RPW Column: Peter Britten Had A Good Year In 2019, But Is Looking For An Even Better 2020
RPW Column By: BOBBY CHALMERS / RPW – WEEDSPORT, NY – Returning to the role of owner / driver during last off-season, Peter Britten was cautiously optimistic heading into 2019.
The driver affectionately known as ‘Batman’ captured four big feature event victories during the year. Two of them came in his return to weekly competition at the Albany-Saratoga Speedway, while the other two were at his new home on Saturday evenings, the Lebanon Valley Speedway.
It was those wins and several other solid runs at both tracks that helped Britten produce two top five point finishes. However, he was shut out of victory lane on the Super DIRTcar Series and came away with an eighth place points position on the strength of three top 5’s and eight top 10 finishes.
His best run on the tour came at the Autodrome Granby on July 23rd when he finished second to Matt Sheppard after a wheel-to-wheel battle for several circuits.
The 2019 season showed the veteran’s resilience and resourcefulness to produce good, quality finishes with his own equipment, but he feels he could have done better, and should have done better. He wasn’t satisfied.
“To sum it up, 2019 was frustrating,” Britten said. “Everyone wants to get to victory lane, and yea, we did at our weekly tracks, but we didn’t get a checkered flag on the tour. I didn’t set out to finish eighth in points this year, but at the same time, it’s a tough crowd with these guys.”
Britten started out the year with an older Troyer race car, but as the season progressed, he began to improve his equipment. He brought a newer chassis into the stable, and upgraded his engines, but understands that the technology of these cars is always changing.
“There’s a lot going on in Modified racing right now,” he said. “We just need to stay after it and keep working. I need to work on getting better as a driver, keep working with the cars and hopefully we’ll have a better season in 2020.”
While, as of yet, he hasn’t decided where he’ll run weekly this coming season, plans are looking pretty good that you’ll find him back on the road again with the Super DIRTcar Series. He plans to start his North American racing campaign at the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia in February.
However, the five nights of action at the Volusia Speedway Park won’t be his first race of the New Year. Peter is going back to his native Australia to compete in an event that is very near and dear to his heart.
“I’m heading back home after Christmas and I’m going to run my dad’s memorial event,” he said. “The race is on the first of January and I haven’t been able to run it in a few years. It’ll be nice to do it again and I’m excited for that.”
However, the trip won’t be all about racing.
“I’ll get to spend time with family and friends, soak up some sun, sand and maybe even do a little surfing,” he said. “Have to do it before I get back up here to the snow so we can put together the cars and get down to Florida as quick as we can.”
You’d be hard pressed to find a nicer guy in the pit area than Peter Britten. He seems to always have a smile on his face and can always tell you a good story. Even though this past year wasn’t up to his standards, he still had a solid year and odds are he’ll be even stronger when the calendar changes over to 2020.
