Bobby Pierce Bags First Crown Jewel; Wins Sunoco North/South 100
UNION, KY (August 13, 2016) – Bobby Pierce took the lead from Scott Bloomquist on lap 91 and led the rest of the way to win the biggest race in his young career on Saturday night at Florence Speedway. The 19-year-old second generation driver charged from the 16th starting spot to win the 34th Annual Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 – presented by Lucas Oil. Pierce earned $50,000 for his family-owned team. Bloomquist was seeking his first win the annual event since 2000, but settled for second, followed by Dale McDowell, Devin Moran, and Don O’Neal.
“A lot of guys gave me plenty of room tonight. I passed Billy Moyer and then later Scott Bloomquist for the win. I just don’t know what to say; to win a crown jewel at a track that I haven’t raced a lot is really cool. I was just glad the top was there. A big shout out to Bob Pierce Race Cars, Advanced Suspension, Pro Power Engines, Champion Spark Plugs, Allgayer Inc., Hoosier, VP, and all the other sponsors who make it work.”
O’Neal looked strong in the early going by leading the first 32 laps until he and third-place running Jared Landers got hooked up on restart as both cars had to go to the pit area for repairs – losing their spots in the running order. Bloomquist inherited the lead and held on until the high-flying Pierce slid under him entering turn one on lap 91 to take over the top spot.
Pierce nearly scored his first career crown jewel back in May at the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway, but suffered a cut tire just after taking over the lead. “Yes, this is some redemption for what happened at Wheatland. I was just hoping the tire would stay tonight and it did. I want to give a shout out to the Clauson and Floyd Families and tell them we are all thinking of them.”
Bloomquist extended his series points lead over Jonathan Davenport who dropped out of the race and finished 25th. “He [Pierce] ran a good race, the top was where you needed to be. The right tire seems to be fine, our left rear kind of gave up there at the end. We have finished second so many times in this race, but we had a good weekend overall.”
Completing the ten were Dennis Erb Jr., Jackie Boggs, Billy Moyer, Tim McCreadie, and Steve Francis.
Non-Qualifiers Race Finish (30 Laps): Matt Miller, Nick Latham, Kent Robinson, Jake O’Neil, Josh Rice, Justin Rattliff, Chris Combs, Kyle Bronson, Nick Hoffman, Chad Stapleton, Doug Drown, RJ Conley, John Gill, Robby Hensley, Joe Brewer, Jason Feger, Kolby Vandenbergh, Joe Godsey, Jesse Lay, Timothy Culp
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Saturday, August 13th, 2016
34th Annual Sunoco North/South 100
Florence Speedway – Union, KY
Eibach Springs FIRST ROUND Heat Race #1 Finish: Devin Moran, Tommy Bailey, Chris Brown, Dale McDowell, Jason Feger, Joe Godsey, Kolby Vandenbergh, Joe Brewer, Kyle Bronson, Colton Flinner, John Whitney
FK Rod Ends FIRST ROUND Heat Race #2 Finish: Chris Combs, Jake O’Neil, Ricky Weiss, Dennis Erb, Jr., Chad Stapleton, Kent Robinson, Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden, D.J. Wells, Steve Landrum, Jerry Gibson, Jr.
Simpson Performance Products FIRST ROUND Heat Race #3 Finish: Don O’Neal, Michael Chilton, Jason Jameson, Jesse Lay, John Gill, Adam Bowman, Timothy Culp, Nick Latham, Zak Blackwood, Nathan Vawter, Scott James
QA1 FIRST ROUND Heat Race #4 Finish: Jared Landers, Mike Marlar, Darrell Lanigan, Tim Dohm , Steve Francis, Matt Miller, Earl Pearson, Jr., Justin Rattliff, Dustin Nobbe, Austyn Mills, Mason Zeigler
Eibach Springs FIRST ROUND Heat Race #5 Finish: Doug Drown, Brandon Sheppard, Gregg Satterlee, Jonathan Davenport, Ray Cook, Robby Hensley, Ethan Burgess, Trevor Landrum, Jeff Alsip, Jackie Boggs
FK Rod Ends FIRST ROUND Heat Race #6 Finish: Jimmy Owens, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer, Tim McCreadie, Josh Rice, Nick Hoffman, Cody Mahoney, RJ Conley, Mike Benedum, Kenny Cobble
Eibach Springs SECOND ROUND Heat Race #1 Finish: Jonathan Davenport, RJ Conley, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Kent Robinson, Ricky Weiss, Justin Rattliff, Jesse Lay, Adam Bowman, Kolby Vandenbergh, Jackie Boggs-DNS
FK Rod Ends SECOND ROUND Heat Race #2 Finish: Scott Bloomquist, Brandon Sheppard, Earl Pearson, Jr., Josh Rice, Jason Feger, Timothy Culp, Dustin Nobbe, Chris Combs, Jeff Alsip, John Whitney-DNS, Chris Madden-DNS
Simpson Performance Products SECOND ROUND Heat Race #3 Finish: Steve Francis, Dale McDowell, Jimmy Owens, Nick Hoffman, Robby Hensley, Zak Blackwood, Trevor Landrum, Joe Godsey, Nathan Vawter, Jerry Gibson, Jr., Mason Zeigler-DNS
