16-Year-Old Grabs Second Win In Last Three Starts At Home Track
SCARBOROUGH, Maine – John Peters of Westbrook, Maine, won the 25-lap Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour feature event at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Thursday, June 27. It was the second career Legends victory for the 16-year-old driver and second in the last three weeks.
Peters has finished in the Top-3 in four of his last five NELCAR starts.
“I’m super-excited to get another win,” Peters said. “With Thursday Thunder being the core of our season, this is really great. It sets us up really well for the rest of the season in the points.”
Unofficially, Peters inherited the VIP Thursday Thunder Series point lead with the win.
Peters, who became the youngest champion in Beech Ridge Motor Speedway history when he won an entry-level division title last season at 15 years old, started fifth in the 22-car field Thursday. He moved quickly into the Top-3, then stalked the race leader until there were fewer than 10 laps remaining.
On Lap 16, Peters drove the No. 51 Cash For Clunkers/Derek Kneeland Racing Sedan to the bottom of the track off of Turn 2 on the .333-mile oval and completed the pass as he rolled through the third turn.
“It was a chore,” Peters said of the move for the lead. “Evan (Beaulieu)’s so much fun to race with. I got to him, and I tried the outside a couple times and there was just nothing there. He just slipped up a little bit, and I had to throttle it up and get in there. It was tough – he did what he had to do, and I got a little lucky and was able to squeeze in there just in time.”
Peters was never seriously challenged over the closing laps. The win made up for his first career win two weeks ago, which came in a rain-shortened event and resulted in a heavily damaged race car.
“To have one that we actually won without demolishing the race car – yeah, it feels good to finally win one,” Peters said.
“I was passing a lot of fast cars in practice, so I knew that I would have a competitive car. In the feature, I was surprised at how quickly I was able to get to the front. The car hooked up everywhere I put it, other than the outside.”
Peters and the rest of the NELCAR Legends Tour return to action this Saturday, June 29, when he visits Speedway 95 in Hermon, Maine, for the second time this season.