Wayne Peterson

Wayne Peterson (born May 24, 1938) is an American professional stock car racing owner/driver and former paratrooper and United States Army Special Forces member. He currently operates Wayne Peterson Racing, a team in the ARCA Menards Series.

Military career Peterson grew up in a poor family in Boaz, Alabama, and when he was fifteen years old, his high school was visited by Army National Guard recruiters. Attracted by the benefits of food and clothing, he enlisted and entered active duty at the age of sixteen, but was sent back to school upon the discovering of his age. After graduating, he returned to the military and was stationed at Fort Bragg as a paratrooper in the XVIII Airborne Corps. Peterson was a member of the United States Army Parachute Team (Golden Knights), and worked with NASA on performing High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) landings.

Peterson was later assigned to the Third United States Army for thirty days, during which he was placed in the 77th and attended Ranger School in Fort Benning, followed by survival training in Antarctica and language studies in California, the latter in which he learned French and Vietnamese. Peterson served in Germany and Okinawa with the 10th and 1st Special Forces Groups respectively before being deployed to Vietnam in 1963 as an advisor and eventually a combat role. He served multiple tours during the Vietnam War until 1972. However, the mission failed after two aircraft were destroyed during refueling. Peterson compared the debacle and resulting public backlash to that received by American troops withdrawing from Vietnam: "We had to abort, put our tail between our legs, same way we came out of Nam. We just didn't finish the job. [...] We had way too much TV coverage in Nam. The public don't need to know our missions; it messed with intelligence. Nam was a hard time, soldiers condemned for pulling the trigger. Of course, if you waited one second and thought about it, you were dead. We fought for the country, and our own survival. It wasn't pretty. You were there to save your people."

During the 1980s, Peterson began competing in the Automobile Racing Club of America. In 1983, he entered the NASCAR Winston Cup Series' Atlanta Journal 500, but spun out during qualifying due to tire issues. The following year, he tried to qualify for the Daytona 500, but did not make the race after suffering an engine failure in his Twin 125 qualifier and finishing tenth in the consolation race.

Wayne Peterson Racing fields various cars in the ARCA Menards Series. His drivers have included Tim Mitchell, a colorectal cancer survivor who raced for the team in the 2000s; Zachary Gibson, son of ARCA Midget Series racer Larry Gibson and grandson of Indianapolis 500 driver Todd Gibson, in 2009; and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver Clay Greenfield in 2004. Greenfield, described by The Leaf-Chronicle as a "talented kid with no name", finished 12th in his series debut at Salem Speedway, marking the team's strongest finish since 1998. As of 2020, Tim Richmond, Steve Cronenwett and Jim Walker share the team's best race finish of ninth at Toledo Speedway and Talladega in 2004 as well as Toledo in 2020, respectively. The team has continued to field cars for drivers such as Brayton Laster, A. J. Moyer, Nate Moeller, and Cody Dennison.

Personal life Peterson was married to Sarah Peterson and has three sons, Michael, Brian, and Kevin, and five grandchildren, one of which is Ben Peterson, who competed in ARCA for WPR in 2019, 2024, and 2025. Sarah died in February 2008. Peterson currently resides in Pulaski, Tennessee.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series NASCAR Winston Cup Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Pts Ref 1983 Peterson Motorsports 83 Buick DAY RCH CAR ATL DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV BRI CLT RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR NWS CLT CARDNQ ATLDNQ RSD NA - 1984 06 DAYDNQ RCH CAR ATL BRI NWS DAR MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT RSD POC MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV MAR CLT NWS CAR ATL RSD NA -

Daytona 500 Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish 1984 Peterson Motorsports Buick DNQ

