[JessicaJ]

Peck Continues to Gain Experience in Back-to-Back Weekends
By Jessica Jenkins

When the calendar rolled over to July, Justin Peck was ready to build on his first sprint car victory three weeks earlier at Macon Speedway. Each weekend this month you will find the 18 year old at a racetrack, with the focus on his 410 sprint car.

First up, on the second day of July, the white #5x pulled into Tri State Speedway and immediately laid down a fast 8th-place lap in qualifying. That sent him into the second heat with a fourth place starting spot where Peck fought some good battles to wrap up the race where he started. Firing up in the MOWA feature in eighth, he took off and moved all the way up to second place with just a few laps to go. As he shared later, "The car was really close all night. We just needed to tweak the set up here and there to make it perfect. Once I caught the leaders with just a handful of laps left, I dropped to the bottom to attempt a pass but came up short." Finishing second was still a strong end to the night and set him up in good shape to head to Ohio the following weekend.

When racing at Attica Raceway Park was canceled on Friday, July 7th, Peck's family-owned team shifted their focus to the Saturday at Fremont Speedway's Crown Battery Night. Driving his winged sprint car onto the 1/3-mile, he laid down the twelfth fastest speed in qualifying with a lap of 13.042. When it was time for the heat races, he led all eight laps from the pole and masterfully won the third heat. Lining up where he qualified, the Monrovia, IN racer gained two spots for a tenth place finish. Thinking back on the night, Peck reflected, "Racing with the Ohio guys is tough no matter how you look at it. We were just a little off all night and they made it hurt."

On Tuesday, July 11 the weather cooperated and Peck made it back to Attica Raceway Park for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series' Brad Doty Classic. Wrapping up 26th in the first group of qualifying, he started inside row five in the second heat and dashed up to sixth by the end of the ten lap run. That sent him to a fourth place start and third place finish in the D main, just missing transferring by one position on the night with a huge field of experience and talent.

Coming up this weekend is a pair of MOWA events in Illinois, beginning at Lincoln Speedway Friday and wrapping up at Fairbury American Legion Speedway on Saturday. Peck's most recent appearance at Fairbury came in a national midget race, and is a place he recalls as being "so much fun in the midget, really racey with multiple grooves. Side by side action all night made for a great show. I hope the sprint car is just as fun!"

Stay tuned to his Facebook fan page @JustinPeckRacing for updates as he races or follow him on Twitter @justin_peck5. Also, check out JustinPeckRacing.com to learn more about this up-and-coming star.