Justin Peck Opens All Star Points Title Chase With Spring Nationals Win At Attica Raceway Park

Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – ATTICA, OH – Already a two-time winner this season in Pennsylvania Posse Country aboard Tom Buch’s Coastal Race Parts No. 13, Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck can now officially add another tally in his FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 win column, doing so by opening the 2021 Series points championship with a victory during Attica Raceway Park’s Spring Nationals on Saturday, April 3.

The victory, accompanied by a $6,000 payday, improves Peck’s All Star win total to two over the course of his young career, snapping a near-four year winless streak dating back to his Macon triumph on June 10, 2017.

Lining up third on the All Star main event grid, Peck was a threat from the start, eventually inching his way to second on lap 15, then using a round of slower cars to maneuver by fellow All Star full-timer, Zeb Wise, for the top spot on lap 28. Although traffic was a factor in the remaining distance, Peck held strong, keeping a lapped car between himself and Wise in the final circuits to clinch the trip to victory lane, and ultimately, the All Star championship lead.

“If you would have told me the year was going to begin like this, I would have told you that you were crazy,” an elated Justin Peck said in Attica victory lane. “I can’t say enough about this Tom Buch Motorsports team. My guys continue to give me an outstanding race car every time I hit the race track. We kinda started out the night ‘OK,’ thinking we were no better than a fifth-place race car. But I kept talking to these guys and they kept giving me what I wanted. And here we are standing on the frontstretch.”

Utilizing the pole position, Visalia, California’s Cory Eliason earned the early advantage, taking control on lap one and maintaining the lead through the first five circuits. Although it would keep Eliason out of heavy traffic, a caution on lap six ultimately led to Eliason losing command, as Zeb Wise, who started alongside Eliason on the front row, was able to drive around the Rudeen Racing No. 26 at the exit of turn four to complete the sixth circuit.

Aboard the all-new Wise Priddy Racing No. 10, Zeb Wise was the man in charge for the next several circuits, working the very lowline all the way around Attica Raceway Park. Surviving a single-file restart after another caution on lap 16, Wise and his fellow frontrunners would meet the back of the pack on lap 23, now forced to deal with Peck, who had already climbed to second eight laps prior.

After six laps of battling basically nose to tail, Peck made his move, first setting himself up with a big run through the middle of turns one and two, then diving to the very bottom of three to squeeze by Wise at the exit of turn four. Peck would go on to lead lap 28, maintaining control through the end of the 40-lap contest.

“I just kinda stuck to what I knew how to do,” Peck continued. “I kinda started out just trying to rip around one and two, but it really wasn’t working. So I started to short slide myself and kinda slide my way through it. It really made a difference. I knew if we got to lapped traffic, we were going to have the best shot of winning. What a start to the year.”

Zeb Wise would hold on to finish second at Attica Raceway Park, followed by Hunter Schuerenberg, Brent Marks, and Cory Eliason; an all All Star top five.

The All Star Circuit of Champions will spend a weekend off before returning to competition with a four-day swing through the heart of the Mid-Atlantic on Thursday through Sunday, April 15-18. Action will kick-off with a $12,000-to-win blockbuster at Virginia Motor Speedway on Thursday, April 15, followed by three consecutive nights in Pennsylvania Posse Country. Tony Stewart’s All Stars will take center stage at Williams Grove Speedway on Friday, Port Royal Speedway on Saturday, and Bedford Speedway on Sunday. The Williams Grove and Bedford visits will award $6,000 each, while the season’s first visit to Port Royal – the Keith Kauffman Classic – will pay $10,000.

Contingency Awards/Results: Attica Raceway Park – Saturday, April 3, 2021
Event: Core & Main Spring Nationals
Entries: 30
C&R Racing Hot Laps: Justin Peck – 12.687
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Ian Madsen – 12.571
Ford Performance Heat #1 Winner: Hunter Schuerenberg
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #2 Winner: Cory Eliason
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #3 Winner: Cale Conley
Kear’s Speed Shop Dash presented by Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Winner: Cory Eliason
Classic Ink USA Screenprinting & Embroidery B-Main Winner: DJ Foos
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Nate Dussel
FloRacing A-Main Winner: Justin Peck
Hercules Tire A-Main Hard Charger: DJ Foos (+9)

