Story By: TYLER ALTMEYER / ALL STAR CIRCUIT OF CHAMPIONS – LAKE ODESSA, MI – Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck put on a show Friday night in I-96 Speedway’s annual Mace Thomas Classic, not only securing his first Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 victory of the 2022 season, but doing so in dramatic fashion, forced to battle through back-to-back green-white-checkered restarts with defending Series champion, Tyler Courtney, hot on his heels.
Suffice it to say, Peck withstood the pressures, earning an $8,500 payday in the process while locking down a sixth-career All Star victory. Impressive enough, all six of Peck’s All Star triumphs occurred at different facilities with his I-96 win being a first-ever in the Wolverine State.
“I feel like we’ve had speed all year, but tonight we were able to put it all together. For a while there, we weren’t able to get anything to go our way,” Peck said in victory lane, driver of the Buch Motorsports/Coastal Race Parts/No. 13 sprint car. “I knew with a guy like Tyler (Courtney) behind me that things may get a little hairy, especially with those two late restarts. But luckily, we were able to hold them off. My guys have been giving me a fast hot rod these last few races, so I’m glad to finally be able to get it done.”
Starting from the outside-pole position, Angola, Indiana’s Zeb Wise earned the initial jump, soon entering a tussle with Team 73’s Scotty Thiel, who ultimately snagged the top spot from the third-year All Star on lap three. The “Big Wheel” maintained the point position until lap 14 when Peck, who started third on the A-Main grid, drove underneath the Sheboygan, Wisconsin, native at the exit of turn four. Thiel’s lead was large before Peck took command, but an evil mixture of heavy lapped traffic and an unforgiving turn four cushion got the best of the recent two-time IRA winner.
Once in command, it was relatively smooth sailing for Peck and the “Buch Misfits” entry, that until the final two cautions on lap 29. Courtney, who battled ahead from the outside of row five, did his best to show his nose on each of the two-to-go restarts, but the efforts were not enough. “Sunshine” went on to finish second on Friday evening, followed by Hunter Schuerenberg, Zeb Wise, and Parker Price-Miller.
UP NEXT:
Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, will be next on the hit list with a visit set for Saturday, May 14, replacing the originally scheduled stop in Joliet, Illinois. Known for its elbows-up attitude and bullring action, Wayne County, awarding $6,000 on Saturday night, will host the All Star Circuit of Champions twice during the 2022 season with the second occurring during Ohio Sprint Speedweek on Monday, June 13. The lone visit to “Orrville’s Historic Oval” in 2021 was captured by NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kyle Larson, outrunning Zeb Wise and Paul McMahan for a $6,000 Speedweek payday.
From one Wayne to the next, Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio, will cap the weekend tripleheader with an All Star program on Sunday, May 15. Originally slated for Sunday, May 1, but rescheduled due to Mother Nature, the visit Waynesfield’s highbanks will award a $6,000 prize, giving teams an opportunity to test their limits before returning to the western Ohio bullring during Ohio Sprint Speedweek. America’s Series made two appearances at Waynesfield Raceway Park in 2021 with Kyle Larson and Cole Duncan each earning one triumph.
