Sports

By Derek Levarse dlevarse@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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LONG POND – Seven years ago, Shaun Peet’s idea of a jackman was his pugilistic teammate Dennis Bonvie.

In 2001, Peet was still with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, playing in seven playoff games during the franchise’s first run to the Calder Cup finals.

While the Penguins are in their third championship series here in 2008, Peet has since made the career change from hockey defenseman to NASCAR jackman.

“I’d never even seen a race,” Peet said, laughing. “If you would’ve told me I’d be standing here talking about this 10 years ago, I would’ve absolutely said no way.”

But the unorthodox transition came naturally. Success had been hard to come by in hockey, but now Peet, 33, finds himself competing for honors with a pit crew in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Serving on the crew of Brian Vickers and the No. 83 Red Bull Toyota, Peet’s career has taken off in a new direction. Vickers led for 18 laps in Sunday’s Pocono 500 and finished second, less than a month after Peet and his team won the Pit Crew Challenge during All-Star Weekend in Charlotte.

“It’s such a good transition,” Peet said. “You’re still part of a team, you still have an adrenaline rush, the money’s fantastic and you still get to travel. It’s an easier transition than you’d think.”

Hockey had been Peet’s life for many years, initially traveling 3,000 miles from his hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia – just off the mainland of western Canada on Vancouver Island – to play at Dartmouth College.

Undrafted, Peet bounced around various professional leagues, with his brief stop in the AHL with the Penguins being the highest level he reached.

Peet scored his lone AHL goal during his eight-game regular season stint with the Pens and appeared in all four of the team’s playoff series in 2001, including the finals against Saint John.

“That is the highlight of my hockey career,” Peet said. “Just the way the fans were in Wilkes-Barre -- from the time we beat Hershey (in the 2001 conference finals) and half the town was in front of the arena to greet everyone as they came back. And how they packed the place and everyone was wearing white. The guys in Wilkes-Barre are fortunate to have the fans they do.”

The Penguins even indirectly got him started on the road to racing.

Peet nearly stuck on with the Penguins the following season but was eventually cut. He went down a level to the ECHL to play in Greensboro, N.C. – much more racing country than hockey country.

A friend would take him and his father – a garage owner back in Canada – on a tour for Bill Davis Racing. And a new future gradually began to unfold.

“They were doing pit practices at one of the places and the crew chief said, ’Get the hockey player in here,’ kind of joking around,” Peet said. “But it came real easily for me and they wanted to know if I wanted a job. I thought they were kidding. ... They called me and said, ’Look, we’re serious. We want you.’”

So it began for Peet, who would play hockey with a new team out in New Mexico until his season ended and then switched immediately over to racing mode, sometimes within a 24-hour window.

From BDR, Peet moved along to Chip Ganassi Racing, where he worked on Casey Mears’ crew for three years, then for Reed Sorenson for a year. He ended his hockey career in 2005 and has worked with Vickers at recently formed Team Red Bull for the last two seasons.

While many NASCAR drivers don’t speak highly of Pocono, Peet said he will always have fond memories of the area because of his history here.

“It brings back some good memories,” Peet said with a smile. “Sounds like I’m in the minority that actually would like to see both races stay. Because I like it here. I do.”