QA1 SECOND ROUND Heat Race #4 Finish: Bobby Pierce, Nick Latham, Ray Cook, Michael Chilton, Chad Stapleton, Tim Dohm , Joe Brewer, Austyn Mills, Kenny Cobble, Devin Gilpin-DNS
Eibach Springs SECOND ROUND Heat Race #5 Finish: Jason Jameson, Matt Miller, Colton Flinner, Mike Marlar, Cody Mahoney, Ethan Burgess, Tommy Bailey, Jake O’Neil, D.J. Wells, Gregg Satterlee, Scott James
FK Rod Ends SECOND ROUND Heat Race #6 Finish: Don O’Neal, Billy Moyer, Dennis Erb, Jr., Chris Brown, Jared Landers, Devin Moran, Doug Drown, Darrell Lanigan, John Gill, Steve Landrum, Mike Benedum
Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Ray Cook, Josh Rice, RJ Conley, Kyle Bronson, Kent Robinson, Chad Stapleton, Timothy Culp, Jason Feger, John Gill, Adam Bowman, Dustin Nobbe, Jeff Alsip, Nathan Vawter, Steve Landrum, Jerry Gibson, Jr.-DNS, Scott James-DNS
Keyser MFG B-Main #2Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Tim Dohm, Ricky Weiss, Matt Miller, Nick Latham, Kolby Vandenbergh, Nick Hoffman, Jesse Lay, Joe Brewer, Colton Flinner, Zak Blackwood, Earl Pearson, Jr., Kenny Cobble, Ethan Burgess, Austyn Mills, John Whitney-DNS, Devin Gilpin-DNS
Sunoco Race Fuels B-Main #3 Line Up (15 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): Tommy Bailey, Jackie Boggs, Jake O’Neil, Doug Drown, Darrell Lanigan, Justin Rattliff, Chris Combs, Robby Hensley, Joe Godsey, Trevor Landrum, Cody Mahoney, Gregg Satterlee-DNS, D.J. Wells-DNS, Chris Madden-DNS, Mike Benedum-DNS, Mason Zeigler-DNS
Feature Line Up (100 Laps):
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 16 | 32 | Bobby Pierce | Oakwood, IL | $50,000 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $10,900 |
| 3 | 8 | 17m | Dale McDowell | Chickamauga, GA | $7,000 |
| 4 | 14 | 99m | Devin Moran | Dresden, OH | $5,000 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $4,800 |
| 6 | 15 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $4,500 |
| 7 | 22 | 4B | Jackie Boggs | Grayson, KY | $3,600 |
| 8 | 6 | 21 | Billy Moyer | Batesville, AR | $3,400 |
| 9 | 17 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $4,050 |
| 10 | 12 | 15F | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | $3,300 |
| 11 | 10 | 97 | Michael Chilton | Salvisa, KY | $3,250 |
| 12 | 9 | 777 | Jared Landers | Batesville, AR | $3,900 |
| 13 | 4 | B5 | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $3,850 |
| 14 | 13 | 21B | Chris Brown | Spring, TX | $3,125 |
| 15 | 5 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $3,900 |
| 16 | 19 | 11B | Tommy Bailey | Corbin, KY | $3,075 |
| 17 | 24 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $3,850 |
| 18 | 25 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $125 |
| 19 | 20 | 11C | Ray Cook | Brasstown, NC | $3,000 |
| 20 | 23 | 15L | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $3,700 |
| 21 | 3 | 12J | Jason Jameson | Lawrenceburg, IN | $3,000 |
| 22 | 11 | 157 | Mike Marlar | Winfield, TN | $3,000 |
| 23 | 26 | 18EX | Ethan Burgess | Sharonville, OH | $3,000 |
| 24 | 21 | 7w | Ricky Weiss | Headingley, MB | $3,000 |
| 25 | 7 | 6 | Jonathan Davenport | Mount Airy, NC | $4,000 |
| 26 | 18 | 6t | Tim Dohm | Charleston, WV | $3,000 |
Race Statistics
Entrants: 62
Lap Leaders: Don O’Neal (Laps 1 – 32); Scott Bloomquist (Laps 33 – 90); Bobby Pierce (Laps 91 – 100)
Cautions: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 32); Don O’Neal, Jared Landers (Lap 32); Jason Jameson (Lap 68); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 81); Ray Cook, Tommy Bailey, Darrell Lanigan (Lap 83)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Darrell Lanigan; Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisional: Colton Flinner
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisionals: n/a
Florence Speedway Provisionals: Ethan Burgess
Wrisco Feature Winner: Bobby Pierce
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Bobby Pierce (Started: 16th; Finished: 1st; Advanced 15 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Jackie Boggs
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Devin Moran
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Pro Power Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Bob Pierce Race Cars
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Bob Pierce (Bobby Pierce)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jason Jameson (Lap #4 – 16.9807 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Scott Bloomquist (47 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Brake Award: Jonathan Davenport
Time of Race: 61 minutes 04 seconds
Category: News
