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Preston Peltier claims fifth Easter Bunny 150 against all-star field

PASS

Preston Peltier outdueled Shane Lee to claim victory in the 13th Annual Easter Bunny 150 Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway.

The win was his fifth in the Super Late Model classic and also increased his overall Pro All Stars Series (PASS) South win total to 16 — the most of any driver in division history.

“To be honest, the car was really fast on a short run, but the whole setup was a little too stiff and I thought we had messed up,” said Peltier, who hauled his machine from Colorado where he now resides.  “This place is just incredible, I’ve never felt it have this much grip before.  This is the first race my daughter, Jocelyn, has been at, she’s only eight weeks old, and I know where this Easter Bunny’s going, that’s for sure.”

Peltier was the driver to beat all afternoon, setting a new track record in qualifying with a lap of 14.470 seconds for his 22nd career quick qualifying time in PASS competition, topping an entry list of 39 Super Late Models from all corners of the continent.

After the top 10 qualifiers redraw, Peltier would fall all the way back to the 10th starting position, with Tate Fogleman and Shane Lee moving up to the front row.

At the drop of the green flag, Fogleman would move into the lead over Lee and Jerick Johnson.  The first caution flag of the night would wave on lap 17 when Jimmy Renfrew and Gracie Trotter collided on the front straightaway.

Following the restart, Fogleman would continue to lead, while Trevor Noles made his way into the top five, passing Johnson for fifth on lap 25.  Just 10 laps later and after a slight tap by Jeff Fultz in turn two, Johnson would spin, while Jeff Batten, Wyatt Alexander, and Bryan Kruzek all made hard contact with the wall as they tried to avoid Johnson’s spinning car.

Fogleman continued to lead until lap 41, when two-time PASS South Super Late Model champion, Matt Craig, would take the top spot on a restart.  A few laps later, Derek Griffith would also attempt to overtake Fogleman for second, but Griffith would spin while racing hard as he entered turn one to bring out the fourth caution of the night.

Fogleman would return the favor to Craig on the next restart, taking the lead on lap 62 for the second time in the race.  But, just five laps later, Peltier would make his presence know, taking the lead away from Fogleman. On lap 70, Roy Hayes made contact with the backstretch wall, resulting in Kodie Conner and several others colliding to bring out the sixth caution of the night.

With Peltier still out from, former Hickory Motor Speedway regular, Shane Lee, would make his way into second, applying heavy pressure to the leader. This was the first Super Late Model start in two seasons for Lee, currently an ARCA Racing Series regular. Despite two late cautions, Peltier would hold on to take the win over Lee, Brandon Setzer, DJ Shaw, and Fultz.

The top five finishers each received a guaranteed starting position to either the Oxford 250 at Oxford Plains Speedway in August or the Inaugural Commonwealth Classic at Richmond Raceway in October.  Rounding out the top-10 were Garrett Hall, Craig, Griffith, Noles, and Ben Rowe.

The PASS National Championship Super Late Models will be in action next up on Sunday, April 8 for The Icebreaker at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut.  While PASS South will hit the track again on Friday, May 25 at Concord Speedway as part of the Old Glory 125.

The complete results for the Easter Bunny 150 can be found below.

  1. Preston Peltier
  2. Shane Lee
  3. Brandon Setzer
  4. DJ Shaw
  5. Jeff Fultz
  6. Garrett Hall
  7. Matt Craig
  8. Derek Griffith
  9. Trevor Noles
  10. Ben Rowe
  11. Tate Fogleman
  12. JP Josiasse
  13. Gabe Brown
  14. Bryan Kruczek
  15. Travis Stearns
  16. Lonnie Sommerville
  17. Jody Measmer
  18. Sammy Gooden
  19. Nicholas Naugle
  20. Jerick Johnson
  21. Derek Ramstrom
  22. Corey Heim
  23. Roy Hayes III
  24. Joe Squeglia Jr.
  25. Kodie Conner
  26. Harold Fair Jr
  27. Tyler Church
  28. Jeff Batten
  29. Wyatt Alexander
  30. Gracie Trotter
  31. Jimmy Renfrew
  32. Bubba Pollard

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Matt Weaver is the owner and founder of Short Track Scene. Weaver grew up in the sport, having raced himself before becoming a reporter in college at the University of South Alabama. He also has extensive experience covering NASCAR, IndyCar and Dirt Sprint Cars.

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