been fast at Wayne County, just could never get the job done,” Peck said. “I think I’ve finished in every position but first, so this is pretty cool. I was praying that the motor would hold because it was starting to get pretty warm. Luckily, it all worked out. I can’t say enough about these Buch Motorsports guys. They bust their tails and it’s paying off.”
Once in control, it was smooth sailing for the ace of the Buch Motorsports/Coastal Race Parts No. 13 entry, even withstanding a last-ditch effort by Cale Thomas, who showed Peck his nose after a lap-21 restart.
“I knew the top was the way to go down in one and two. I saw Cale’s (Thomas) nose there below me, but I knew if I could keep my momentum on the top that he wasn’t going to drive by, or if he did slide me, I would be able to turn back underneath,” Peck added. “I figured my safe bet from that point forward was to just rip the top and keep my wing speed. Cale usually gets around this place pretty good.”
Thomas held on to finish second, followed by All Star points leader Tyler Courtney, round three winner Zeb Wise and Rudeen Racing’s Cory Eliason.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 2. 91T-Cale Thomas [5]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [7]; 4. 10-Zeb Wise [8]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 6. 4-Cap Henry [18]; 7. 48-Danny Dietrich [4]; 8. 3J-Trey Jacobs [20]; 9. 49X-Ian Madsen [11]; 10. 11K-Buddy Kofoid [14]; 11. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [10]; 12. 17B-Bill Balog [13]; 13. 19-Chris Windom [12]; 14. 97-Greg Wilson [24]; 15. 39-Christopher Bell [21]; 16. 11-Parker Price Miller [3]; 17. 70-Henry Malcuit [17]; 18. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [9]; 19. 101-Lachlan McHugh [23]; 20. 17-Carson Short [22]; 21. 99-Skylar Gee [15]; 22. 18-Cole Macedo [6]; 23. 4S-Tyler Street [19]; 24. 8-Zach Ames [16]