By Mike Mallett
KOKOMO, Ind.; All it took was a little bit of luck.
Justin Peck has been waiting for his luck to finally turn. The Tom Buch Motorsports No. 13 has been fast all season with nothing to show for it. They couldn’t catch a break, and something had to change.
It finally did on Tuesday night with the High Limit Racing Series at Kokomo Speedway to the tune of a $26,023 payday. The extra $3,000 came courtesy of a little pre-race luck, as well. The number three was rolled with the dice, meaning if the third place starting driver won, he got the bonus.
“We couldn’t get anything going,” said Peck. “Every time we put ourselves in position to fight for a win, it just seemed like we never finished the damn race, or we would finish because we had to go to the back and replace a tire.
“Man, it’s huge. We are just trying to get momentum rolling. It’s hard to stay confident when you’re just getting beat up every freaking weekend.”
Peck, who set a track record in qualifying and started third in the main event, acknowledged that something had to be done to change his luck. The way things were going, it wasn’t cutting it. He came into the 35-lap feature with the “win it or wear it” mentality. It’s what had to be done, and it worked out.
“I said earlier today that if I could just put 30 laps together, I’d be okay,” said Peck. “I kind of went into it with the mindset that I’m going to go for it, and if I wreck, it’s no different than what’s been going on, so I’m just going to have to try and turn the wick up. When you’re trying to race Larson and Rico, especially for a win, they’re on kill every time, and they don’t make too many mistakes.”
On this night, Kyle Larson did.
Larson took the lead from Corey Day on a lap eight restart and set a torrid pace out front. Traffic made life difficult for the leaders, and Peck chased both Larson and Day before getting around Day in traffic on lap 16.
He tracked down Larson over the next 10 laps. That’s when Larson made a mistake. He went to the outside of a lapped car, and hopped the cushion, and bounced off the wall. Peck was there to pounce.
“It was sketchy,” said Peck of the curb. “I kind of half slid myself because I didn’t know if he was still on the outside or not. I knew if I could just get to the curb before the apex there in three and four, he wasn’t going to have a shot to turn under me because it was so slick. So, just the right place, right time … I created that luck. It’s nice for it to be on my side for once.”
The race was far from official at that point. Peck still had to navigate traffic for nine more laps with Larson on his heels. He seemed to have him covered until a caution slowed the race with two laps remaining. This helped him by clearing the track, but it put Larson on his tail tank for a restart.
“My first thought was no choose cone, please; don’t be a choose cone,” said a chuckling Peck. “When I saw that we were going to be single file, I knew I was going to be okay as long as I didn’t spin the tires.
“I knew if I could just get through one and two clean and not have a slider attempt put on me, I was going to be fine. Then just rip three and four on the top. With him being back there behind me and in dirty air, it’s just so tough when it’s top dominant like that. I knew if I could just get a good start, get off of four, and get through one or two without a slider, I was going to be okay.”
He was right. It turned out okay.
Qualifying Action: There were 31 cars in the pit area for the seventh High Limit Racing Series event. Peck set a new track record in time trials with a lap of 10.927. It was a record previously held by Sammy Swindell.
Heat wins were taken by Justin Sanders, Rico Abreu, Larson, and Corey Day. Day beat out Larson in the dash before Anthony Macri ran away with the B-Main.
Zomer Takes a Ride: Dusty Zomer’s night ended on lap one, in turn one of the first heat race of the night. Zomer got into the wall and flipped, doing significant damage to his No. 3J.
Zomer and his crew, which includes Sprint Car Hall of Fame driver Danny Lasoski, scratched for the night. The team has competed in every High Limit event this season.
The Kokomo Big One: On the opening circuit of the A-Main, Chase Randall nearly spun in turn three. He collected several cars, including those of Zeb Wise, Ryan Timms, Shane Stewart, and Emerson Axsom.
Axsom’s car got over on its side, but his crew fixed the top wing, and he returned to action. Wise and Timms had significant damage done to their frontends, ending their hopes of continuing. Stewart and Randall were able to rejoin the field.
Dylan’s Debut: Dylan Norris made his debut in the Rocky Anderson owned No. 19. Norris was the final car to transfer from the B-Main to the main event.
The 35-Lap A-Main didn’t go as well for the 19-year-old driver. He spun out twice to bring out cautions. He finished 19th.
Larson Locked In: In seven races for the High Limit Racing Series, Kyle Larson has seven top-five finishes, which includes three wins to go with his second-place run on Tuesday night.
It’s been another impressive season for Larson. In 18 starts, he has seven wins and an average finish of 4.66. That is tops in the country.
Bolting on the Wing: Brady Bacon was the best of the non-wing contingent in the field, finishing in seventh after starting 12th. He won a World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series event at Tri-State Speedway earlier this year.
Chili Bowl champion Logan Seavey was next in line, going from 13th to ninth. Kevin Thomas Jr. started fourth but faded to finish 12th. Jake Swanson was the last car on the speedway at the finish, and he scored a 20th-place effort.\
Special Guest: Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles was on hand to take in the action. Boles arrived via helicopter prior to the night’s opening ceremonies. He briefly addressed the crowd to discuss upcoming events at IMS.