Bobby Pierce takes Fairbury Speedway's MARS DIRTcar Series win! - St. Louis Racing

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Bobby Pierce – Tyler Carr photo

FAIRBURY, IL – Sept. 5, 2020 – Leading the FALS Super Nationals Feature with less than 10 laps remaining, Bobby Pierce had a brief flashback to the final lap of the 2019 Prairie Dirt Classic as he sped around the high-banked quarter mile.

“I was just hoping that no one got a hell of a run like Brandon [Sheppard] did at the Prairie Dirt Classic,” Pierce recalled. “That’s what I was thinking of at the end, something like that happening. Going down the backstretch on the last lap, I was thinking, ‘well, do I cut down just to prevent something?’”

Pierce was maintaining a several-second advantage over second-running Frank Heckenast Jr. in the closing laps of Saturday’s MARS Super Late Model DIRTcar Series Feature at Fairbury Speedway when the memory of him getting passed in the final corner of the track’s biggest race all season popped into his head. Worried that it might happen again, having no idea who was behind him or how close they were, the young Illinoisan put the pedal down and refocused on the task at hand.

Back in reality, the Smooth Operator had little to worry about. He was over 2.5 seconds ahead with no problematic traffic in front of him. Pierce kept it glued to the high side and cruised to his 11th career MARS Late Model Feature win – one worth a cool $10,000.

Just like Thursday night at Farmer City, Pierce’s win on Saturday was just plain dominant. Coming from the pole and leading all 50 laps, Pierce jetted out to a commanding lead in the opening circuits; one he was never challenged for seriously until the race’s only restart on lap 37.

This stacked the field up behind him and put current MARS points leader Frank Heckenast Jr. right on his bumper. Heckenast was reeling Pierce in slightly before the yellow came out but didn’t seem to have the same charge after the restart.

“Frankie [Heckenast] was catching me for a minute, and I had to find another groove, another rhythm to hit there,” Pierce said. “Finally, I did, right before that caution came out. I was pretty nervous with 12 laps to go because I knew my tires were burning up.”

But in the end, things all went smoothly for the operator. His tires held up, his composure stayed with him and it all worked out. And what an incredible weekend it’s been for the Oakwood, IL-driver, winning two of the three MARS Late Model races with a runner-up finish in the other.

DIRTCAR LATE MODELS A FEATURE 1

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	1	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	–
2	3	99JR	Frank Heckenast Jr	Frankfort, IL	1
3	5	3S	Brian Shirley	Chatham, IL	2
4	10	33	Tim Manville	Troy, IL	6
5	4	25	Jason Feger	Bloomington, IL	-1
6	9	10S	Taylor Scheffler	Waukesha, WI	3
7	18	24	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso, IL	11
8	13	25W	Allen Weisser	Peoria, IL	5
9	2	21	Billy Moyer Sr	Batesville, AR	-7
10	16	21B	Rich Bell	Sheffield, IL	6
11	20	74	Mitch McGrath	Waukesha, WI	9
12	21	42	Mckay Wenger	Fairbury, IL	9
13	11	89	Mike Spatola	Manhattan, IL	-2
14	19	9	Eric Smith	Bloomington, IL	5
15 DNF	12	B12	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City, IL	-3
16 DNF	7	83	Scott James	Lawrenceburg, IN	-9
17 DNF	15	35	Derek Chandler	Pontiac, IL	-2
18 DNF	8	18B	Shannon Babb	Moweaqua, IL	-10
19 DNF	6	19R	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown, IA	-13
20 DNF	22	2	Mike Chasteen Jr	Peoria, IL	2
21 DNF	17	M27	Mike Provenzano	Grand Ridge, IN	-4
22 DNF	14	7R	Kent Robinson	Bloomington, IN	-8

12 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSB FEATURE 1

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	1	M27	Mike Provenzano	Grand Ridge, IN	–
2	4	9	Eric Smith	Bloomington, IL	2
Top 2 transfer
3	5	10	Scott Schmitt	Tonica, IL	2
4	3	3	Dale Markham	Maple Park, IL	-1
5	7	1W	Donny Walden	Bloomington, IL	2
6	6	18	Jeffrey Ledford	Poniac, IL	–
7	8	56	Brandon Pralle	Ashkum, IL	1
8	9	28M	Jake Miller	Mendota, IL	1
9 DNF	2	30	Mark Voigt	Marine, IL	-7

12 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSB FEATURE 2

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	1	24	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso, IL	–
2	5	74	Mitch McGrath	Waukesha, WI	3
Top 2 transfer
3	2	42	Mckay Wenger	Fairbury, IL	-1
4	7	2	Mike Chasteen Jr	Peoria, IL	3
5	4	15V	Kolby Vandenbergh	Ashland, IL	-1
6	3	77M	Jay Morris	Watseka, IL	-3
7	9	111	Steven Roberts	Sylvester, GA	2
8	8	76	Titus Sneed	Justice, IL	–
9 DNF	6	12	Jeff Curl	Fairbury, IL	-3

