SENOIA, Ga. — Entering the night third in the series standings Bobby Pierce knew he had to win Saturday night’s FloRacing Night in America finale to have any chance at a second-straight title, and a third overall.
Pierce accomplished his mission by leading the final 45 laps of Saturday night’s finale to bank both the $30,000 feature winner’s check and the $75,000 series crown by nine markers over Hudson O’Neal and Brandon Sheppard.
“This is kind of like a dream, I’ll admit it. I told my wife Abby when I woke up this morning, I don’t think tonight is going to work out the way we want it to. There’s just a lot that has to go our way,” Pierce shared. “This track prep crew did a great job though and gave us a chance to get the job done. Not many places can be this slick all night and not rubber, so great job to those guys. This is just surreal, and I’m thankful to everyone, who supports this program.”
From the fourth-starting spot Pierce overtook race-long leader, Ryan Gustin on the 31st circuit. Pierce proceeded to motor away from the field in an event that saw a single caution flag slow the action with just four laps remaining in the 75-lap affair.
Caution flew for the lone time in the feature on lap 72 for a slowing Hudson O’Neal, who was running in 10th. O’Neal’s crew looked to change both rear tires in the hot pit area, but series rules prohibit a driver to draw a caution and then change a tire that isn’t flat. While the team replaced only one tire, series rules allowed for none, and as a result O’Neal’s night came to an early end.
On the restart, Pierce held off a persistent Ryan Gustin and a hard-charging Ricky Thornton Jr. to pick up his third series win of the season and the 13th of his career.
Kyle Bronson and Jonathan Davenport completed the top five.
For Pierce to win the title with a victory, Hudson O’Neal had to finish fifth or worse and Brandon Sheppard had to finish third or worse. O’Neal’s demise paired with a sixth-place finish from Sheppard locked up the title for the Oakwood, Illinois racer.
Following Pierce in the standings was Hudson O’Neal, who was tied for the second position with Brandon Sheppard
The finish:
Feature (75 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[8]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 6. 1-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[20]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[12]; 9. 99-Devin Moran[13]; 10. 74X-Ethan Dotson[15]; 11. 93-Carson Ferguson[5]; 12. 12-Ashton Winger[10]; 13. 13X-Dallon Murty[16]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[14]; 15. 60-Dan Ebert[22]; 16. 71-Hudson O’Neal[18]; 17. 11R-Josh Rice[11]; 18. 5-Reece Solander[21]; 19. 66K-Dylan Knowles[7]; 20. 515-Bubba Roling[23]; 21. 58-Garrett Alberson[24]; 22. 1X-Sam Seawright[19]; 23. 1C-Cody Overton[17]; 24. 25C-Shane Clanton[6)
