Pierce Finally Gets Elusive I-55 WoO Late Model Triumph

PEVELY, Mo. – Entering the weekend, Bobby Pierce had done everything at I-55 Federated Auto Parts Raceway Park except win with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series.

He made his second-ever start with the tour at Pevely in 2010 at just 13 years of age. He’s gone to victory lane with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, the MARS Late Model Championship and in local competition.

But on Friday night, Pierce led all 40 laps of the opening night of the St. Louis Firecracker Faceoff to finally complete his dirt late model resume at I-55.

After winning his heat race and drawing the outside of the front row, Pierce got out in front and looked to be cruising to his fifth World of Outlaws late model win of the year early on.

The gap back to Bilstein Pole Award winner Cade Dillard was over a second three laps in, and traffic didn’t seem to slow the No. 32 down a bit.

While Dillard was unable to mount a challenge on the leader, the same couldn’t be said for Ryan Gustin.

The Todd Cooney Motorsports pilot rode third in the opening portion of the race before sliding around Dillard and into second at halfway. By then, Pierce was out front by two seconds, and the margin grew to as large as four seconds 24 laps in.

But as the laps wound down, Gustin turned on the afterburners.

His deficit to the points leader went from four seconds to less than a second in six laps. Gustin’s first World of Outlaws win since March was within reach, and he used every inch of the racing surface looking for a way by.

Gustin was momentarily side-by-side with Pierce for the lead at one point, but Pierce managed to keep him at bay.

Just when it seemed like Gustin’s chance to make a move had evaporated, Tristan Chamberlain spun in turn three to reset the field for a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag.

Pierce would not be denied though, as he took advantage of the clean track to drive away to the 18th overall late model victory of his incredible year thus far.

“I was nervous, but I was pretty nervous before the caution came out too,” Pierce said. “I didn’t know where to go; I saw Ryan under me there right before that caution came out. I tried to get back to the bottom quickly and we did.

“It was a tough racetrack, very tricky to drive. Sometimes being in the lead, it’s tougher than running second.”

Gustin may have planned on settling for second after watching Pierce drive away on the restart, but lurking behind him was the No. 9M of Tim McCreadie.

The pair battled side-by-side for the last two circuits, with McCreadie beating Gustin to the line in a drag race off turn four for the runner-up spot and his third podium in the last four Outlaw races.

“I was just hoping that everybody would get up on the lip,” McCreadie said. “I was making good time around the hub as long as I kept my left side in that strip of brown. It couldn’t have been more than a foot and a half (wide).

“As long as I kept my left rear in it, it just drug me right through there with good traction.”

Despite losing the second spot at the last moment, Gustin’s third-place run kept his string of momentum rolling after a Summer Nationals win at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway earlier in the week and ensured he stayed competitive in the World of Outlaws title chase.

“Hopefully we can gain a few points on Nick [Hoffman], but obviously Bobby, he’s the one to beat right now hands down,” Gustin said. “I’ve got a little work to do to beat him. We had him kind of set up, but I showed him the bottom there and then he peeled off the cushion. Felt like we finally got him where we wanted him and then the caution came out.

“It is what it is. We’ll just keep working on this thing to get it a little bit better, and hopefully we can finish a couple spots further forward tomorrow.”

Jason Feger came home fourth for his best World of Outlaws result of the year, while Ashton Winger drove from 20th to fifth to collect the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

The finish:

Feature (40 laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce [2]; 2. 9M-Tim McCreadie [5]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin [4]; 4. 25-Jason Feger [3]; 5. 12-Ashton Winger [20]; 6. 96-Tanner English [10]; 7. 9-Nick Hoffman [11]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr. [9]; 9. 75-Dillon McCowan [17]; 10. 22*-Drake Troutman [6]; 11. 24-Ryan Unzicker [14]; 12. 19-Dustin Sorensen [18]; 13. 1-Tyler Erb [8]; 14. 49-Jake Timm [27]; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson [25]; 16. 2-Cody Overton [23]; 17. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain [13]; 18. 33-Mike Harrison [21]; 19. B1-Brent Larson [28]; 20. 09-Michael Leach [12]; 21. 74X-Ethan Dotson [24]; 22. 28B-Carson Brown [15]; 23. 3S-Brian Shirley [7]; 24. 97-Cade Dillard [1]; 25. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr. [26]; 26. 11-Jeff Herzog [22]; 27. 5-Mark Whitener [16]; 28. 18-Shannon Babb [19].