Jeffrey Peterson wins at Orange Show Speedway for fourth CARS West Limited Late victory of season

Jeffrey Peterson remains perfect in CARS Tour West Limited Late Model competition this season.

Peterson started from the pole and led every lap in the 100-lap feature Saturday night at Orange Show Speedway to score his fourth victory of the 2026 season, remaining undefeated in every CARS Tour West Limited Late Model race he has entered.

Peterson’s previous three victories came with a pair of wins at The Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier in the season and a victory at Kevin Harvick’s Kern Raceway in May.

“It was really good,” Peterson said. “The car was just on rails all weekend. We made one chassis adjustment since the time we unloaded. Honestly, I wish I would have left it alone. Probably would have been even a little bit better, but in the end the result was still the same.”

Peterson credited Linny White and Clay Wooster for giving him a car capable of controlling the race from the drop of the green flag.

“They just build bad fast race cars every week and help make me look good,” Peterson said.

Peterson led the field of 17 Limited Late Models to the green flag, quickly jumping out to the lead and finding speed around the bottom of the historic Southern California quarter-mile.

The first caution of the race flew on Lap 22 when second-place driver Ethan Cheek’s car slowed down the front straightaway. His car was able to re-fire, but Cheek had to restart at the tail of the field for bringing out the yellow.

On the restart, Peterson once again broke away to the lead over now second-place Brenden Ruzbarsky before the caution would once again fly one lap later after Ryan Pannone went for a spin off Turn 4 after making contact with the door of Tanner Huddleston down the back straightaway. Pannone continued on.

On the following restart, Peterson led the field back to the green flag, but the fight was on for second as Kenna Mitchell and Ruzbarsky raced side by side before Mitchell completed the pass entering Turn 3.

Entering the evening with three races remaining, Mitchell held a 35-point advantage over Huddleston and Christian Bazen in the Limited Late Model championship standings.

Mitchell carried an average finish of 2.5 into the weekend in CARS Tour West competition, with no finish worse than fourth so far in the 2026 season. She also entered the weekend coming off her third straight Limited Late Model track championship at All-American Speedway.

As the field settled into a rhythm, Bazen made his way toward the top five. The Saugus driver qualified eighth and found himself up to fifth by Lap 30 before passing Hayden Stepps for fourth place a few laps later.

The caution would fly once again on Lap 39 after Pannone made contact with Chris Monez, sending Monez spinning off Turn 4 in a battle over the 12th position. Monez was able to continue on, but not before driving up to the door of Pannone to show his displeasure with the incident.

On the restart, Peterson broke away again with Ruzbarsky passing Mitchell around the outside to slide back into second. A bit further back, a few drivers got bunched up approaching the line, with Huddleston picking up damage to his left-front fender.

Huddleston restarted in the fourth position but now had his hands full as the car’s handling began to change, falling all the way down to seventh and having to hold off Cheek for position.

The caution once again flew on Lap 50 after Stepps and Donald Witkowski made contact entering Turn 1 in a battle over the fifth position. The pair made contact on entry, with both drivers crashing into the outside wall and ending both of their evenings at the halfway mark.

Both drivers were okay, but the red flag was displayed for track cleanup following the crash.

When racing resumed, Peterson once again broke away to a large advantage, with Mitchell passing Ruzbarsky back for second and Bazen moving into the third position.

As the laps began to wind down, Peterson had lapped up to the sixth position with Ruzbarsky directly in front of him in fifth. However, the caution would fly for one final time with six laps to go after Byron Borneman spun off Turn 2 after getting tagged by Cheek.

The late caution erased Peterson’s advantage and gave the field one final opportunity to challenge him for the win.

“I got to get a good restart so I don’t get punted in Turn 1 because I knew that was really their only shot,” Peterson said. “Because even up until that point, I was kind of on cruise control. So I just had to execute the restart and make sure I got away clean where I didn’t give them that opportunity to use the bumper on us.”

On the final restart, Peterson once again led the field into the first turn, while Ruzbarsky elected to restart on the outside and was able to pass Mitchell for second in the closing laps.

Peterson pulled away to secure his fourth win of the season, with Ruzbarsky finishing second.

Mitchell finished third to pick up another podium finish and continue her consistent season.

“We had some good battles,” Mitchell said. “The car was getting a little free off the exit and I was worried about being caught on the outside lane and getting put into the wall. I didn’t want to see that caution at the end there and even though Ruzbarsky was getting good restarts on the outside, otherwise, it was a good weekend.”

Bazen finished fourth, with Huddleston charging back late to score the final spot inside the top five.