Contingency Awards/Results: I-96 Speedway | May 13, 2022:
Event: Mace Thomas Classic | $8,500
Kistler Racing Products Pill Draw | Entries: 29
Nunzi’s Advertising Hot Laps: Tyler Courtney | 13.360
Dixie Vodka Fast Qualifier: Hunter Schuerenberg | 13.377
Hunt Brothers Pizza Heat #1 Winner: Zeb Wise
Competition Suspension Inc Heat #2 Winner: Buddy Kofoid
All Pro Aluminum Cylinder Heads Heat #3 Winner: Scotty Thiel
Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts Dash Winner: Scotty Thiel
Classic Ink USA B-Main Winner: Greg Wilson
Rayce Rudeen Foundation First Non-Transfer: Tylar Rankin
Tezos A-Main Winner: Justin Peck
Hercules Tires A-Main Hard Charger: Scott Bogucki (+11)
Carquest Perseverance Award: Greg Wilson
Qualifying
Group (A)
55-Hunter Schuerenberg, 13.377; 2. 13-Justin Peck, 13.389; 3. 101-Cale Thomas, 13.398; 4. 10-Zeb Wise, 13.447; 5. 11K-Buddy Kofoid, 13.468; 6. 24D-Danny Sams III, 13.495; 7. 19-Chris Windom, 13.532; 8. 4-Cap Henry, 13.566; 9. 73-Scotty Thiel, 13.570; 10. 7m-Geoff Dodge, 13.609; 11. 26-Cory Eliason, 13.635; 12. 71H-Max Stambaugh, 13.667; 13. 17B-Bill Balog, 13.671; 14. 7BC-Tyler Courtney, 13.676; 15. 85-Dustin Daggett, 13.688; 16. 11-Parker Price Miller, 13.727; 17. 91-Kyle Reinhardt, 13.746; 18. 25M-Ryan Ruhl, 13.748; 19. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson, 13.760; 20. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr., 13.840; 21. 11N-Harli White, 13.869; 22. 14-Tyler Street, 14.027; 23. 7-Scott Bogucki, 14.063; 24. 16C-Tylar Rankin, 14.120; 25. 23-Russel Borland, 14.132; 26. 97-Greg Wilson, 14.157; 27. 41-Thomas Schinderle, 14.544; 28. 27K-Zac Broughman, 15.242; 29. 28-Brandon Spithaler, NT
Heat 1 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
10-Zeb Wise [1]; 2. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [4]; 3. 11-Parker Price Miller [6]; 4. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [7]; 5. 7m-Geoff Dodge [3]; 6. 17B-Bill Balog [5]; 7. 23-Russel Borland [9]; 8. 19-Chris Windom [2]; 9. 14-Tyler Street [8]; 10. 27K-Zac Broughman [10]
Heat 2 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
11K-Buddy Kofoid [1]; 2. 4-Cap Henry [2]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [4]; 4. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [5]; 5. 26-Cory Eliason [3]; 6. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [6]; 7. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [7]; 8. 97-Greg Wilson [9]; 9. 7-Scott Bogucki [8]; 10. 28-Brandon Spithaler [10]
Heat 3 (8 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
73-Scotty Thiel [2]; 2. 101-Cale Thomas [4]; 3. 24D-Danny Sams III [1]; 4. 85-Dustin Daggett [5]; 5. 71H-Max Stambaugh [3]; 6. 25M-Ryan Ruhl [6]; 7. 16C-Tylar Rankin [8]; 8. 11N-Harli White [7]; 9. 41-Thomas Schinderle [9]
Dash (6 Laps)
73-Scotty Thiel [1]; 2. 10-Zeb Wise [5]; 3. 13-Justin Peck [6]; 4. 11K-Buddy Kofoid [2]; 5. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [3]; 6. 101-Cale Thomas [4]
B-main (12 Laps) – Top 6 Transfer
97-Greg Wilson [6]; 2. 19-Chris Windom [1]; 3. 7-Scott Bogucki [8]; 4. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [2]; 5. 11N-Harli White [5]; 6. 23-Russel Borland [4]; 7. 16C-Tylar Rankin [3]; 8. 14-Tyler Street [7]; 9. 27K-Zac Broughman [10]; 10. 28-Brandon Spithaler [11]; 11. 41-Thomas Schinderle [9]
A-main (30 Laps)
13-Justin Peck [3]; 2. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [10]; 3. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [5]; 4. 10-Zeb Wise [2]; 5. 11-Parker Price Miller [9]; 6. 19AZ-Tanner Thorson [12]; 7. 91-Kyle Reinhardt [17]; 8. 26-Cory Eliason [14]; 9. 4-Cap Henry [7]; 10. 97-Greg Wilson [19]; 11. 17B-Bill Balog [16]; 12. 7-Scott Bogucki [23]; 13. 71H-Max Stambaugh [15]; 14. 101-Cale Thomas [6]; 15. 11N-Harli White [22]; 16. 19-Chris Windom [20]; 17. 24D-Danny Sams III [8]; 18. 23-Russel Borland [24]; 19. 85-Dustin Daggett [11]; 20. 7m-Geoff Dodge [13]; 21. 11K-Buddy Kofoid [4]; 22. 73-Scotty Thiel [1]; 23. 25M-Ryan Ruhl [18]; 24. 9K-Kevin Thomas Jr. [21] Lap Leaders: Zeb Wise (1,2), Scotty Thiel (3-13), Justin Peck (14-30)
