What this story underscores is that Perigo has a commodity that sometimes rare among racers – self-awareness. “I have always given my best effort,” he noted recently, “but I told Kirk Spridgeon (USAC race director) that I‘m 20 years late to the game. When I was 20 to 30 years old, I couldn‘t afford to go out to Indiana, and there was no wingless racing around here to justify a car for the one week Eastern Storm came around. I truly think I missed my calling. I wish I could have been around in the J.J. Yeley, Bud Kaeding and Tony Elliott era. I really think I could have been a Justin Grant or a Kevin Thomas Jr.
“But I truly know where I stand today. I‘m an older guy. I‘m not going to bang it against the boards like those guys, but I still enjoy doing it. I give 100 percent, which ends up being an 80 percent result when you run against Tyler Courtney and guys like that.” When you have done everything possible to stay in the game you have a greater appreciation for that driver giving it all further back in the pack. “I never put down a guy who gives his best effort and finishes last,” he says, “I have more respect for that guy than one who is gifted and doesn‘t appreciate it. I respect the guy who works hard and finished last more than I do the guy who has been given everything and when he doesn‘t win, he is walking out of the track pouting.”
While Perigo loves competing against those decades younger than him there are some old school habits he isn‘t going to change. “Years ago, you would try to make a fast lap,” he says, “but it almost had to look pretty. The car can‘t bounce, pull a wheelie, and be up on two wheels. It has to look good while you are doing it. That‘s just the era I grew up in. I watch these midget guys and I have never done it that way, and I don‘t want to. It‘s just a habit. You probably aren‘t going to see me get up on two wheels at Kokomo. I pride myself on laying down 30 pretty laps where I never got it sideways, it never pushed, I never skated and almost hit the wall. That probably hurts my lap times, but that is embedded in me.”
It really is a funny dynamic. At 50 years old, Perigo has the best equipment he has ever had in his career, and he plans to make the most of it. “We have good stuff, and we actually have a lot of stuff,” he says. “There are a lot of young kids out there that may be better drivers and gassers, and they might be able to do better in the equipment I have here. But I love it. I wasn‘t presented this when I was 20 or 25 years old and I‘m going to take advantage of it now. Plus, I feel young.”
Perigo is also aware that there may be some who look in from the outside and wonder how he was able to get this opportunity. He has an answer for them, and it is a lesson many should heed. “John Stehman is very good to me,” he says. “But this was 20 years in the making. He watched me win races at Silver Spring and not cause any problems, and carry myself well. People think John Stehman just randomly pulled my name out of a hat to run his sprint car. No. That was because he watched me
race for 20 years.”
Perigo has turned his sportsman car over to his son Brett, who is finding his way at Path Valley, while he continues to run select dates at the track for long time owner Walt Bigler. He still knows how to get to victory lane. Since his first opportunity with Stehman he has branched out in a 360 wingless car with the USAC East series, and he has really found a home with the big USAC Silver Crown cars. As for the 360, he jokes, “I have been second so many times it is getting ridiculous.”
What may be a small disappointment there has been offset by the thrill of getting a chance in the Silver Crown series. He turned some heads with a fifth-place run in his very first start in 2020 at Selinsgrove Speedway, and he got everyone‘s attention in the 2021 season on the big mile at Springfield, Illinois.
The most important thing to understand about Perigo‘s approach to this race, and other performances on the Silver Crown trail is that just being there is a pinch me moment for him. “I dreamed about these tracks,” he says, “and last year when I was at Indy it was the first time, I had ever been at a mile track. I could never afford to go to Syracuse, let alone go to Indy. I wish I could have done it sooner, but I can‘t change that. I may have the greatest perspective of anyone in the starting field about what this means. I‘m racing in the Bettenhausen 100, and I appreciate that I‘m on the frontstretch during driver introductions. I never dreamed that I would be that guy.”
After putting his car in the show at Springfield, Perigo was running in the bottom half of the field when he admittedly jumped a restart. At the time it seemed relatively inconsequential. To compound the problem, he had lost communication with his spotter and had no real understanding of his situation. What he did know was that he was going forward in a hurry. As he looked down the long front straightaway, he saw Logan Seavey and thought he could take the position. That‘s also when he realized he had a mechanical problem to contend with. “I almost wrecked Logan in turn one because my brakes were so screwy,” he recalls. “I had to stand on the pedal to get it to stop. I just told myself before you wreck somebody just calm down and let the brakes cool off and cruise around a little bit and make a go at it again.” The punch line of this entire story is that he had no idea he was racing for the lead. If he had known where he was, he may have tried just a bit harder to see if could get to the front.
A penalty was assessed, and the record shows he finished in the ninth position. After the race Kirk Spridgeon went directly to Perigo and explained the situation. Carmen never batted an eye. Perhaps he remembers hearing the tape on the family answering machine those many years ago after his father had flagged races at Windber. “I jumped,” he says, “I know what was right, and I try to put the shoe on the other foot. I know what position he‘s in. At the time I didn‘t think it would mean anything. I was 20th and what does that matter if I finished 16th. I never believed I was going to drive to the front.”
He backed up his run at Springfield with a respectable finish at Du Quoin. While he didn‘t vie for the win in Southern Illinois, he was buoyed by the fact that the winner Brian Tyler is actually a few years older than him. “That really put the wind back in my sails after he did that,” Carmen admits, “but I also think these cars suit me, I just need more laps. You race different and I‘ll get it. You just have to learn to pace yourself.”