MECHANICSBURG, Pa. – As an Indiana native with a fascination for dirt open-wheel racing, Justin Peck knew the history of Williams Grove Speedway from a young age.
Last weekend, he nearly inked his name permanently in those history books, coming one spot shy of a victory at the venerable half-mile dirt track in Pennsylvania.
Peck earned a runner-up finish in Sunday’s season opener at Williams Grove, finishing .378 seconds behind Freddie Rahmer after running inside the top three for all 25 laps.
The Monrovia, Ind., native made the decisive pass for second with 11 to go, dispatching Brandon Rahmer before chasing Rahmer for the remaining distance.
It was a strong showing against the veterans of the Pennsylvania Posse, a breakthrough for Peck, who had struggled during past visits to Central Pennsylvania.
“It’s nice to know we have speed and we can get around a slick track,” Peck noted. “It was not exactly what I was expecting from [Williams Grove]. I’m not from around here. Everybody that’s from here said [slick] is what it’s like every year on opening day, so I guess I have to start getting used to it. We were pretty solid, though.
“I think we took a little bit away from it; we’ve got some slick-track notes now and we figured out how to run the bottom. So that’s good.”
Peck had one shot to capitalize when Rahmer was held up in lapped traffic during the closing stages of the race but couldn’t seize control of the race before late caution flags cleared the way.
“I felt like my best shot would have been if we stayed green running through lapped traffic. He was getting held up by some of the slower cars and I was able to put a little pressure on him,” noted Peck of Rahmer. “He would kill me off of [turn] four on those restarts. I just couldn’t hang with him. He’d get me by a couple car lengths and it’d take me two laps to reel him back in. I kind of felt like I was hanging on to second once we had those restarts, unless he slid out of the rubber.
“Like I said, all in all, I feel like we learned how to run the bottom and we have some good slick-track notes. I’m looking forward to coming back later on [in the year].”
Up until last Sunday, Peck was the first to admit that he wasn’t a fan of racing at Williams Grove.
After his runner-up effort, however, he said the historic facility is “a little bit more fun” now that he’s put together a good run there.
“I’m terrible [at Williams Grove],” Peck said with a chuckle. “Up until Sunday, I think I’d run inside the top 10 once. I’ve probably run 12 races there. It’s nice to have speed, but to know it’s not typical Williams Grove, it’s a little disheartening because I know we can be good at this kind of stuff. Now, I feel like we have to figure out how to be good on that tacky stuff.
“It is nice, though. It takes a whole weight off my shoulders knowing I can run good at [Williams Grove] and I think I figured out a few different techniques I can use. I’m pretty happy with it,” Peck tipped. “It’s starting to grow on me.”
Looking ahead toward the month of April, Peck, crew chief Sean Strausbaugh and the Buch Motorsports No. 13 team will take aim at the FloRacing All Star Circuit of Champions schedule, with the goal of contending for the series championship.
While Peck has raced fairly regularly against the All Stars in the past, he feels this year is his “best shot yet” to make a statement on the national sprint car scene.
“I’m feeling pretty confident,” Peck noted. “I feel like we have a good shot at it and will be in contention for wins, as well as the championship at the end of the year. It’s just going to be a matter of everything going right. It’s tough to string together 60 good races in a row. There’s no denying that. But I think this Buch (No.) 13 team has the quality equipment to do it and I feel like we have the right people around us.
“We’re going to give it our best shot and I can’t wait to get going at Attica (Raceway Park) on April 2.”