Published: Aug. 4, 2015
Local driver making noise
BEAVER DAM — Adam Peschek has already put his name amongst
some of the greatest shorttrack racers in Wisconsin history and he’s only 20
years old.
Peschek, a native of Oconomowoc, has won an “A” main feature
this season on an asphalt track and a dirt track.
“If you look at through history of who’s run asphalt and
who’s run dirt, the names that have won on both are huge names, Al Schills and
Brad Muellers and Kenny Richards,” Peschek said. “Just the names are
phenomenal. So to say we’ve done both and run well on both, there’s so many
people that stick to asphalt their whole life or stick to dirt their whole
life. To be able to do both is incredible. It feels good to win on asphalt and
dirt.”
So how different is asphalt and dirt racing?
“It’s like apples and oranges,” Kenny Richards said with a
smile.
Richards is a multitrack champion in the grand national
division at Beaver Dam Raceway. Richards, who parks his car next to Peschek’s
at Beaver Dam, has become a mentor for the budding race car driver.
It started in 2011 when Peschek crashed his thunderstock at
Slinger Superspeedway.
“We were at a turning point,” Peschek said. “The car was
really wrecked. What do we do from here?”
The answer was provided to him when one of Richards’
customers went into the bar owned by Peschek’s father and they started talking.
The customer referred the Pescheks to Richards’ business, Outlaw Chassis, in
Montello.
A relationship was born.
“Everything I’ve learned in the last three or four years has
been from him, car control, setup,” Peschek said of Richards. “He’s helped me
with a lot of my asphalt stuff, too. I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am
without him.”
It was also during that meeting to help repair Peschek’s
thunderstock where the discussion of giving dirt a try also came up. After that
conversation, Peschek attended a couple dirt races. Three years later, he
pulled into the pit area at Oshkosh for his first dirt experience.
Peschek made his dirt debut April 25, 2014.
Peschek came through a “B” main to make the “A” main on a
night 40 cars were registered in the sport modified division. Peschek started
near the end of the “A” main grid and finished eighth.
“I looked at his dad and said ‘We’re going to go
somewhere,’” Richards recalled.
Since then, Peschek has gone back and forth on both surfaces
and has enjoyed success.
“We’ve had so much fun on the dirt,” Peschek said. “Going
from dirt to asphalt tracks every weekend, there’s different people. You start
running on an asphalt track, you’re running against the same people where now
it’s a whole new environment, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Peschek has been around a race track since he was 6 years
old. At that time, his grandfather was a sponsor for area short-track legend Al
Schill. Peschek hung around the garage, helping out any which way he could.
In 2009, Peschek, 14 at the time, started racing, competing
in the thunderstock division at Slinger Superspeedway. In his debut May 17,
2009, Peschek finished sixth in a 16-car field.
Peschek went on to finish ninth in the points that season,
competing in 14 of 18 races.
At Slinger, he’s won two career features (thunderstock in
June 2011 and area sportsman this season). In 2012, Peschek moved up to limited
late models and finished sixth in his debut. He finished 10th in the points
that season.
After his dirt debut at Oshkosh, Peschek made his Beaver Dam
debut May 3, 2014. He finished 17th that night, but he caught on quick after
that.
In his fourth career start July 19, he finished second. In
five starts at Beaver Dam, he had four top-10 finishes. He also won a heat
race.
At Oshkosh in 2014, he made 11 starts. He had seven top-10
finishes, including three top-fives. He finished seventh in the points.
“His smoothness,” Richards said when asked what has
impressed him the most about Peschek. “If you give him a wild, rough, tacky
race track, he adapts to it. If you give him a dry/slick, he adapts to it. He
still gets himself in trouble sometimes because of his lack of experience. But
then there’s times he’ll surprise you, he’ll whip something out that you didn’t
think he could do.”
Peschek’s first career dirt “A” main victory came April 18,
the season opener at Beaver Dam Raceway.
Two weeks later, Peschek won the area sportsman feature at
Slinger.
“When we started, we had no dreams or aspirations,” Peschek
said. “We’ve already gone so much farther already than I ever thought I would.”
“I hope when I’m 70 I’m winning races,” he added.
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