FORT WAYNE, Ind. — Though a sour motor derailed his efforts on both Friday and Saturday, Monrovia, Indiana’s Justin Peck still kept a streak alive that he has praised as being “almost as important as the two wins we’ve had” at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Peck, who began competing at the Coliseum in 2012, successfully qualified for both National Midget A-Features during the 19th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne, pushing his consecutive start streak to 11-straight and meaning he has qualified for every main event he has attempted since his debut in the annual event.
While he wanted a third win to go with the mark, Peck admitted that simply making the Rumble field each year is a special achievement all its own.
“The field is so tough here, man, that just to keep making it in is really important to us,” the 18-year-old said. “I couldn’t do it without my dad and Steve Clay … they’re the ones that thrash on this car and keep it going for me. Steve actually went two hours back to Michigan after Friday night’s race, just so we’d have the parts to repair the car for Saturday. We bent the rocker arm again, but we had speed.”
“They always know we’re here, and we don’t normally have problems like this, so we’ll go home, get it fixed and be back here next year for another go at it.”
Peck is the only driver in Rumble history with 10 or more A-Main starts to have made every feature he has attempted to qualify for.
Derek Bischak currently holds the active record for consecutive A-Mains made, with 12 straight dating back to the 2011 finale. Dave Darland holds the all-time record for consecutive starts, with 16-in-a-row from 2004-2011.
Other storylines from Saturday night’s Rumble finale included:
– Austin Nemire shook off a string of misfortune that had haunted him the past two years to qualify for his second-career Rumble A-Main on Saturday night.
Nemire won his heat race to transfer directly to the main event, where he finished ninth after being involved in a multi-car crash in turn four near the halfway point of the 50-lap event.
However, despite the finish being “not what we had hoped for,” Nemire said he’s just happy to have the monkey off his back.
“We wanted to make the main and finish 50 laps,” the 17 year old said after a sigh of relief. “We did that, so as far as that goes, I’m really happy and blessed to be a part of this Tom O’Connell team. We’ll take this as a shot in the arm and use it as momentum to do better at the Chili Bowl.”
– Brandon Knupp’s Saturday had the wheels fall off … literally, right from the very start … but he rebounded in a big way to make a piece of Rumble history before the day ended.
After breaking the rear axle in hot laps, having to miss qualifying and thrash just to make his B-Main, Knupp railed around the sixth-mile Coliseum oval after starting last in the last chance race, passing six cars in 10 laps to finish second and move into the A-Main with a car that he readily admitted, “could have just as easily gone home.”
“We’re not quitters, though, so we stuck it out and we made it in, man,” Knupp said. “Hate we couldn’t get a decent finish out of it, but that’s indoor racing. We’ll be back to do it again next year.”
– Both Randy Burrow Racing cars failed to transfer into Saturday’s A-Main, with motor issues spelling a disappointing and premature end to a long weekend for both Justin Grant and Billy Wease.
Saturday was the second time in two years that Burrow’s entire stable failed to make a National Midget feature at the Rumble, with the same incidence also happening on opening day in 2015.
– Mike Fedorcak’s rally in the non-winged 600cc micro sprint class on Saturday was one for the ages, with the ageless veteran coming back from a fiery flip in Friday night’s B-Main to set a new class track record on day two, before finishing third in the main event.
Fedorcak was all smiles after the action had concluded, admitting that “this is why we race.”
“You can’t get discouraged because of one bad night. We fixed her up, came back out, and that was a heck of a race. Most fun I’ve ever had in that car in a long, long time. I’ve never been able to race with Larry (Joe Sroufe) like that, so I really enjoyed it.”
– Adam Schaeff was the memory-maker of the weekend, with fiery engine failures on both Thursday and Friday leading him to drive the No. 29 of Clayton Mullett for the finale on Saturday.
– All 16 Rumble starters in the National Midget field on Saturday had made at least one prior A-Main start at the Coliseum.
– Promoter Larry Boos announced during the drivers meeting on Saturday that he has projected dates with the Coliseum for “the next 10 years” to continue hosting the Rumble in Fort Wayne on the building’s Expo Center floor.
The 20th annual Rumble in Fort Wayne is set for Dec. 29-30, 2017.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: [email protected]
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: [email protected]
Follow RCO on Twitter: @RaceChaserNews
