Bobby Pierce Claims First Ever Win at Charlotte

Bobby Pierce competing at The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina. (Photo: Chris Owens | World Racing Group)

CONCORD, N.C. — For Bobby Pierce, Friday night’s race at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway was critical to both his resume and championship contention.

If he won, not only would he get his first win at the racetrack, but he would also add points towards winning the World of Outlaws Late Model championship.

That is exactly what the “Smooth Operator” did.

Cade Dillard and Chris Madden led the 29-car field to the green flag to kick off the 35-lap race. Before they made it to the white line, Dillard started to go first, getting his nose out ahead of Madden’s just a little bit.

Although Dillard started first and got ahead of Madden to keep the lead, the caution flag was thrown and Madden was set back a row to prevent that from happening again. 

At the actual start of the race, Dillard and Mike Marlar started off. Once again, Dillard jumped out to the lead. This time around though, Madden faded back a couple spots.

Lap 7 saw some serious rough housing further back in the pack. Ricky Thornton Jr. crossed too early in front of Madden and got sideways, but somehow saved it. Then, Jonathan Davenport and Madden bumped, almost taking each other out. Meanwhile, Pierce and Marlar duked it out up front.

Six laps later, Marlar shot up past Pierce and got to the inside of Dillard. Challenging him for the lead, he stayed to his inside like a thorn for eight more laps until Dillard went too high and hopped the cushion, handing the lead over to Marlar.

With four laps remaining, Pierce was coming up strong. He had his first ever Dirt Track at Charlotte win and more points at stake, and he wanted both very badly. 

Going into Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 31, Pierce shot down to the inside in an attempt to cut off Marlar’s nose to no avail. Pierce ran side-by-side with Marlar down the frontstretch up until Turn 1, where he was able to snag the lead away for a few seconds. Marlar crossed back over to gain the spot back.

Pierce was not going to give up though, and that mentality proved to be in the “Smooth Operator’s” favor. With two laps to go, Marlar went too high and got loose, allowing Pierce to slide right into first without batting an eye.

Although Marlar tried catching back up, he could not get the job done as Pierce won for the first time ever at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Dillard, Marlar, Thornton and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top five.

“It’s easy to sucker yourself in up there, and I was just hoping that when I got the lead, I didn’t do that,” said Pierce. “I think my car got better as the race went on and my tires probably look great. We’re still on the hunt [though.]”