ASA/CRA Super Series
SpeedFest 101: What to Know About the Big Race at Cordele
Jan 20, 2022
Preston Peltier wasn’t oblivious to the chaos unfolding around him, but he was certainly grateful.
Peltier became the first repeat winner in the nine-year history of the Chilly Willy 150 at Tucson Speedway on Sunday afternoon, partly because he had the fastest car, but also because he was ahead of the carnage.
It was an attrition filled race, and Peltier wasn’t nearly ahead enough on the final restart when teammate Ed Vecchiarelli Sr. lifted his rear tires off the ground driving into Turn 1, before getting away to lead the final six laps.
And yet, the Vecchiarellis were the first ones Peltier thanked in Victory Lane.
"First of all, I've got to thank Ed and Eddie Vecchiarelli for putting me in top-notch equipment," Peltier said in victory lane. "I can't thank them enough. It takes a lot of people and a lot of resources to put a team like this together. I'm just thankful to be a part of it."
The cars Peltier driver alongside Ed and Eddie Vecchiarelli are something of a joint venture, which the Vecchiarellis owning the cars but Peltier offering the experience that only a champion and multiple marquee race winner can provide.
Vecchiarelli recognized he nearly blew it, or made it happen at the end, depending on how everything played out.
"I told Preston three things you never do: you don’t eat yellow snow, you don’t fart in the wind and you don’t spin the boss out," Vecchiarelli said with a laugh. "He better be thankful I didn’t get back to him."
Peltier also provides technical support to Rudy and Kody Vanderwal – both father and son factored into the race for the win with the younger finishing third and directly factoring into the finish. All told, it was a group of close friends and families having the time of their lives at one of their favorite race tracks.
"This is just an awesome race track," Peltier said. You can run bottom, middle, top and do it three-wide too. I feel like it’s the only place you can really do that, and I can’t wait to come back next year."
Peltier led the first 20 laps from the pole before giving way to defending track champion Brett Yackey before Vecchiarelli took his turn up front. Vecchiarelli led the race until the halfway break, at which point Peltier returned to the lead. Vecchiarelli made another charge to the front but spun off the door panel of Peltier.
Defending race winner Dustin Ash was running second with six laps to go, after restarting 19th at the halfway break, when he ran over debris (or was the cause of the debris) and was the cause of a caution that eliminated him from contention.
On the ensuing restart, the younger Vanderwal and Peltier door slammed entering Turn 1, and the accordion resulted in Brett Yackey spinning behind them and collecting several cars in a melee that eliminated Brandon Carlson, Tristan Swanson, Barrett Polhemus and Ricky Bogart.
The final restart saw Peltier survive a top to bottom crossover attempt from Vanderwal after getting shoved into Turn 1 by Vecchiarelli Sr. In addition to his two Chilly Willys, Peltier also has two wins in the Summer Showdown at Evergreen Speedway, five wins in the Easter Bunny 150 at Hickory Motor Speedway and a win in the World Crown 300 at Gresham Motorsports Park.
- Preston Peltier
- Kody Vanderwal
- Edward Vecchiarelli
- Ron Norman
- Brett Yackey
- Zach Morris
- Bruce Yackey
- Vanessa Robinson
- Brandon Carlson
- Kenny Bumbera
- Dustin Ash
- Dylan Jones
- Jennifer Hall
- David Smith
- Tristan Swanson
- Barrett Polhemus
- Ricky Bogart
- Buddy Sheppard
- Trayten Tarr
- Ross Strmiska
- Blaine Rocha
- Michael Egurola
- Darren Robertson
- Darrell Midgley
- Joe Paladenic
- Tyler tanner
- Rudy Vanderwal
- Zachary Riehl