Bobby Pierce
On Thursday night at Iowa’s Davenport Speedway the DIRTcar Summer Nationals reached the one-fourth mark of its 2021 campaign with eight of its 32 races scheduled now completed. Bobby Pierce left that quarter-mile track after having written his name even deeper into the record books of the historic Midwestern-based series that challenges drivers and teams by having them traverse much of that part of the country often competing on consecutive nights over a relatively short period of time.
Pierce’s win in Davenport was the 31st of his career on the so-called ‘Hell Tour’ which now ranks him fifth all-time on that list trailing only Billy Moyer, Shannon Babb, Don O’Neal, and Brian Shirley. The Oakwood, Illinois driver improved his position by one spot earlier this season when he passed by Scott Bloomquist in total number of Summer Nationals victories.
In all, the ‘Smooth Operator’ has won four times on this year’s tour which amounts to half the races contested so far. He also padded his lead in the series standings with the triumph.
Just because the 24-year-old driver holds a solid lead in the series standings at this time, however, does not mean that a fourth Summer Nationals championship is a lock. Pierce does not plan to run all of the scheduled races which may or may not hurt his chances of collecting a title.
“For sure, it’s definitely been a good start,” Pierce declared on Wednesday night after his third win of 2021 at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway. “We haven’t really been worrying about points that much because we came into it figuring we’re not going to run it all. I’m still not going to run it all, but we’re still gonna go out there and win as many races as we can.”
But unlike previous years on the Hell Tour, drivers will be allowed to drop some of their poorer finishes, or missed races, from their record. Depending on the number of races actually contested, only a certain number will be counted in the final standings. In other words, Pierce could still win the championship even if he does not enter all of the races.
Another significant difference in this year’s tour is the fact that the schedule is not as condensed as it has been in previous years. Rather than run thirty or so races in the span of a just over one month, the events have been spread out allowing for more breaks while using up more of the calendar than ever before.
Pierce entered the feature at Davenport with a lead of 51 points over Tanner English. Brian Shirley, Ashton Winger, and Jason Feger rounded out the top-5 prior to that race. With the new series policy of allowing drivers to miss some races, Pierce could potentially tie Shirley with four championships when all is said and done. But as stated earlier, the grueling series is only 25% complete to date.
Pierce and Shirley have spent the past several years exchanging Summer Nationals honors. Pierce took three consecutive titles between 2015 and 2017. Since then, Shirley has scored three consecutive championships of his own between 2018 and 2020.
The list of past Summer Nationals champions reads like a who’s who of Dirt Late Model racing history. Aside from Pierce and Shirley, legendary racers such as Billy Moyer, Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Don O’Neal, Dennis Erb Jr., and even Pierce’s father, Bob Pierce, have endured the grind to earn that recognition.
That trend of exchange between Pierce and Shirley has even continued this year in terms of race wins as the two drivers battle for position on the all-time feature wins list. Shirley’s two victories on the 2021 tour have lifted him to a career total of 35 while, as mentioned before, Pierce’s four triumphs this season have raised him to a total of 31.
Bobby Pierce now has 31 career Hell Tour wins
After winning the first two Summer Nationals races held this year, Pierce then went two weeks before taking the checkered flag at Beaver Dam. In the meantime, Shirley earned his two trophies in Illinois at LaSalle Speedway and Sycamore Speedway.
“It felt really good to get a win, it’s been a while here,” Pierce declared in Davenport’s victory lane. “I guess me and Brian, maybe next week he’ll get the first two. It seems that’s the way it’s going. I hope to knock that streak off. Maybe tomorrow we can get another win and make it three in a row.”
One thing the driver of the Vic Hill Racing Engines-powered Pierce Platinum Race Car noted immediately following his most recent win was the support offered from the grandstands.
“I’m not used to that. Normally half of them are boos so I feel good.”
The Summer Nationals will be busy in Illinois over the Independence Day weekend racing on Friday at Dirt Oval Route 66 Raceway then on Saturday at Fayette County Speedway and on Sunday at Lincoln Speedway.
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