Pierce seizes command late to capture 25th annual Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway

 

WHEATLAND, Missouri (May 29, 2017) – After nearly winning his first Show-Me 100 a year ago, Bobby Pierce finished it off this time.

Pierce led the final 14 laps, overtaking Earl Pearson Jr. and pulling away down the stretch to capture the 25th Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtectetheHarvest.com Sunday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

“It’s not the World (100) or the North-South, but it feels just the same if not better,” the 20-year-old Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., said after earning the $30,000 first prize. He’s now won all three of those “crown jewel” races in the last 10 months.

Pierce finished 3.299 seconds ahead of Pearson with Tim McCreadie third, Scott Bloomquist fourth and Jonathan Davenport – who drove from a 30th starting position – fifth.

Delayed by a day due to severe weather, the 100-lap main event did not disappoint. While Pearson dominated most of the way, leading 84 laps, it was the 14th-starting Pierce who had the right stuff at the right time.

The young star advanced from 29th to the lead a year ago before a flat tire, under caution, relegated him to a sixth-place Show-Me 100 finish.

“Whenever you can get a win, whether it’s a local race of a crown jewel like this, it’s the best thing in the world,” Pierce said, adding that that he had to work harder this year than last – even though he had only half as far to come.

“That race would make your car get up on two wheels,” Pierce said of 2016. “This race, it made your car bounce, like a basketball. It wasn’t smooth, but it was a good track for racing.”

Pole-sitter McCreadie, of Watertown, N.Y., led the first two laps before Pearson grabbed the lead coming out of turn two on lap No. 3. The Jacksonville, Fla., veteran wouldn’t give it up Pierce took over coming out of turn two on lap 87.

Pierce negotiated lapped traffic to win by a comfortable margin and an estimated crowd of 6,000 cheered as he took the checkered flag, then again as he emerged from his car in victory lane.

“The track was smooth when we started and then it got choppy,” Pearson said. “Bobby’s the man to beat in that situation. It got choppy and I was watching the leaderboard and saw that 32 coming. I knew it was gonna be hard to beat him.”

The race was red-flagged on lap 11 when Payton Looney of Republic, Mo., slowed down and came to a halt in turn two as flames shot out from underneath his car.

Looney, 22, was making his first Show-Me 100 start after qualifying sixth. He was debuting a new motor, but his night came to an early end and he wound up 30th.

“I don’t really know what happened. It just locked up,” Looney said. “It’s a disappointing end to a great weekend.”

Pierce advanced into the top five by lap 38. Meanwhile, Davenport surged from 30th into eighth by the time the race’s fifth caution came out on lap 41.

Pearson continued to lead after the restart with McCreadie a clear second followed by Owens, Bloomquist, Pierce and Davenport when caution No. 6 slowed the field on lap 47.

After the restart, McCreadie began to close the gap on Pearson and Pierce used the high groove to move into third, ahead of Bloomquist and Owens. A lap-75 caution then set the stage for a 25-lap sprint to the finish.

Pierce moving into second a lap later, following contact with McCreadie as the two battled off turn two.

“I have to apologize to ‘T Mac.’ I got into him pretty hard over there and I know he wasn’t too happy,” Pierce said. “I tried to race everybody clean, but on a treacherous track like this, it’s hard.”

Pierce said Saturday’s postponement, after two struggling days of preliminaries, worked in his team’s favor.

“The day off helped a little bit,” Pierce said. “We had a chance to sit back and analyze.”

Pearson said the weekend was terrific overall, with a win in Thursday’s “Cowboy Classic Presented by Hot Rod Processing” his first triumph at Lucas Oil Speedway in eight years.

“To have a win and a second, that’s pretty good for us at this place,” Pearson said.

In an oddity, the three B Main winners all drove No. 18 cars – Chase Junghans, Shannon Babb and Jack Sullivan.

Jake O’Neil then won the Midwest Sheet Metal Challenge last-chance race. He opted to forfeit the $2,500 first prize for an opportunity to start 29th in the Show-Me 100. He wound up 26th.

“We’re here to make the show and we’re here to put on a show for the fans,” O’Neil said. “I can’t thank everybody enough at Midwest (Sheet Metal) for giving us a chance. We’re here to race.”

Culp wins USRA Modified feature: In a highly competitive four-car battle for the win, Timmy Culp of Batesville, Ark., held on to capture the $1,200-to-win Pitts Homes USRA Modified feature.

“The track was kind of elbows up tonight,” Culp said, noting that he watched how Pierce used the high side to his advantage in the Show-Me 100 and tried to emulate that path.

Culp and Turner traded the lead three times over the first 10 laps before Culp went ahead to stay. Turner made repeated bids, including a final-lap restart, but could not get past.

Jake Lassiter was a close third with Lance Town fourth and Jason Pursley in fifth.

