When talking about the World 100 and the Dirt Late Model Dream, it’s impossible not to mention the only man to have a staggering total of 12 big trophies from the venue – Scott Bloomquist.
An eight-time Dream winner and the proud owner of four World 100 globe trophies, only Billy Moyer comes anywhere close to the crown jewel wins Bloomquist has at Eldora with eight.
Pierce has only one, but that’s one more than a lot of other drivers across late model racing history have.
For his successes, Pierce at his young age has sometimes been compared to the likes of Bloomquist. Their relentless drive to win, raw talent behind the wheel, loaded racing schedules (despite the 33-year age gap), enormous fan bases, even their incredibly marketable car designs and personalities draw immediate similarities.
Pierce admits he may not fit the “bad boy” persona that Bloomquist sometimes emits, but he appreciates being a part of the same conversation with the Hall-of-Famer.
“I don’t think I can quite match Scott’s ‘dark side’ … someone else can probably have that,” Pierce said. “But if we’re talking about the wins, for sure.”
And while talking about success at Eldora is valuable, Pierce knows Bloomquist’s place in history at other big events across the country as well.
Bloomquist is a five-time winner of the prestigious USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway. Pierce has never won it, despite having five top-five finishes since his first start in 2012.
Likewise, Bloomquist is a six-time champion of the historic Show-Me 100, held in Wheatland, Mo., while Pierce claimed his lone victory in 2017.
It’s the big races like these where Pierce knows he has ground to make up on the Team Zero leader to truly make headway into the same category. And that’s what makes him even more motivated to keep winning.
“If I could win all the races he has, that’d be pretty cool,” Pierce said. “I know he has a huge following, the biggest fan base anyone’s had in late model racing, I think. He’s a hell of a personality, for sure.”
One marquee race in particular that Pierce does technically have a leg up on the 2004 World of Outlaws champion is Fairbury Speedway’s Prairie Dirt Classic.
Father Bob is a five-time winner, but son Bobby had never tasted victory in the event, albeit coming close multiple times.
After an exciting battle with winner Shannon Babb and runner-up Dale McDowell in the closing stages of the 2013 edition, Pierce did not have another top-five in the event until just last year, where he led from lap 26 to 99 before a heartbreaking turn of events in the final corners.
Brandon Sheppard stalked Pierce throughout the second half of the race, just waiting for the perfect moment to make his move.
That moment came on the final lap heading into turn three, where Sheppard threw it hard into the corner and slid up the high banking, right in front of Pierce to take the lead.
The two made contact off of turn four, Pierce ended up in the wall, and Sheppard drove off the corner to collect his second victory in the event.
Pierce crossed the line third, and despite the heavy contact between the two, Pierce walked into victory lane before Sheppard emerged from his car to shake his hand and offer his congratulations – a great showing of sportsmanship between the two Illinois young guns.
The finish became one of the most highly debated events of the entire season, as far as whether or not Sheppard’s slide job was “dirty” or not.
In the eyes of the man on the receiving end of it, the maneuver was just fine.
“He had to go for it, and it wasn’t a dirty slider,” Pierce said. “A lot of times, whenever there’s contact, people have to blame somebody. But it was just one of those racing deals. It wasn’t like he just came across and drove over my radiator.
“That’s one thing I wanted to make clear. Slide jobs aren’t bad, and that wasn’t a bad one. Even though I came out on the losing side of it.”
Tough losses like those have helped to fuel Pierce’s hunger for victories and push him further down the path to future success at a multitude of levels.
More specifically, it pushed Pierce to the upper echelons of motorsports.