10 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSHEAT 1

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	2	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	1
2	3	3S	Brian Shirley	Chatham, IL	1
3	1	10S	Taylor Scheffler	Waukesha, WI	-2
4	5	25W	Allen Weisser	Peoria, IL	1
Top 4 transfer
5	4	M27	Mike Provenzano	Grand Ridge, IN	-1
6	7	3	Dale Markham	Maple Park, IL	1
7	8	10	Scott Schmitt	Tonica, IL	1
8	6	1W	Donny Walden	Bloomington, IL	-2
9 DNF	9	28M	Jake Miller	Mendota, IL	–

10 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSHEAT 2

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	2	99JR	Frank Heckenast Jr	Frankfort, IL	1
2	4	83	Scott James	Lawrenceburg, IN	2
3	6	89	Mike Spatola	Manhattan, IL	3
4	1	35	Derek Chandler	Pontiac, IL	-3
Top 4 transfer
5	5	30	Mark Voigt	Marine, IL	–
6	3	9	Eric Smith	Bloomington, IL	-3
7	7	18	Jeffrey Ledford	Poniac, IL	–
8	8	56	Brandon Pralle	Ashkum, IL	–

10 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSHEAT 3

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	1	25	Jason Feger	Bloomington, IL	–
2	3	19R	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown, IA	1
3	4	33	Tim Manville	Troy, IL	1
4	2	7R	Kent Robinson	Bloomington, IN	-2
Top 4 transfer
5	7	24	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso, IL	2
6	5	77M	Jay Morris	Watseka, IL	-1
7	6	74	Mitch McGrath	Waukesha, WI	-1
8	8	2	Mike Chasteen Jr	Peoria, IL	–
9	9	111	Steven Roberts	Sylvester, GA	–

10 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSHEAT 4

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	+/-
1	1	21	Billy Moyer Sr	Batesville, AR	–
2	2	18B	Shannon Babb	Moweaqua, IL	–
3	3	B12	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City, IL	–
4	7	21B	Rich Bell	Sheffield, IL	3
Top 4 transfer
5	5	42	Mckay Wenger	Fairbury, IL	–
6	4	15V	Kolby Vandenbergh	Ashland, IL	-2
7	8	12	Jeff Curl	Fairbury, IL	1
8	6	76	Titus Sneed	Justice, IL	-2

2 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSQUALIFYING 1

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	Time
1	10	10S	Taylor Scheffler	Waukesha, WI	12.936
2	2	35	Derek Chandler	Pontiac, IL	13.076
3	1	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	13.101
4	5	99JR	Frank Heckenast Jr	Frankfort, IL	13.140
5	11	3S	Brian Shirley	Chatham, IL	13.141
6	15	9	Eric Smith	Bloomington, IL	13.162
7	13	M27	Mike Provenzano	Grand Ridge, IN	13.178
8	14	83	Scott James	Lawrenceburg, IN	13.277
9	6	25W	Allen Weisser	Peoria, IL	13.368
10	16	30	Mark Voigt	Marine, IL	13.391
11	9	1W	Donny Walden	Bloomington, IL	13.477
12	4	89	Mike Spatola	Manhattan, IL	13.526
13	12	3	Dale Markham	Maple Park, IL	13.553
14	17	18	Jeffrey Ledford	Poniac, IL	13.724
15	7	10	Scott Schmitt	Tonica, IL	13.874
16	8	56	Brandon Pralle	Ashkum, IL	14.002
17	3	28M	Jake Miller	Mendota, IL	14.212

2 Laps

DIRTCAR LATE MODELSQUALIFYING 2

Finish	Start	#		Hometown	Time
1	4	25	Jason Feger	Bloomington, IL	13.162
2	1	21	Billy Moyer Sr	Batesville, AR	13.186
3	10	7R	Kent Robinson	Bloomington, IN	13.244
4	11	18B	Shannon Babb	Moweaqua, IL	13.263
5	7	19R	Ryan Gustin	Marshalltown, IA	13.273
6	13	B12	Kevin Weaver	Gibson City, IL	13.282
7	2	33	Tim Manville	Troy, IL	13.373
8	14	15V	Kolby Vandenbergh	Ashland, IL	13.374
9	6	77M	Jay Morris	Watseka, IL	13.401
10	15	42	Mckay Wenger	Fairbury, IL	13.427
11	17	74	Mitch McGrath	Waukesha, WI	13.500
12	3	76	Titus Sneed	Justice, IL	13.508
13	9	24	Ryan Unzicker	El Paso, IL	13.508
14	8	21B	Rich Bell	Sheffield, IL	13.528
15	5	2	Mike Chasteen Jr	Peoria, IL	13.607
16	12	12	Jeff Curl	Fairbury, IL	13.747
DNS	16	111	Steven Roberts	Sylvester, GA

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