DRESDEN, Ohio — Round six of Cometic Gasket Ohio Sprint Speedweek presented by Hercules Tires did not disappoint on Thursday evening at Muskingum County Speedway, as Justin Peck and Spencer Bayston battled for victory over the final four circuits of the 25-lap event.
Forced to utilize a last-ditch effort slider in the final corner, Peck’s FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory bumped his season total to three. Snapping a recent dry spell, the Muskingum triumph, a $6,000 accomplishment, resulted in Peck’s first visit to victory lane since Sharon Speedway’s Buckeye Cup in early May.
“Hats off to Spencer. That was fun,” said the driver of the Buch Motorsports No. 13 sprint car. “Hats off to these guys. We’ve been struggling for a couple of weeks now, but to finally figure things out is pretty awesome. It wasn’t all on their end. I needed to figure some stuff out on my end, as well. To be a winner during Speedweek is pretty special. Growing up wanting to be a sprint car driver, you dream of having the chance to race Speedweek. So to get a win is pretty cool.”
Forced to start the race, officially, in single-file formation, a decision made by the officials after four consecutive double-file cautions, including a red flag incident, halted action, Bayston earned the initial jump, getting the best of polesitter Cale Conley.
Bayston and Conley battled hard for the first three circuits with Bayston finally earning some separation on lap four. Meanwhile, Peck, who started fourth on the grid, battled his way to second by lap six, getting by Tyler Courtney and Cale Conely in consecutive fashion to secure the position. A caution on lap nine would halt the field one last time.
Although Bayston and Peck would run one-two through lap 21, action did not hit high gear until lap 20, as Bayston found himself trapped behind a wall of lapped cars. The roaming roadblock forced Bayston to check up which allowed Peck to pull even with the Mike McGhee and Associates No. 11 the following circuit.
Lap 22 is when Peck made his move, sliding by Bayston at the exit of turn four to lead the lap. Despite the rapid change, Bayston refused to give up, keeping Peck within a car length during the next two trips through traffic.
The final lap would see Bayston pull even with Peck through turns one and two, ultimately powering by the Buch Motorsports entry down the backstretch. In return, Peck dove to the bottom of turn three, slid across the nose of Bayston, then kissed the turn four cushion, all before beating the Lebanon, Indiana-native in a drag race back to the checkers.
“I felt like we had a stellar car all night long. I just felt really, really good,” Bayston said. “These Sam McGhee Motorsports guys did a fantastic job all night and they made my job a lot easier.”
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 13-Justin Peck[4]; 2. 11-Spencer Bayston[2]; 3. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[3]; 4. 16-DJ Foos[5]; 5. 3C-Cale Conley[1]; 6. 4-Cap Henry[13]; 7. 17B-Bill Balog[9]; 8. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[23]; 9. 22H-Jac Haudenschild[16]; 10. 25R-Jordan Ryan[15]; 11. 28-Tim Shaffer[20]; 12. 48-Danny Dietrich[19]; 13. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[10]; 14. 1-Nate Dussel[17]; 15. 5-Paul McMahan[8]; 16. 21BP-Brinton Marvel[7]; 17. 18T-Tanner Holmes[24]; 18. W20-Greg Wilson[18]; 19. 10-Zeb Wise[6]; 20. 26-Cory Eliason[11]; 21. 49X-Cale Thomas[21]; 22. 70M-Henry Malcuit[12]; 23. (DNF) 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[22]; 24. (DNF) 24-Rico Abreu[14] Lap Leaders: Spencer Bayston (1-21), Justin Peck (22-25)