By T.J. Buffenbarger
BLOOMSBURG, Penn. (August 24, 2022) — Justin Peck kicked off five straight nights of racing for the Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 in victory lane winning the feature event Wednesday at the Bloomsburg Fairground Speedway.
Peck, from Monrovia, Indiana held off multiple challenges from Tyler Courtney while navigating a very technical racing surface for his sixth victory with the series this season and seventh overall during the 2022 season driving for Buch Motorsports.
In the closing stages Peck found a way through slower traffic by taking some unique lines around the racetrack.
“It’s pretty much just a lane and a half there where you can kind of enter in and not be in the rough stuff and you hated to get to lapped traffic because that’s where nobody wants to be,” said Peck of negotiating the track and slower traffic. “You just had to be conservative there, especially down here in one I mean. It was almost like a roller, like you get in and drop and then you’d hit pick it up, and then go back down again. If you could get way out, that was probably the best option, but the longer that race went it just kept getting deeper and deeper. We kind of had to figure out how to get through the holes there on the bottom and kind of go way out and around and slow down and kind of diamond off down here in one and two and in three and four had to to sack up because no matter where you went, you were coming off in a rough stuff, so it was tough.”
Peck took the lead from fellow front row starter Kyle Reinhardt at the start of the 30-lap main event. Dietrich and Reinhardt diced for second as Peck pulled away until a caution with five laps complete slowed five laps into the main event, bringing out the caution flag.
Peck pulled away during the restart as Courtney was able to drive by Dietrich for third position on lap five. On lap 11 Courtney continued his march to the front taking advantage of Reinhardt bouncing up the track in turn four to take the second spot as Peck was overtaking the back of the field.
The caution appeared again on lap 18 when Cole Macedo spun in turn three. Hunter Schuerenberg also slowed with mechanical issues and eventually put him out of the race after pushing off from the caution with mechanical issues.
Peck had a comfortable lead until bouncing up the racetrack with four laps to go, allowing Courtney to close in on his back bumper. Courtney had one more look under Peck in turn one with two laps to go, but Peck was able to put a slower car between himself and Courtney. That was enough to give Peck a comfortable margin at the finish for the victory.
Courtney held on for the runner up position while Anthony Macri moved up to third in his first drive filling in for the injured Parker Price-Miller driving for Sam McGhee Motorsports. Dietrich and Reinhardt rounded out the top five.
Courtney indicated the last car Peck lapped was the key moment in the race for him.
“It was just a matter of getting through at the right time and at the end (Peck) just got cleared that that last guy just in time before I got there,” said Courtney. They were really good all night, obviously, so congrats to him and their whole team. It’s been fun battle with (Peck) all year it’s he’s a tough competitor and makes it fun that’s for sure.”
Peck welcomed the challenging conditions that likened back to the start of his racing career.
“That’s kind of my style right there. That’s kind of what I look forward to, the cowboy up rough stuff. Growing up in Indiana and being a midget guy it’s kind of what you look forward to and seemed like a lot of places I raced at coming up through the ranks was kind of like that,” said Peck. “You kind of had to drive it hard but at the same time slightly technical because you can’t hit the holes the wrong way. If you mess up have to hit it with the back edge of the tire and just kind of roll with that momentum.”
The Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 return to action tomorrow night at Bridgeport Speedway in Bridgeport, New Jersey with a $12,000 to win program.
Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1
Bloomsburg Fairgrounds Speedway
Bloomsburg, Pennsyvlania
Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Dixie Vodka Qualifying
1. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.582[4]
2. 13-Justin Peck, 13.610[6]
3. 11-Anthony Macri, 13.666[7]
4. 19-Chris Windom, 13.749[17]
5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.807[11]
6. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.845[12]
7. 26-Zeb Wise, 13.913[18]
8. 18-Giovanni Scelzi, 13.939[5]
9. 6-Ryan Smith, 13.944[3]
10. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.954[16]
11. 23-Devon Borden, 13.989[14]
12. 55X-Cole Macedo, 14.040[8]
13. 4-Cap Henry, 14.044[15]
14. M1-Mark Smith, 14.128[9]
15. 17B-Bill Balog, 14.132[10]
16. 28F-Davie Franek, 14.265[13]
17. 55M-Domenic Melair, 14.423[1]
18. 33-Derek Hauck, 14.646[19]
19. 17-Jordan Thomas, 16.636[2]
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 26-Zeb Wise[2]
2. 19-Chris Windom[1]
3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[3]
4. 4-Cap Henry[5]
5. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[4]
6. 17-Jordan Thomas[7]
DNS: 28F-Davie Franek
CSI Shocks Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[1]
2. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[2]
3. 23-Devon Borden[3]
4. M1-Mark Smith[5]
5. 13-Justin Peck[4]
6. 55M-Domenic Melair[6]
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 48-Danny Dietrich[1]
2. 6-Ryan Smith[2]
3. 55X-Cole Macedo[3]
4. 17B-Bill Balog[5]
5. 11-Anthony Macri[4]
DNS: 33-Derek Hauck
Elliotts Custom Trailers and Carts Dash (6 Laps)
1. 13-Justin Peck[1]
2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[3]
3. 48-Danny Dietrich[2]
4. 11-Anthony Macri[5]
5. 26-Zeb Wise[4]
6. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[6]
Tezos A-Main (30 Laps)
1. 13-Justin Peck[1]
2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[6]
3. 11-Anthony Macri[4]
4. 48-Danny Dietrich[3]
5. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[2]
6. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[8]
7. 26-Zeb Wise[5]
8. 4-Cap Henry[13]
9. 17B-Bill Balog[15]
10. M1-Mark Smith[14]
11. 19-Chris Windom[7]
12. 6-Ryan Smith[9]
13. 17-Jordan Thomas[18]
14. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg[10]
15. 55X-Cole Macedo[12]
16. 55M-Domenic Melair[16]
17. 28F-Davie Franek[19]
18. 23-Devon Borden[11]
DNS: 33-Derek Hauck
Non-Wing Super Sportsman
Feature:
1. 88-Tony Jackson
2. 14-Eric Jennings
3. 66-Trent Yoder
4. 2A-Brett Perigo
5. 59-Steve Wilbur
6. 1-Paul Kline
7. 55-Matt Cisney
8. 28N-Brian Nace
9. 33-Chad Thomas
10. 9B-Blake Brooks
11. 17-Troy Fraker
12. 57-Ricky Rutt
13. 63-Kevin Gutshall
14. 65-Bob Gutshall
15. 39-Adam Meier