FAIRBURY, Ill. — The Pierce family and Fairbury Speedway’s Prairie Dirt Classic have gone hand-in-hand since Bob Pierce finished second in 1993.
Thirty-one years and five PDC wins later, the Illinois native looks to work with his son, 2023 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models champion Bobby Pierce, to add his name to the list of winners at the Fairbury crown jewel event.
The younger Pierce has finished on the podium four times at PDC through 10 starts, including his second-place finish last year.
It’s a crown jewel the “Smooth Operator” is eager to cross off his list.
“This year compared to 2023, I wanted to win it really bad,” Bobby Pierce said. “I also wanted to maintain a good finish because we were leading the standings. The track was rough last year and my right rear shock broke, so I don’t even know how I was able to finish the race, let alone getting second. This year, I can be a little more risky no matter the case. I want to win it at all costs.”
While Bobby is 134 points out from points leader Brandon Sheppard, he’s keeping a mindset of winning every race on the schedule and seeing how the cards fall by the time the season concludes in November.
“I feel we can still hold on to get a really good finish points-wise,” Bobby Pierce said. “It’ll take some help to get towards Sheppard and Hoffman and if we want to think about the championship. We’re running out of time, but we’ll go into every race wanting to win, and that’s what I hope to keep doing.”
Throughout Bob’s racing career, and through his children’s time with sports growing up, he’s taught one motto to live by: “Don’t give up.”
“Part of our program is to not give up,” Bob Pierce said. “That’s been my theory since I started racing. I told our kids when they played sports and Bobby in racing that ‘If you’re terrible, you’re terrible. But never give up and we’ll figure it out later.’ We got hot in Iowa, then had bad luck go our way at the end of June with no fault to anyone. Then, we won the Gopher 50 and got the mojo back going again. Sometimes, the luck is a part of racing, and I got to give credit to Vic Hill and all the Longhorn Chassis guys for helping us get back to where we need to be.”
Having won the Prairie Dirt Classic, Bob understands why his son wants to win it so badly, but also understands why that can sometimes be a hindrance.
“He’s won every other big race that I never seemed to figure out outside of the North-South 100,” Bob Pierce said. “To me, it doesn’t matter. But I know in his mind that he wants to win this race not because I have, but because he’s been so close so many times. It’s like the World 100 where you go in thinking you have to win this race, and everybody gets overaggressive and just need to calm down.
“I know he’s gonna go over (to Fairbury) and think of it as another race. I think he wanted it too bad, and it isn’t wrong because he wanted it, but it just didn’t work out. Sometimes, when you want it too bad, the luck won’t go your way. The same mindset goes with (the USA Nationals at) Cedar Lake until we got the win last year by thinking of it as just another race. I promise you; it will be a big deal if he wins it this year.”
With Bob coaching Bobby in his career through winning championships in quarter midgets, DIRTcar Summer Nationals and reaching the pinnacle of his Late Model tenure with his first World of Outlaws title in 2023, Bob has seen the evolution of the driver his son has become.
“He’s 27 now, and usually drivers hit their stride at or around 30 years old,” Bob Pierce said. “But Bobby’s been able to hit it a little bit early because he started so young. I think the confidence in the Longhorn No. 32 and the Longhorn crew all came together at the right time for his driving style. I got to watch it develop when he started in quarter midgets to late models, I just didn’t know how far he was going to advance. I think it all hit at the right time, and he’s developed, not as a different driver, but when things don’t go right, he knows his comfort zone and where he’s able to adjust when he needs to.”
The Prairie Dirt Classic is July 26-27.