Pierce Brings The Globe Trophy Back to the Land of Lincoln
ROSSBURG, Ohio — After rallying from his 22nd spot Saturday to capture Eldora Speedway’s 46th annual World 100, 19-year-old Bobby Pierce struggled to come to grips with what he’d just accomplished.
“I’ve won some big races, and this is by far the biggest win,” Pierce said in victory lane after his $49,000 victory in Dirt Late Model racing’s biggest event. “It’s going to take, I think, forever to sink in.”
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Luckily for Pierce, who became the youngest winner in the history of the event, he likely has decades of career left to absorb his feat as the first Illinois driver to hoist Eldora’s famed globe trophies.
“It means the world,” said Pierce, who celebrated in victory lane with his father and chassis builder Bob, mother Angie, sister Ciara and girlfriend Maddy. “I kind of dreamed of this day, and when I cross the finish line, am I going to have tears coming out of my eyes or what. But I didn’t … I didn’t, because I think it’s going to take a while to sink in. Like I don’t even think I won it yet. To win it for (his family) is awesome.”
Starting in the 11th row after stirring rally in his heat race, Pierce broke into the top five in the 100-lapper by lap 25, slipped back on lap-37 restart, then caught and overtook fellow Illinois driver Dennis Erb Jr. on the 56th lap and led the rest of the way.
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Erb threatened to challenge late before fading in the final 10 laps in finishing ahead of third-place Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., who split leading the first 55 laps with Erb. Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., posted a career-best fourth-place finish and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla. rounded out the top five.
Pierce not only overcame 29 competitors but the unknowns of the track’s first 100-lap race under new tire rules that prevented teams from grooving or siping tires to enhance performance. “Ever since lap 20, I was thinking, ‘I don’t now how these (tires) are going to last.’ Any time I spun the wheels I just backed off and let it roll,” Pierce said. “There when we had that restart and I got the lead there, I started working ‘em harder and harder and harder, and they stayed under me the whole race.
“When me and Erb were side-by-side on that restart there, I was thinking no Illinois has ever won the World, so if it wasn’t me, I wanted it to be him.”
Erb was going his best to become the first driver to sweep Eldora’s Dream and World 100 in the same season by roaring from his 13th starting spot and into the lead by lap 17, but he ended up in a back-and-forth battle with McDowell the next 38 laps before Pierce went by both of them to take command.
“We come up through there and just came up a little short there. (Pierce) was good up around the top and there was nothing we could do. We ran into lapped traffic there at the end and that’s all we had,” Erb said. “The car took off good. We were able to get a good rhythm there and stay up front, and we knew that’s where we wanted to be — get up front early. I didn’t know what was going to happen with the tire situation. We had a good car and came up through there but just came up a little short.”
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McDowell, who started on an all-50-year-old front row with former teammate Wendell Wallace of Batesville, Ark., was solid in his first Eldora start in a Sweet-Bloomquist car but, like Erb, couldn’t quite keep up with the teenaged Pierce.
Finishing third is “nothing to sneeze at, we were pretty good,” McDowell said. “We’ve still gotta make some adjustments on this car. Congratulations to Bobby, he had a really good car tonight and his whole team and his family and everything … it’s pretty neat to win this deal, I know it is.
“Dennis and I had a helluva race. We were just side-by-side, and if it had been for the lead, it’d have been great. But Bobby spoiled that for us. But it was a good run for us. So we can make some adjustments on this thing and come back and see if we can improve a little bit”
The feature was slowed by seven cautions, none for serious incidents. Ninth-running Josh Richards slowed with a flat left-rear tire on lap 18 and Darrell Lanigan spun in turn two on a lap-37 restart, just after a yellow for debris.
Tim McCreadie drew a lap-41 caution when he slowed in turn two and provisional starter Don O’Neal went around exiting turn two on lap 54 and a yellow flew immediately when Mason Zeigler pulled onto the racetrack in front of the field.
Outside front-row starter Wendell Wallace, who ran among the top five the first 55 laps, slowed on the frontstretch for the final yellow on lap-62.
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