Qualifying

Group (A)
1. 11-Ian Madsen, 12.572; 2. O9-Craig Mintz, 12.774; 3. 10-Zeb Wise, 12.798; 4. O7-Lucas Wolfe, 12.801; 5. 13-Justin Peck, 12.816; 6. 16-DJ Foos, 12.817; 7. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 12.826; 8. 23-Chris Andrews, 12.845; 9. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 12.852; 10. 5-Brent Marks, 12.956; 11. 26-Cory Eliason, 12.977; 12. 3C-Cale Conley, 12.983; 13. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.000; 14. 8M-TJ Michael, 13.002; 15. 33W-Caleb Griffith, 13.027; 16. 3J-Trey Jacobs, 13.028; 17. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.044; 18. 4-Cap Henry, 13.054; 19. 18-Cole Macedo, 13.112; 20. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.119; 21. 29-Stuart Brubaker, 13.149; 22. 5R-Byron Reed, 13.186; 23. 22-Brandon Spithaler, 13.241; 24. 1-Nate Dussel, 13.307; 25. 9Z-Duane Zablocki, 13.343; 26. 27S-John Ivy, 13.348; 27. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.481; 28. 2-Ricky Peterson, 13.584; 29. 12-Kyle Capodice, 13.841; 30. 16B-Zane DeVault, 14.353

Heat #1 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [2]; 2. 5-Brent Marks [1]; 3. 11-Ian Madsen [4]; 4. O7-Lucas Wolfe [3]; 5. 3J-Trey Jacobs [6]; 6. 18-Cole Macedo [7]; 7. 5R-Byron Reed [8]; 8. 2-Ricky Peterson [10]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [9]; 10. 17B-Bill Balog [5]

Heat #2 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. O9-Craig Mintz [4]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 4. 23-Chris Andrews [2]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [6]; 6. 22-Brandon Spithaler [8]; 7. 8M-TJ Michael [5]; 8. 27S-John Ivy [9]; 9. W20-Greg Wilson [7]; 10. 12-Kyle Capodice [10]

Heat #3 – Group (A) (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 3C-Cale Conley [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 3. 33W-Caleb Griffith [5]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [2]; 5. 4-Cap Henry [6]; 6. 29-Stuart Brubaker [7]; 7. 1-Nate Dussel [8]; 8. 16-DJ Foos [3]; 9. 16B-Zane DeVault [10]; 10. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [9]

Dash #1 (6 Laps)
1. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [4]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [2]; 4. 11-Ian Madsen [5]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [8]; 6. 3C-Cale Conley [6]; 7. O9-Craig Mintz [7]; 8. O7-Lucas Wolfe [3]

B-Main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
1. 16-DJ Foos [1]; 2. 27S-John Ivy [6]; 3. 5R-Byron Reed [4]; 4. 17B-Bill Balog [2]; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson [7]; 6. 8M-TJ Michael [3]; 7. 1-Nate Dussel [5]; 8. W20-Greg Wilson [8]; 9. 9Z-Duane Zablocki [9]; 10. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [11]; 11. 16B-Zane DeVault [10]; 12. 12-Kyle Capodice [12]

A-Main (40 Laps)
1. 13-Justin Peck [3]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [2]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 4. 5-Brent Marks [9]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [1]; 6. O9-Craig Mintz [7]; 7. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [12]; 8. 11-Ian Madsen [4]; 9. 23-Chris Andrews [11]; 10. 16-DJ Foos [19]; 11. 33W-Caleb Griffith [10]; 12. 3J-Trey Jacobs [13]; 13. 5T-Travis Philo [14]; 14. 3C-Cale Conley [6]; 15. 17B-Bill Balog [22]; 16. 5R-Byron Reed [21]; 17. 22-Brandon Spithaler [18]; 18. 4-Cap Henry [15]; 19. 27S-John Ivy [20]; 20. 29-Stuart Brubaker [17]; 21. 8M-TJ Michael [24]; 22. O7-Lucas Wolfe [8]; 23. 2-Ricky Peterson [23]; 24. 18-Cole Macedo [16] Lap Leaders: Cory Eliason (1-5), Zeb Wise (6-27), Justin Peck (28-40)