Bobby Pierce celebrating his victory
Bobby Pierce has won a lot of races so far in 2023 but it is highly unlikely that he has had to fight as hard as he did on Saturday night in winning the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned North-South 100 at the Florence Speedway. After starting 13th, the ‘Smooth Operator’ had to grind his way forward before finally wresting the lead away from Hudson O’Neal then surviving an epic late race battle with Ricky Thornton Jr. to claim the crown jewel victory.
The Longhorn Chassis driver from Oakwood, Illinois earned $75,000 from the track located in Union, Kentucky.
A total of 59 cars were entered for competition.
Heat race lineups were determined from points earned during the Thursday and Friday night preliminary races.
Heat Race Results:
Heat 1 Finish- 1. Jimmy Owens, 2. Kyle Bronson, 3. Bobby Pierce
Heat 2 Finish- 1. Spencer Hughes, 2. Garrett Smith, 3. Devin Moran
Heat 3 Finish- . Hudson O’Neal, 2. Ryan Gustin, 3. Daulton Wilson
Heat 4 Finish- 1. Dale McDowell, 2. Chris Ferguson, 3. Jonathan Davenport
Heat 5 Finish- 1. Josh Rice, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Max Blair
Heat 6 Finish- 1. Cory Hedgecock, 2. Stormy Scott, 3. Robby Hensley
B-main Results:
B-main 1 Finish- 1. Donald McIntosh, 2. Brian Shirley
B-main 2 Finish- 1. Earl Pearson Jr., 2. Adam Stricker
Feature Re-cap: The first 36 laps of the 100-lap main event ran caution free with Hughes leading briefly before being passed by Owens in the early going. McDowell, O’Neal and Rice held down the remaining top-5 positions as the competitors logged laps without incident during the first quarter of the affair.
Ferguson worked his way into the top-5 on lap 11 after he and Rice had a spirted fight in the process. Further back, heavy pre-race favorites such as Pierce, Overton, Davenport and Thornton wrestled for position.
O’Neal took the lead away from Owens, a three-time winner of this event, on lap 22. But the three-time winner of this event fought back and contested the top spot with O’Neal until the race’s first caution flag waved on lap 36. Ferguson spun while engaged in a battle with Pierce for fifth.
O’Neal would continue to show the way in a race he has very much sought to win throughout his young career with cautions sprinkled in for Alberson, McIntosh and Bronson. During that time, Pierce began working his c=way forward by using restarts to his advantage before getting around Owens for third-place on lap 39.
McDowell fell victim to Pierce’s charge on lap 42 when he surrendered second.
Now in the runner-up position, Pierce went after O’Neal. Those two contested the lead as the race moved past its halfway mark with O’Neal managing to keep Pierce behind him through those laps.
Just after a lap 58 restart, Pierce had another worry as he and Rice exchanged multiple sliders before Pierce finally emerged with second. Then with just under 30 circuits remaining, Thornton joined the fray leaving the three stars who have dominated so much of the 2023 season running 1-2-3.
On lap 80, both Pierce and Thornton swept by O’Neal to assume first and second respectively. Davenport soon thereafter rose to third briefly by passing O’Neal.
Thornton looked as if he might be on the way to another lucrative win when he passed Pierce for the lead on lap 87 following a restart. However, Pierce would not be denied as he roared back to regain the lead as the two cars make contact at the exit of turn four on lap 90.
Pierce then scooted away from his pursuers to sail under the checkered flag to claim his second career North-South 100 triumph.
Feature Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Ricky Thornton Jr, 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Jonathan Davenport, 5. Daulton Wilson, 6. Chris Ferguson, 7. Earl Pearson Jr, 8. Devin Moran, 9. Max Blair, 10. Kyle Bronson, 11. Dale McDowell, 12. Garrett Alberson, 13. Tim McCreadie, 14. Spencer Hughes, 15. Brandon Overton, 16. Dustin Nobbe, 17. Josh Rice, 18. Jimmy Owens, 19. Tyler Erb, 20. Cory Hedgecock, 21. Adam Stricker, 22. Garrett Smith, 23. Ryan Gustin, 24. Brian Shirley, 25. Donald McIntosh, 26. Stormy Scott, 27. Tyler Bruening, 28. Ross Robinson, 29. Robby Hensley
Click on the play button below to listen to our recorded post-race interview with Bobby Pierce
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