Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour: John Peters
Beech Ridge/Wiscasset Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
WESTBROOK, Maine – John Peters of Westbrook, Maine, and the Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour hit the track for a double-dip this week, with the VIP Thursday Thunder 25 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Thursday, June 20, followed by a return trip to Wiscasset Speedway in Wiscasset, Maine, for a 25-lap event on Saturday, June 22. Peters is the most recent winner on the Legends circuit, having been credited with the victory in a rain-shortened event at Beech Ridge on June 13. Peters also has two career starts at Wiscasset, including a fifth-place finish there last October and a seventh-place effort in the 2013 Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour season opener back in April.
THE FACTS
WHO: John Peters, Westbrook, Maine
CREW CHIEF: Greg Peters, Westbrook, Maine
TEAM: No. 51 Cash For Clunkers/Derek Kneeland Racing Sedan
SPONSORS: Cash For Clunkers, Derek Kneeland Racing, Digby’s Variety, Top Gun Construction, Traxside Racing Supplies, Beaulieu Construction
BEST CAREER BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: 1st (June 2013)
LAST RACE AT BEECH RIDGE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: 1st (June 2013)
WHAT: VIP Thursday Thunder 25
WHERE: Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
WHEN: Thursday, June 20, 7 p.m.
BEST CAREER WISCASSET SPEEDWAY FINISH: 5th (October 2012)
LAST RACE AT WISCASSET SPEEDWAY: 7th (April 2013)
WHAT: Amsoil NELCAR Legends 25
WHERE: Wiscasset Speedway, Wiscasset, Maine (.375-mile oval)
WHEN: Saturday, June 22, 6 pm.
Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour
LAST RACE: June 13, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (1st)
NEXT RACE: June 27, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
John Peters won the 2012 Beetle Bug JV championship at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, making him the youngest driver (15) in track history to win a championship at the 65-year-old oval.
John Peters needed just six career starts to earn his first career NELCAR Legends victory, which came on June 13, 2013.
John Peters Motorsports fields a new No. 51 Cash For Clunkers/Derek Kneeland Racing Sedan in 2013 after running an older sedan model in his NELCAR debut in 2012.
In addition to racing, John Peters is an avid golfer and member of the golf team at Westbrook High School.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
JOHN PETERS, Driver of the No. 51 Digby’s Variety/Cash For Clunkers Coupe, On whether winning his first career Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour race has sunk in: “That’s what I’m trying to work on right now. I try to look at the car, but I’m waiting on that moment when it’s all back together and I can look at my dad and say, ‘Hey. We won!’ I look at the car right now, and with my pride, it doesn’t fit well together. I assume when the car is back to 100 percent and I get the trophy and the checkered flag, it will start to sink in.
“I definitely did feel good about the way we ran. I was definitely encouraged by it, because I know we can do it again.”
On the challenges of having two races in a three-day span this week: “I guess if we were to have bad luck Thursday an get more damage, we’d have to work pretty hard to get back for Saturday. But the two tracks, there’s not a lot of difference between them in terms of the car or the setup. It’s just a matter of messing with the car on the scales a little bit. Unless we wreck (Thursday), it’s not that big of a deal.
“We went (to Wiscasset) last fall in my second race and finished fifth, and then this spring we went back and battled the cold weather and the no-grip race track and finished seventh. I think we’ve made a lot of strides in the five races since we’ve been there. I’m def looking forward to it. I do think we can run in the Top-5 there. I’m excited, I like that track a lot.”
On the differences between Beech Ridge and Wiscasset: “They’re similar, in that they’re about the same size and they both have some banking. The balance overall on the car stays the same at the two tracks. But, no, there’s nothing the same at all about how you drive them.
“It’s funny – we keep the car pretty much the same, but at Wiscasset you drive in deep in the corner, use the brake, and smash the gas. In Turn 4 there where they have bumps, you’ve got to be really up on the wheel.
“At Beech Ridge, it’s all about finesse. It’s about rolling on and off the gas, trying to be smooth. At Wiscasset, that stuff is all out the window.”
UP NEXT
John Peters joins the Amsoil NELCAR Legends Tour when it heads to Round No. 3 of the VIP Thursday Thunder Series at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Thursday, June 27… Peters won the 2013 VIP Thursday Thunder season opener last week.