Bobby Pierce: “When you’re winning, you’re having fun”

Although he is only 24 years old, Bobby Pierce is one of the most recognizable figures in the sport of Dirt Late Model racing … and with good reason. The son of National Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame member Bob Pierce, the “Smooth Operator” has already piled up well over 200 feature wins over the course of his career with the 2016 World 100, the 2016 North-South 100, the 2017 Show-me 100, and the 2019 Silver Dollar Nationals among his most noteworthy accomplishments. 

Last week, the Oakwood, Illinois driver made a rare appearance in Tennessee when he entered the Castrol FloRacing Night in America event at the Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap. And while the feature did not go as well as he had hoped after a mechanical issue ended his night early, Pierce was still able to do something he had been looking to do.

In his regular No. 32 ride Pierce has been using power plants provided by Tennessee-based Vic Hill Racing Engines. After missing out on a previous opportunity to drive Hill’s car, the four-time DIRTcar Summer Nationals champion was able to sit behind the wheel of the No. 1v Longhorn Chassis machine at least long enough to qualify and heat race while in east Tennessee. 

“Originally I was going to race this car in the Dirt Track World Championship mostly because I’ve seen guys have success in Longhorns and since I’ve been running Vic’s engines this year it’s been really good and he’s offered his car a few times,” Pierce shared in an interview with InsideDirtRacing.com. “I ended up going to Tri-Cities instead of the Dirt Track World Championship. I was texting him about the Flo Race because I was fourth in points and I told him that I wished he could just race under my name and get me points. He texted me back and told me to just come down and drive his car.” 

But after qualifying 12th overall then finishing 3rd in his heat race in the unfamiliar car on the unfamiliar track, Pierce’s time in the feature was cut short. 

“We were having a pretty good night for my first time being here and my first time in a Longhorn,” Pierce pointed out. “It drove pretty differently at first but we did a couple of things to it that were more to my liking. It felt pretty good in the heat race but we will only be able to make a lap in the feature because there’s a minor issue with something so we’ll just make a lap to get some points.”

So how did a driver from Illinois and an engine builder from Tennessee connect?

“The biggest thing was probably when I had Cody Mallory crewing for me and he suggested Vic’s engines,” Pierce said. “At the time, I wasn’t really sure on where I was going with stuff but I was wanting to try something different. I didn’t really know a lot about Vic, honestly. I knew he raced and was from Tennessee and built engines, that’s about it.” 

The pairing began successfully as Pierce won a DIRTcar Nationals-sanctioned race at Florida’s Volusia Speedway Park with one of Hill’s motors under the hood. To date, those engines have powered Pierce to 20 feature wins in 2021 including the $20,000 Illini 100 at Farmer City(IL) Raceway and the $30,000 Hawkeye 100 at Boone(IA) Speedway

“I started with one of his engines in Florida and liked it right off the bat,” the driver recalled. “Since then, I’ve gotten some engines of his and they’ve all ran super great. I’ve had a really phenomenal year with them. I think it’s been pretty good. I think it turned my season around a little bit. You’ve got to have a good engine at 99% of these tracks you go to and he’s got a good piece.”

Pierce has obviously found the greatest amount of success in his home region. Midwestern tracks and the series that contest races in that part of the country have proven to be his bread and butter. Many of those venues feature less banking and a different type of dirt than are the norm in Tennessee and other parts of the South. 

The four-time DIRTcar National champion believes that branching out will ultimately make him a better all-around racer. 

“When I come to places like this, I enjoy venturing out, but this is definitely different than what I’m used to,” Pierce explained. “When I get back to my stomping grounds, it’s more comfortable and everything comes a little more easily to you because that’s what you’re used to. Tracks like this, Volunteer, it’s a nice track. I like banking and I like high speeds and everything about this track is really cool.”

Pierce used the example of another driver and even a time in his own career when he made a few starts on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to further make his point. 

“I think anytime you get a curveball thrown at you that’s not your norm, you’re going to learn from it and adapt when you get back in your own stuff and be better,” he stated. “When I ran a truck race one weekend then got back in my car, everything felt a little slower. I was going 165mph, I think with Kyle Larson, we see it with him a lot. He’s used to going 200mph every weekend, and these things are really fast, but I’m sure to him it feels a little slower. It definitely helps you out.”

Even though Pierce ranks highly in the Castrol FloRacing Night in America standings, he had to carefully weigh whether or not it was worth it to haul his own car so far away from his shop. Ultimately, sitting in Hill’s seat made more sense. 

“It’s a little easier on you when you’re not travelling as far and you’re familiar with those places so you know your chances of having success are really good. And we don’t really have to venture out, which is really great but I definitely still do. Heck, I’m going to New Mexico and I’m going to Las Vegas and we went to Florida this year and all sorts of places. But if you don’t really have to and you can make money doing it and can turn your career into something fun, and when you’re winning, you’re having fun it definitely helps out if you can do that.”

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