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 1983 8 Buick DAY NSV TAL LPR LPR ISF IRP SSP FRS BFS WIN LPR POC TAL26 MCS FRS MIL DSF ZAN SND NA - 1984 Peterson Motorsports 06 Buick DAY ATL TAL22 CSP SMS FRS MCS LCS IRP TAL FRS ISF DSF TOL MGR NA - 1994 Wayne Peterson Racing 06 Pontiac DAY32 TAL FIF LVL KIL TOL FRS MCH DMS POC POC KIL FRS IND I70 ISF DSF TOL SLM WIN ATL 133rd - 2001 Wayne Peterson Racing 6 Chevy DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN28 KEN MCH POC NSH ISF 133rd 165 7 CHI36 DSF SLM TOL BLN CLT TAL ATL 2002 06 DAYDNQ ATL NSH SLM KEN CLT KAN POC MCH TOL SBO KEN BLN POC NSH ISF WIN DSF CHI SLM TAL CLT NA - 2003 27 DAY ATL NSH SLM TOL KEN CLT BLN KAN36 MCH LER 131st 165 06 POC37 POC NSH ISF WIN 0 DSF37 TALDNQ CLT SBO 6 CHIQL† SLM 2004 06 DAY NSH SLM KEN36 TOL CLT KAN21 SBO24 BLN KEN DSF23 CHI SLM TAL 52nd 580 16 POC38 MCHDNQ POCDNQ LER NSH ISF TOL Jan Gibson Racing 56 Chevy GTW33 2005 Wayne Peterson Racing 06 Chevy DAY NSH SLM KEN TOLDNQ LAN MIL POC40 78th 385 09 MCHDNQ DSFDNQ CHI SLMDNQ TAL Day Enterprises 90 Ford KAN37 KEN BLN Wayne Peterson Racing 0 Chevy POC40 Norm Benning Racing 8 Chevy GTW40 LER NSH MCH Wayne Peterson Racing 16 Chevy ISF35 TOL 2006 0 Ford DAY NSHDNQ SLMDNQ WINDNQ KEN TOL POC MCH BLNDNQ POC GTW NSH TOLDNQ DSF35 CHIDNQ SLM TAL IOW 107th 205 Chevy KANDNQ KEN MCHDNQ ISF MIL 2007 DAY USA NSHDNQ SLMDNQ KAN WIN KENDNQ TOL IOW35 POCDNQ MCHDNQ BLN KENDNQ POCDNQ NSH ISF37 MIL39 GTW DSFDNQ CHI SLM TAL TOL 68th 385 2008 DAY SLMDNQ IOWDNQ KANDNQ CAR50 KEN40 POC38 MCHDNQ CAY33 BLN30 POCDNQ NSH41 ISFDNQ DSF36 CHIDNQ SLMDNQ NJE TAL TOL 33rd 1050 Ford TOLDNQ KENDNQ 2009 10 Chevy DAY SLM CAR TAL41 KEN TOL POC 40th 725 0 MCHDNQ IOW37 KEN37 BLN34 DSF36 NJE SLM KAN40 Ford MFD32 TOL31 08 POCDNQ ISF CHI 06 CARDNQ 2010 DAY PBE28 TAL41 ISF35 DSF34 TOL 31st 900 Chevy SLM27 TEX 0 Chevy TOL32 POCDNQ MCHDNQ IOW39 POCDNQ BLN33 NJE35 CHI39 KANDNQ CAR Brad Smith Motorsports 2 Ford MFD31 SLM32 2011 Wayne Peterson Racing 06 Chevy DAY TAL29 NJE32 CHI POC 41st 585 Ford SLM21 TOL IOW36 IRP 0 Chevy MCH39 WIN29 BLN32 KAN38 TOL Ford POCDNQ ISF MAD DSF SLM 2012 06 DAY MOBDNQ SLM26 TAL TOL ELK POC MCH ISF29 MAD SLM DSFC 70th 305 0 WIN26 NJE IOW CHI IRP POC BLN KAN39 2013 Chevy DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL ELK22 POC MCH27 ROA25 WIN22 CHI26 NJE POC31 BLN24 ISF32 KEN31 KAN31 21st 1320 06 Ford MAD26 DSF IOW Chevy SLM26 2014 0 Ford DAY MOB SLM28 TAL TOL 26th 1080 Carter 2 Motorsports 97 Dodge NJE26 POC Wayne Peterson Racing 06 Chevy MCH26 ELK23 WIN19 CHI Ford IRP28 Hylton Motorsports 49 Ford POC31 Wayne Peterson Racing 00 Chevy BLN24 ISF30 MAD28 DSF30 SLM KEN33 KAN 2015 Kimmel Racing 80 Ford DAY MOB25 21st 1505 Wayne Peterson Racing 00 Ford NSH29 SLM26 TAL TOL NJE POC KAN27 Chevy MCH27 DSF29 0 Ford CHI27 WIN21 BLN24 ISF29 SLM28 Chevy IOW29 IRP POC KEN26 2016 Ford DAY NSH SLM25 TAL 18th 1430 00 Chevy TOL27 NJE27 POC MCH32 MAD23 WIN22 IOW28 IRP31 POC BLN25 ISF KAN34 0 DSF21 SLM CHI KEN31 2017 88 DAY NSH SLM TAL TOL ELK POC MCH29 MAD IOW IRP POC WIN ISF ROA DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN 117th 85 2018 1 Ford DAY NSH SLM TAL TOL CLT POC MCH MAD 43rd 465 Chevy GTW 23 CHI IOW ELK POC ISF 0 Dodge BLN DSF Chevy SLM IRP KAN 2019 Toyota DAY FIF SLM TAL NSH TOL CLT POC MCH MAD GTW CHI ELK IOW POC 34th 495 Ford ISF DSF SLM IRP Chevy KAN 2020 DAY PHO TAL POC IRP KEN IOW KAN TOL TOL MCH DAY GTW L44 TOL BRI WIN MEM ISF KAN 32nd 102 2021 06 Ford DAY PHO TAL KAN TOL CLT MOH POC ELK BLN IOW WIN GLN MCH ISF MLW 62nd 59 Chevy DSF BRI SLM Brad Smith Motorsports 48 Chevy KAN † – Qualified for Brian Conz

ARCA Menards Series East ARCA Menards Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pts Ref 2020 Wayne Peterson Racing 0 Chevy NSM TOL DOV TOL BRI FIF 52nd 18 2021 06 NSM FIF NSV DOV 22nd 90 Ford SNM IOW MLW BRI