2022 NASCAR Chilly Willy at Tucson Speedway

Preston Peltier Becomes First Two-Time Chilly Willy 150 Winner

Preston Peltier Becomes First Two-Time Chilly Willy 150 Winner

With his win Sunday afternoon, Preston Peltier became the only two-time winner of the Chilly Willy 150 at Tucson Speedway.

Jan 24, 2022 by Brandon Paul
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Preston Peltier entered a category of his own Sunday afternoon at Tucson Speedway. The veteran Super Late Model driver from Colorado came out on top of an eventful Chilly Willy 150 to become the first two-time winner in the event's nine-year history. 

Peltier bested a field of 29 Super Late Models to win the race and take home the $10,000 winner's check for the second time in three years. 

"First of all, I've got to thank Ed and Eddie Vecchiarelli for putting me in top-notch equipment," Peltier said in victory lane. "I can't thank them enough. It takes a lot of people and a lot of resources to put a team like this together. I'm just thankful to be a part of it."

After setting quick time in qualifying on Saturday, Peltier earned the pole position for the 150-lap main event. He led the opening 20 laps before surrendering the lead to Brett Yackey, who led briefly before Peltier's team owner Eddie Vecchiarelli took over the top spot. 

Vecchiarelli showed the way up front until the halfway break gave Peltier a chance to get back by his boss. 

On the restart, Peltier used momentum on the outside groove to work his way by Vecchiarelli on Lap 76. 

A few laps later, Vecchiarelli closed back in on Peltier and the two raced side-by-side for a handful of laps. On Lap 83, the two teammates made contact entering turn one and Vecchiarelli spun in front of the field, dropping him all the way back to the 20th position for the restart.

With Vecchiarelli dropping to the rear. the story of the second half of the race became inaugural Chilly Willy winner Dustin Ash. Restarting in 19th after the halfway break, Ash charged all the way up to the runner-up position with less than 25 laps to go. 

A caution with five laps to go appeared to give Ash the opportunity he'd need to challenge Peltier for the win; however, during the caution he took his No. 11 to the pit area and retired from the race with a mechanical issue. 

That put Kody Vanderwal on the front row with Peltier for the late-race restart. The two drivers made contact on the first attempt at a restart before a multi-car incident behind them resulted in a red flag. 

On the second restart attempt, Peltier switched to the inside groove. After a brief side-by-side battle, Peltier moved in front of Vanderwal and defended an attempted crossover move. From there, he pulled away in the closing laps to win by a margin of 1.145 seconds. 

"I'll tell ya, this is an awesome track to race on," Peltier said. "You can race top, bottom, middle, three-wide. It's the only place in the country that I feel comfortable running three-wide with locals. We can't wait to come back next year."

Behind Peltier and Vanderwal, Vecchiarelli charged all the way back to the front to complete the podium. 

After the race, he offered a few words of advice for his driver and employee. 

“I told Preston three things you never do: you don’t eat yellow snow, you don’t fart in the wind and you don’t spin the boss out," Vecchiarelli said jokingly. "He better be thankful I didn’t get back to him.”

Ron Norman finished fourth, while defending Tucson Speedway track champion Brett Yackey finished fifth as the last car on the lead lap. 

Those who missed Sunday's 9th Annual Chilly Willy 150 can watch a full replay on FloRacing.