Jeffrey Peterson wins attrition-filled CARS Tour West Limited Late Model opener in Las Vegas
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
Author: Rence Brown
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Jeffrey Peterson won the CARS Tour West Limited Late Model race at The Bullring at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway in an attrition-filled, 100 lap event on Saturday to begin the division’s 2026 season.
The 2024 CARS West champion is running a partial Limited Late Model schedule this season while focusing on the track championship at the 0.375-mile Nevada oval, where he entered the evening with two wins.
“It’s huge,” Peterson said. “Starting three for three is big for momentum. We’ve got a strong baseline to build from. The car was a little tight early, but it came to us on the long run. I’m excited to come back in a couple weeks and try to get another one.”
Peterson not only battled the competition but issues inside the race car as well. His cool suit disconnected, soaking the Grand Terrace, California driver, while the hose leading to his helmet also came undone.
“I feel like the race took 10 years to finish. My cool shirt unhooked and sprayed everything with water. Then my helmet hose came unhooked about 15 laps later. So it was a warm one. There was a lot just attrition and thankfully we were able to be there at the end to come out on top.”
Tanner Huddleston won the pole earlier and led the field to green, but the race was quickly slowed for multiple accidents on Lap 4, involving Brian Pannone.
On the following restart, officials ruled Peterson jumped the start, sending him back a row, triggering a caution. At the same time, Byron Bourneman and Caden Cordova made contact off Turn 4, sending Cordova onto the left side of Bourneman’s car. Both drivers slammed into the inside wall but walked away uninjured.
Another crash on Lap 15 brought out the second red flag of the race as Johnny Spilorto spun on the exit of Turn 4 and hit the outside wall, requiring cleanup.
On Lap 38, Peterson made up ground on the leaders, but contact with Kenna Mitchell while battling for third, sent her and Cody Brown spinning down the back straightaway. Both continued but were mired back in traffic.
Huddleston led the first 54 laps before Peterson passed the Agoura Hills, California native for the lead as the race settled in.
A caution flew on Lap 67 when Amellio Thomson and Donald Witkowski made contact, collecting Mikey Killen in the process.
An eighth caution on Lap 72 forced officials to begin counting caution laps, in the interest of time.
After nearly two hours of racing, the field raced the final twenty laps without incident and Peterson took the checkered flag with Huddleston finishing second. They were the only drivers to lead laps.
“That was definitely just an endurance game, trying to keep it together for the long run.” Huddleston said. “It felt like we just kept getting caution after caution. The biggest thing that helped me was having a car that was set up for the long run. I just tried to keep it clean. It was pretty dicey a couple times. There was some crazy stuff happening, but I kept it together. This is probably a finish I’ll remember for a long time.”
Skyler Schoope finished in third place with Mitchell and Brown who both charged their way through the field as the pair finished fourth and fifth respectively.
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