Up next: Lucas Oil Speedway takes next weekend off. Action resumes June 9-11 with the 6th annual John Haas Memorial Drag Boat Classic on Lake Lucas. Also, on June 10 the Big Adventure RV Weekly Racing Series resumes on the dirt track with the Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds running a special 25-lap, $1,000-to-win feature.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY RESULTS (MAY 28, 2017)
Show-Me 100 Presented by ProtecttheHarvest.com
Feature – 1, Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, Ill., $30,000. 2, Earl Pearson Jr., Jacksonville, Fla., $15,000. 3, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, N.Y., $10,000. 4, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, Tenn., $8,000. 5, Jonathan Davenport, Blairsville, Ga., $6,000. 6, Gregg Saterlee, Indiana, Pa., $5,000. 7, Dennis Erb, Carpentersville, Ill., $4,000. 8, Jared Landers, Batesville, Ark., $3,000. 9, Josh Richards, Shinnston, W. Va., $2,750. 10, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, Ill., $2,600. 11, Tony Jackson Jr., Lebanon, Mo., $2,500. 12, Logan Martin, West Plains, Mo., $2,475. 13, Boom Briggs, Bear Lake, Pa., $2,450. 14, Jack Sullivan, Greenbrier, Ark., $2,425. 15, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, Ind., $2,400. 16, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, Kan., $2,375. 17, Steve Francis, Bowling Green, Ky., $2,350. 18, Hudson O’Neal, Martinsville, Ind., $2,325. 19, Jimmy Owens, Newport, Tenn. 20, Billy Moyer, Batesville Ark., $2,250. 21, Dave Ecrich, Oxford, Iowa, $2,200. 22, Rodney Sanders, Happy, Texas $2,150. 23, Billy Moyer Jr., $2,100. 24, Mason Zeigler, Chalk Hill, Pa., $2,050. 25, Mike Marlar, Winfield, Tenn., $2,000. 26, Jake O’Neil, Tucson, Ariz., $2,000. 27, Chris Simpson, Oxford, Iowa, $2,000. 28, Darrell Lanigan, Union, Ky., $2,000. 29, Jesse Stovall, Billings, Mo., $2,000. 30, Payton Looney, Republic, Mo., $2,000.
Lap leaders – McCreadie 1-2, Pearson 3-86, Pierce 87-100.
Penske Racing Shocks B Main 1 – Chase Junghans. 2, Jared Landers. 3, Jesse Stovall. 4, Tim Manville. 5, Austin Rettig. 6, Gavin Landers. 7, Chad Simpson. 8, Justin Duty. 9, Bryon Allison. 10, Boom Briggs. 11, Jim Shereck. 12, Hudson O’Neal.
Fast Shafts B Main 2 – 1, Shannon Babb. 2, Logan Martin. 3, Cole Wells. 4, John Duty. 5, Shannon Scott. 6, Randy Timms. 7, Terry Phillips. 8, Al Humphrey. 9, Scott Crigler. 10, Joey Moriarty.
Bad Boy Mowers B Main 3 – 1, Jack Sullivan. 2, Dave Eckrich. 3, Jake O’Neil. 4, Timothy Culp. 5, Garrett Albertson. 6, Brantlee Gotschall. 7, JC Wyman. 8, Jeff Herzog. 9, Mason Oberkramer. 10, Tony Jackson Jr. 11, Blonde Bomber Mitchell. 12, Chandler Petty. 13, Jonathan Davenport. 14, Jason Sivils.
Midwest Sheet Metal Challenge – 1, O’Neil. 2, Culp. 3, Chad Simpson. 4, Manville. 5, Rettig. 6, Timms. 7, Gotschall. 8, Alberson. 9, Wells. 10, Herzog. 11, Scott. 12, John Duty. 13. Humphrey. 14, Allison. 15, Phillips. 16, Gavin Landers. 17, Wyman. 18, Justin Duty. 19, Oberkramer. 20, Crigler. 21, Petty.

Pitts Homes USRA Modifieds
Feature – 1, Timmy Culp, Batesville, Ark. 2, Eric Turner, Hermitage. 3, Mickey Lassiter, Piedmont, Okla. 4, Lance Town, Wellsville, Mo. 5, Jason Pursley, Hermitage, Mo. 6, Jared Russell, Muskogee, Okla. 7, Chad Wheeler, Muskogee, Okla. 8, JC Morton, Springdale, Ark. 9, Mike Striegel, Hermitage, Mo. 10, Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill. 11, Daniel Franklin, Berryville, Ark. 12, Mickey Burrell, Fair Grove, Mo. 13, Daniel Wosoba, El Dorado Springs, Mo. 14, Donnie Fellers, Wheatland, Mo. 15, Johnny Cammon, Wichita, Kan. 16, Brandon Givens, Chaney, Kan. 17, Logan Rogers, Freeport, Ill. 18, Jeremy Ross, Locust Grove, Okla. 19, Jackie Dalton, Carthage, Mo. 20, Johnny Fennewald, Appleton City, Mo. 21, Chase Domer, Nevada, Mo. 22, Jeff Cutshaw, Bolivar, Mo. 23, Rex Merritt, Billings Mo. 24, Chad Tilley Dexter, Mo.
B Main – 1, Donnie Fellers. 2, Daniel Wosoba. 3, Jeff Waterman. 4, Jeremy Ross. 5, Nathan Gold. 6, Rex Merritt. 7, Johnny Cammon. 8, Brandon Givens. 9, Chad Tilley. 10, Jeremy Greenwalt.

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