Bobby Pierce is under a 1-year contract with Dunn-Benson Motorsports
Bobby Pierce: “There’s rumors, like always. But, I don’t think any of the rumors are true.”
For the 2018 dirt late model season, Bobby Pierce engaged in a new venture. He signed on with Dunn-Benson Motorsports and hit the road with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
Pierce left the nest for the first time in his career. He made the switch from his father’s Bob Pierce Race Cars machine to a Rocket Chassis.
At first, he struggled to get a handle on the new machine. After all, he spent his whole career driving a different machine. It was the first time he spent any extended period of time behind the wheel of anything other than a Pierce chassis.
It took him a few months, but he got a handle on it. 23 races into the season, he picked up his first win for Dunn-Benson Motorsports. That win came at Tri-City Speedway on April 27th. That win came on a home track for the 21-year-old.
The next win was also on home turf. The very next night, he took the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win at Macon Speedway. Back to back win in the state of Illinois.
Related: Bobby Pierce discusses the Illinois sweep
This was the first time you ran a national tour. What’s your assessment of the season so far?
“It’s been really fun getting to all these new places. There’s been about 20 tracks that are new for me this year,” Bobby Pierce explained to RacingNews.co just ahead of the Pittsburgher 10o. A race he would go on to win.
“That always helps to make you a better driver. You don’t wanna just stick around at your local track. You want to venture out as much as you can. We did a lot of that this year. That really helps.”
“The Lucas Series is one of the most top notch series out there. Definitely, in the late model world. They’ve got some of the biggest races. It’s just really good to be able to be racing against all these guys like Bloomquist, Davenport, O’Neal, Lanigan and all the guys that have been doing it forever.”
“You really learn a lot off of them. That’s what I’ve been doing this year at some of these places that I don’t know very well.”
Bad luck
Pierce has collected four wins so far in 2018. He won the $20,000 show at Brownstown Speedway on September 23rd. That was followed by his most recent win which came over the weekend in the Pittsburgher 100, another $20,000 victory.
But, he should have a lot more. At Brown County Speedway, Pierce had his throttle pedal stick while leading. That’s not ideal. Yet, he led nearly the entire race, with the struck throttle. The engine eventually blew, on the final lap. Pierce coasted across the finish line to finish in 3rd.
Later in July, Pierce was leading in the closing laps of the Silver Dollar Nationals at I-80 Speedway. He was gone, nobody could touch him. He was just cruising to the win. Until, with less than 5 laps to go, smoke started to appear from the back of the machine. Pierce lost another motor. That would have been a $53,000 payday for the win.
In August, Pierce battled hard for the $202,939.50 victory in the inaugural Dirt Million at Mansfield Motor Speedway. He was beating down the cushion in a race with Earl Pearson Jr. He came up just short with a runner-up finish in the event.
In total, Pierce has nine runner-up finishes for 2018. He’s currently 7th in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series point standings.
“Really, we’ve had a really good year. We should be like 3rd in points. If all that stuff didn’t happen, it would be a really good year. We would have won a lot more races. But, that’s just how it goes.”
“For next year, all these tracks I’ve been to now — If I go back to them, I think I’ll be better at them.”
When you were growing up, were you a fan of any particular driver that stands out. One that you’re now racing against?
“Yeah. I kinda just looked up to everybody. Because, I knew someday I’d probably be racing late models too and maybe be racing against them. I wasn’t really sure back then.”
“I just enjoyed racing. More so, I watched a lot of modified races. I was a fan of a lot of guys that had my dad’s cars back then that I cheered for.”
There’s a lot of speculation about you for next year. The rumors are running rampant. But, are those people onto anything or are they just making up stuff?
“There’s rumors, like always. But, I don’t think any of the rumors are true,” Pierce states.
“As far as what I’m doing, I’m not really sure right now.”
“I’m on a one year contract with this deal. When it ends, we’ll sit down and talk about what we might or might not do next year. We’ll just have to see.”
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is heading into their final race. The Dirt Track World Championship is set for Portsmouth Raceway Park on October 19-20.
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Links
Bobby Pierce | Dunn Benson Motorsports | Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
