Don’t tell Tyler Peterson he needs a new car. His will do just fine. Peterson’s late model fell off a trailer onto a highway — and he used the Rocket to win his third WISSOTA late model national championship. His modified isn’t tired yet, with more than 50 wins on it.
“I bought a new Rocket, but that old car is still my favorite, so I wound up driving it all season,” Peterson, of Hickson, North Dakota, said. “I guess when it fell off the trailer it flexed out just right.”
[“Tyler Peterson: The Late Model that Fell off a Trailer and Wins”]
He won’t stop racing his 2022 Rage by Black Widow modified, either.
“I just keep welding it and keep on racing it,” Peterson said. “There’s something to be said about being comfortable when you are racing. I see my fellow racers keep chasing and chasing that perfect new car. Being comfortable in my car is most important to me as a driver. That’s why I like to stick with the cars I feel comfortable in.”
He might be onto something. Peterson has won five straight WISSOTA national championships, two with a modified and then three with a late model. In 80 features with the two cars, he won 16 times in the late model and seven with the modified. He also earned the late model track championship at Ogilvie Raceway.
This year, another monumental event upstaged all that success — he and his wife, Sierra, welcomed a baby daughter, Mila.
“I’ve lived for winning all of my life,” Peterson said. “I always played sports growing up and I am a naturally competitive person. Having a baby is better than winning. Having Mila and a family now makes 2025 a really great year.”
Tyler Peterson said he’ll have extra help running his merch next year, as Sierra and Mila will both assist while he continues racing. While home life may have changed, Peterson remains adamant about one thing.
“I’ll still be driving that late model that fell off the trailer,” Peterson said. “I’m not getting rid of that thing.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
