ANDERSON, Ind. — Sam Pierce is this year’s recipient of the Jack Nowling Award, the Little 500 Hall of Fame revealed.
The Jack Nowling Award is named after the 1996 Little 500-winning car owner who loved competing in the Little 500 and dreamed of the day he would win it. Those eligible for the award are sprint car owners (individuals or teams), engine/car builders, chief mechanics and those individuals, corporations, or race teams that have designed a system or device that has contributed to sprint car racing competition or safety.
Pierce is a dealer/owner of Sam Pierce Chevrolet in Daleville, Ind., and team owner of Sam Pierce Racing. Sam Pierce Chevrolet has provided the Little 500 Presented by UAW with push trucks for many years in addition to the pace truck that paces the field during the race.
Pierce has fielded sprint cars in the Little 500 since 2004 with drivers Aaron Pierce, Tanner Swanson, Joey Schmidt, Austin Nemire and Mickey Kempgens. Kaylee Bryson will join that group this year. His drivers have earned two poles, three top five finishes and five top 10s.
Sam Pierce was in the Central Highlands in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War from 1969-’70 as a U.S. Army combat infantryman.
“Every day, we were in the bushes,” according to Pierce. Upon returning home to Muncie, Indiana, he went back to his job at the GM transmission plant. He also worked on and sold cars from his home. “That was to support my racing habit, my drag racing habit.” The asphalt quarter-mile fueled his desire for speed. He paired that with building a base of customers for car repairs and sales from the GM plant employees. Those Muncie and Anderson GM plant employees would remain a loyal customer base for decades for used car sales, and later for sales of new Chevrolets when Sam Pierce Chevrolet was formed in 1983.
“Our business for years has predominately been supported by the GM employees,” Pierce said. “We went to a little town called Middletown, it was mostly farmers and GM employees. They worked at Delco-Remy, Guide Lamp or Chevrolet. By 2003 (the last year in Middletown before moving the dealership to Daleville), we sold a thousand new cars that year, and 500 used.
“We’re in the top five in our area as far as sales go. We’re between two corn fields, but our numbers are really strong. We still sell a thousand new cars a year.”