Racing is all about maximizing your day. For some, that means racing for wins and championships. For others, it means simply making the show. For those without a lot of resources and a big budget, goals need to be realistic. Simply being on the race track at the end of the day can be a moral victory for some teams.
Veteran ARCA Menards Series team owner Wayne Peterson is the epitome of underfunded underdog team owners. A Vietnam veteran from Pulaski, Tennessee, Peterson has been a part of the series in one way or another dating back to the 1980s. His racing roots run deep, he raced alongside the famed Alabama Gang as a youngster and worked with legendary teams like DiGard Racing back in the 1970s.
Peterson has always found a way to get to the racetrack. In 2019, he’s partnered with a family out of Ottawa, Illinois that has given his loyal band of volunteers some needed – if small – upgrades and the opportunity to come to the track and have fun again.
Peterson’s newest driver has a familiar name. Nineteen-year-old Tim Richmond shares a name with one of the most famous and accomplished stock car drivers in history. But despite the familiar name, the newcomer had zero stock car experience heading into his series debut at Five Flags Speedway. Not only did he not have any stock car experience, all of his racing had been done on road courses in open wheel formula cars.
Driving one of the last steel bodied racecars in the series, and the only one with a legacy engine, Richmond knew he wouldn’t be contending for the victory. That didn’t mean they didn’t have goals they were trying to accomplish.
“Coming into the race we had three goals. Be safe, running at the end of the race, and have fun,” Richmond said. “We had a couple of small mistakes on pit road that cost us a few laps, including a mistake on me which I will own. The pit crew did a great job and seeing how everyone is a volunteer, I am just thankful they came out to help me with this great finish.”
For some, finishing 14th 25 laps down would be a disappointment. For Peterson and Richmond, finishing 14th is a small win, a building block they can take to the next race on Richmond’s schedule at Salem.
“Tim exceeded all of our expectations,” team owner Peterson said. “Seeing how Tim has never been in a stock car before, we wanted to let him go out in his first practice and make six laps to get comfortable with the car. We decided to put an old set of tires during the practice, then we were going to put on newer tires and try to make minimum speed to get us in the race. I didn’t want to use up any tires in the first practice as we have a limited budget.Tim amazed everyone when he went on the track for the first practice with old tires and on his fourth lap and made the minimum speed for the race. I didn’t think there was much life left in those old tires and I was kind of surprised they held air. He came into the pits and we put on those newer tires and he picked up almost a second a lap.”
For Richmond, whose girlfriend Melrose documented virtually everything he did over the course of the day with her camera, the weekend was one for his own personal history book.
“We exceeded our goals,” he said with a smile, “and I look forward to seeing everyone at Salem.”
Richmond returns to action in the ARCA Menards Series in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem Speedway. Practice is set for 11 am ET on Saturday, April 13, followed by General Tire Pole Qualifying at 3 pm ET. The 200-lap race is slated for Sunday, April 14 and will go green shortly after 2 pm ET. It will be televised live on MAVTV. ARCA for Me members can follow live timing & scoring throughout all on-track sessions at ARCARacing.com. New members can register for free by providing a valid email address at ARCARacing.com/login.
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