Bobby Pierce and Tim McCreadie comment after contact in the fight for the win and the $53,000 Silver Dollar Nationals payout
Tim McCreadie started on the front row in the Silver Dollar Nationals on Saturday night. He went on to lead the first 30 laps of the 80-lap late model feature at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska.
However, Bobby Pierce was knocking down the wall behind him in a charge to the front.
On a restart, McCreadie was pushed down the straight-away. The next lap, Pierce slid McCreadie for the lead in turn three.
On the exit of turn four, Pierce left a lane on the outside. However, McCreadie tucked in behind him and drove under his fuel cell.
McCreadie suffered moderate left front damage. A yellow soon followed from a separate incident. Under yellow, Pierce pulled alongside McCreadie and the drivers exchanged sign language from the cockpit.
All night, Pierce struggle on restarts. When they went back green, McCreadie had a run into turn one. He slid him and the drivers made contact off turn two as McCreadie pushed up the banking on corner exit.
Pierce fell to 4th but he was persistent in his chase for the win. Multiple times, he fell out of the lead. Each time, he fought back to the front, inches from the wall.
In the end, Pierce made a late race pass on the outside of Chris Madden. He remained on the cushion, with sparks flying all the way to the $53,000 winning prize. The win is the biggest of his career.
Tim McCreadie on the race with Bobby Pierce
Walk me through what happened on the initial pass between you and Bobby?
“Oh, I got into him,” Tim McCreadie told RacingNews.co .
“The lap before… I don’t know who turned me the wrong way down the front stretch. I just didn’t know who it was and that was the first guy I saw.”
“I just thought, ‘Man, it’s weird that for 30 plus laps I don’t see nobody beside me and the first car that comes along, cranks me the wrong way down the front stretch.’ “
“So, I figured I’d give him a little. Unfortunately, I jammed in there too hard. I’m not used to doing that stuff to people. So, I don’t know how to do it right.”
“I don’t even know if it was him behind me. Somebody turned me the wrong way down the front stretch. Then the next lap, he slid me. So, I thought I’d do the same thing back.”
So, you just tried to get into the back of him a little bit?
“Just like he did to me. I just got in there too far. It was a mistake on my part.”
“I got no problems with him though. It was good hard racing,” McCreadie concluded.
Bobby Pierce on Tim McCreadie
What was your take on what happened between you and McCreadie?
“Well, on these long races, you wanna get by someone as quick as you can. So, you don’t have to fight them and burn your stuff up,” Bobby Pierce explained after the race.
“I was kinda pacing myself a little bit. I got to him and I was stuck behind him for a bit. Alright, I need to start making moves.”
“I dropped down and showed my nose a few times. The caution came out and I got back to him. I tried to slide him. Then, I was like, ‘Nah, I’m just going to back off and go to the middle.’ “
“So, I went to the middle and left him a lane or two. I was waiting for him to blow by me because that was a bad corner. And all the sudden, he hits me in my right rear. And he’s just one the gas.”
“Ok, he’s trying to flatten my tire or something, wreck me.”
“The caution came out. I pulled alongside him like, ‘What are you doing?’ And he’s giving hand motions.”
“Whatever. We got back going. He slid me in turn one but wasn’t very good. I jumped the cushion and almost got the wall.”
“I got going again, got around him. I got the lead and just tried to hang on after that.”
“But, it’s pretty bad when you give a guy a lane.”
Well, let me tell you what he was trying to hand signal you under that caution. He was upset that somebody got into him down the straight away.
“That wasn’t me,” Pierce concluded.
More
Silver Dollar Nationals Results
Bobby Pierce will become a car owner for 2019
Tim McCreadie on words of wisdom from Tony Stewart; Discusses the tiny trailer
Tim McCreadie talks dirt late model finances
McCreadie compares modern NASCAR rules to the old days
McCreadie has no interest in running the Eldora Dirt Derby
Links
Bobby Pierce | Tim McCreadie | Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series | I-80 Speedway
