Pierce Grabs First Win of 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Belle-Claire Speedway
By Jordan Morris
BELLEVILLE, Ill. — July 1, 2014 — Bobby Pierce was one of three different drivers to control the top stop Tuesday night at Belle-Claire Speedway, as he made a daring pass on Shannon Babb with four laps to go to claim the lead and the $5,000 checkered flag, his first of the 2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals season.
2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion Brandon Sheppard captured the pole position, with Randy Korte starting on his outside. Bobby Pierce started just behind them in the third position.
On the first lap, Korte would slingshot around Sheppard, keeping the pole-sitter from leading a single lap all night. Korte led the most laps of the night as he controlled the top spot for the first 17 laps of the 40-lap feature. Korte eventually was chased down by a charging Pierce and Shannon Babb, who started the race in the fourth position.
Pierce made his way to the lead but couldn’t pull away from Babb, as he led only seven laps before Babb grabbed the lead on lap 25. Babb looked as if he would capture his third win of the season with ease after securing the top spot and leading the next 11 laps.
Unfortunately for Babb, Pierce had just enough left in his car to surge his way back to the front and challenge the leader for the win. Pierce would not be denied the victory as he caught and passed Babb with a thrilling, go-for-broke slide job on lap 36. Pierce held off Babb for the remaining four laps, capturing the victory at Belle-Claire Speedway.
“When you’re leading the race and then you end up losing it, no matter what you have to do, you wanna get that lead back,” said the 17-year-old Pierce. “I had a couple of good corners right in a row there, I caught Babb, and I knew that [a slider] was the only chance I had.”
Brandon Sheppard, Ryan Unzicker, and Randy Korte rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners included Pierce, Babb, Korte, and Sheppard.
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues on Wednesday night as they join the DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals at Jacksonville Speedway in Jacksonville, Ill.
DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Belle-Claire Speedway; Belleville, Ill; July 2, 2014; A-Main (40-laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce ($5,000), 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 5. 0-Randy Korte, 6. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 7. 24T-Matt Taylor, 8. 81-Brian Shirley, 9. 10-Daryn Klein, 10. 6K-Michael Kloos, 11. 1S-Rick Salter, 12. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 13. 16H-Mike Hammerle, 14. 1M-Jim Moon, 15. 28B-John Beck, 16. 27S-Mike Schulte, 17. T4-Adam Tischhauser, 18. 20-Alan Westling, 19. 91-Rusty Schlenk, 20. 25L-Steve Lance Jr, 21. 29W-Brian Divley, 22. 30V-Mark Voigt.
2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule
|
Date |
Day |
Track |
Location |
Win |
|
June 11 |
Wed |
Brownstown Speedway |
Brownstown, Ind. |
RAIN |
|
June 12 |
Thur |
Kankakee Co. Speedway |
Kankakee, Ill. |
Billy Moyer |
|
June 13 |
Fri |
Cedar Lake Speedway |
Somerset, Wis. |
Rick Eckert |
|
June 14 |
Sat |
Cedar Lake Speedway |
Somerset, Wis. |
RAIN |
|
June 15 |
Sun |
Wilmot Raceway |
Wilmot, Wis. |
Rick Eckert(2) |
|
June 16 |
Mon |
Off |
||
|
June 17 |
Tue |
Farley Speedway |
Farley, Iowa |
Shannon Babb |
|
June 18 |
Wed |
Spoon River Speedway |
Canton, Ill. |
Jason Feger |
|
June 19 |
Thur |
Quincy Raceways |
Quincy, Ill. |
RAIN |
|
June 20 |
Fri |
Tri-City Speedway |
Pontoon Beach, Ill. |
Billy Moyer(2) |
|
June 21 |
Sat |
Fairbury Speedway |
Fairbury, Ill. |
RAIN |
|
June 22 |
Sun |
I-96 Speedway |
Ionia, Mich. |
Brian Shirley |
|
June 23 |
Mon |
Peoria Speedway |
Peoria, Ill. |
Brandon Sheppard |
|
June 24 |
Tue |
Off |
||
|
June 25 |
Wed |
Clarksville Speedway |
Clarksville, Tenn. |
Shannon Babb(2) |
|
June 26 |
Thur |
Clayhill Motorsports |
Atwood, Tenn. |
Brian Shirley(2) |
|
June 27 |
Fri |
Paducah Int. Raceway |
Paducah, Ky. |
RAIN |
|
June 28 |
Sat |
Federated Auto Parts Raceway |
Pevely, Mo. |
Brian Birkhofer |
|
June 29 |
Sun |
Lincoln Speedway |
Lincoln, Ill. |
Brady Smith |
|
June 30 |
Mon |
Off |
||
|
July 1 |
Tue |
Belle Clair Speedway |
Belleville, Ill. |
Bobby Pierce |
|
July 2 |
Wed |
Jacksonville Speedway |
Jacksonville, Ill. |
$5,000 |
|
July 3 |
Thur |
LaSalle Speedway |
LaSalle, Ill. |
$5,000 |
|
July 4 |
Fri |
Fayette Co. Speedway |
Brownstown, Ill. |
$7,500 |
|
July 5 |
Sat |
Highland Speedway |
Highland, Ill. |
$10,000 |
|
July 6 |
Sun |
Tri-State Speedway |
Haubstadt, Ind. |
$5,000 |
|
July 7 |
Mon |
Off |
||
|
July 8 |
Tue |
Florence Speedway |
Union, Ky. |
$5,000 |
|
July 9 |
Wed |
Terre Haute Action Track |
Terre Haute, Ind. |
$5,000 |
|
July 10 |
Thur |
Macon Speedway |
Macon, Ill. |
$5,000 |
|
July 11 |
Fri |
Farmer City Raceway |
Farmer City, Ill. |
$10,000 |
|
July 12 |
Sat |
34 Raceway |
Burlington, Iowa |
$10,000 |
|
July 13 |
Sun |
Vermilion Co. Speedway |
Danville, Ill. |
$5,000 |
|
July 14 |
Mon |
Off |
||
|
July 15 |
Tue |
TBA |
||
|
July 16 |
Wed |
Atomic Speedway |
Chillicothe, Ohio |
$5,000 |
|
July 17 |
Thur |
Brushcreek Motorsports Complex |
Peebles, Ohio |
$5,000 |
|
July 18 |
Fri |
Attica Raceway Park |
Attica, Ohio |
$5,000 |
|
July 19 |
Sat |
Oakshade Raceway |
Wauseon, Ohio |
$10,000 |
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), Velocita (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.
