Story By: MIKE WARREN / DIRTCAR – ROSSBURG, OH – A young superstar gained valuable momentum for the 52nd World 100 Friday night at Eldora Speedway.
Bobby Pierce scored one of the two $12,000 victories on the final preliminary night at “The House that Earl Built,” building confidence entering Saturday’s 100-lap $55,000-to-win finale.
Pierce and Ricky Weiss waged war for the lead in front of a packed Eldora Speedway crowd in the final ten laps of Friday’s first preliminary Feature.
Pierce chased Weiss on the outside, before thundering around the Headingly, MB driver to take the lead in Turn 2 with seven laps to go.
However, Pierce’s momentum was slowed immediately in traffic, allowing Weiss a chance to regain the top spot.
Weiss pulled even with Pierce coming out of Turn 4, pinching Pierce closer to the wall and making contact as the two crossed the start-finish line.
Weiss pulled away to take the checkered flag by more than two seconds. However, he was disqualified in post-race technical inspection, giving Pierce the win.
The $12,000 triumph is the Oakwood, IL driver’s 14th victory of the season—one he stated he’ll take knowing how hard it is to reach Eldora’s Victory Lane.
“You always hate to see that for other competitors, knowing how hard everyone works,” Pierce said. “I know it’s a kick to them, but we’ll take it. Anytime we can get on this stage here, no matter what happened, we’ll take it.
“We felt like it was almost our race to win there anyway. Normally this stuff doesn’t happen to me. I don’t get that good luck. I’m really appreciative to get it.”
Kyle Bronson, who led the first 15 laps of the Feature, finished second.
The Brandon, FL driver said his handling was good at the start but struggled with it once he reached lap traffic.
“We took off pretty good there,” Bronson said. “We had a pretty good car. I got a little tight when I caught them lap cars, and I just got up there and got my spoiler knocked off, and then it got really free.
“I just have to do a better job when I catch those cars, and we have to do a few little tweaks to the car to get it better for me.”
Mason Zeigler finished third, Brandon Sheppard was fourth, and Jonathan Davenport rounded out the top five.
After two nights of racing, Chris Madden, the overall points leader, spun a six on Eldora’s Wheel of Misfortune. Six cars will be inverted in each of Saturday’s Heat Races.
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 3. 9Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 4. 1-Brandon Sheppard[10]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[11]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 8. 19M-Wil Herrington[9]; 9. 20-Jimmy Owens[8]; 10. 7R-Kent Robinson[13]; 11. 25-Shane Clanton[14]; 12. 22-Chris Ferguson[16]; 13. 57-Zack Mitchell[15]; 14. 76-Brandon Overton[21]; 15. 55-Jeep Van Wormer[5]; 16. 16-Tyler Bruening[17]; 17. 8-Kyle Strickler[20]; 18. 29-Darrell Lanigan[18]; 19. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[22]; 20. 18-Shannon Babb[12]; 21. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[24]; 22. 9-Devin Moran[23]; 23. 111-Steven Roberts[19]; 24. (DQ) 7-Ricky Weiss[3]