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Bobby Pierce Claims First Ever Win at Charlotte

Bobby Pierce

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.]”

Finish Start Car No. Driver Sponsor Status
1 6 32 Bobby Pierce Low Voltage Solutions Inc. Running
2 1 97 Cade Dillard Joel’s Auto Sales Running
3 4 157 Mike Marlar Delk Equipment Sales Running
4 3 20RT Ricky Thornton Jr. Hoker Trucking LLC Running
5 7 40B Kyle Bronson Racecar Engineering Running
6 14 B5 Brandon Sheppard Dude Wipes Running
7 13 3S Brian Shirley Bob Cullen Racing Running
8 9 6 Jonathan Davenport Nutrien Running
9 5 74X Ethan Dotson Torco Racing Oils Running
10 2 44 Chris Madden Henderson Amusement Running
11 11 20 Jimmy Owens Red Line Oil Running
12 17 96 Tanner English M&M Painting and Construction Running
13 12 111 Max Blair Murphy’s Logging Running
14 25 19R Ryan Gustin Alan’s Seamless Gutters Running
15 19 71 Hudson O’Neal Wheeler Metals Running
16 18 28 Dennis Erb Jr. Vomac Truck Sales Running
17 21 16 Tyler Bruening Truck Country Running
18 15 58V Tim McCreadie N/A Running
19 23 16W Ben Watkins Mega Plumbing Running
20 8 11 Austin Smith N/A Running
21 27 B1 Brent Larson Motul Running
22 16 8 Kyle Strickler Bilstein Running
23 20 57 Zack Mitchell Clary Hood Inc. Running
24 28 97JR Cody Overton Mahle Running
25 29 20TC Tristan Chamberlain CKEG Running
26 26 19 Dustin Sorenson Heavy Hitch Running
27 24 7 Drake Troutman Wheeler Fleet Solutions Running
28 22 22* Max McLaughlin Mohawk Northeast Running
29 10 9 Nick Hoffman NOS Energy Running

Brooke Johnpier is a staff writer at The Podium Finish covering NHRA and professional dirt racing, as well as a social media promoter. Besides TPF, Brooke is a part-time motorsports journalist with Speedway Illustrated magazine, Race Pro Weekly, and Dirt Track Digest, which are outlets similar to TPF. Aspiring to pursue her dream of becoming a full-time automotive/motorsports journalist, Brooke is a sophomore at St. Bonaventure University where she is majoring in Sports Media, and double minoring in Native American and Indigenous Studies and English. There, she is involved with all of the campus media, as well as the literary magazine. She is also an officer in two clubs. In her free time, Brooke loves reading, writing, going to the local racetrack, riding four-wheelers, working on cars, and riding in tractor trailers. Brooke is a music lover and percussionist, as well as a published author and women's rights activist.

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