ROSSBURG, Ohio — Bobby Pierce became the fourth driver in the 45-year history of Carl Short’s Dirt Track World Championship presented by ARP to win the Crown Jewel race in back-to-back years.
Pierce withstood a back-and-forth battle with Chris Madden and went on to win the $100,000 event for the on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway.
Devin Moran, with his fourth-place finish, clinched his first Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series presented by FloRacing National Championship, earning him a record $250,000.
Pierce led 44 of the 100 laps and joined Scott Bloomquist, Josh Richards, and Brandon Sheppard as the only drivers to win the event, which began in 1981, in consecutive years.
Madden was in front for a race-leading 56 laps as he earned $20,000 for second place. Brandon Sheppard, who was seeking a history-making sixth DTWC, rounded out the podium. Moran and Nick Hoffman rounded out the rest of the top five.
Madden was in control early on, leading the first 49 laps of the race, when Pierce, who started 13th, took the lead at the halfway point. The two then traded the race lead several times until Pierce finally managed to pull away from Madden.
Madden ran second until Moran took over the runner-up position on lap 76. Moran maintained second place until the final caution of the race, which came out with 88 laps completed. Madden then managed to pass Moran on the restart, but Pierce was able to pull away somewhat, crossing the finish line 1.390 seconds ahead of the South Carolina driver to secure his 29th career series win.
The Oakwood, Illinois driver who won from 14th a year ago, came from the inside of row seven this year to collect the win.
“I didn’t know how tonight would go after last night. B-Shepp said last night that the track would be good tonight, and it was. You know, Longhorn doesn’t build a bad car. This car here has won three big races at Eldora now, so we might have to keep it in rotation. You know, we might make the JD car out of it and just bring it here to Eldora to race.
“I was getting a little worked up because it’s been a month and a half since I won a race, which is rare for me, so this feels awesome. I know Brandon (Sheppard) has had a great run in the DTWC; he always shows up around this time of year. Obviously, with Freddy (Smith), I never got to race against him, and those guys are top-notch. I hope I can be on that list of five or more wins. Let’s do it again next year.”
Moran, the driver of the Double Down Motorsports No. 99, became the 10th different champion in the 21-year history of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, celebrating with his crew, family, and friends on the Eldora stage afterward.
“It’s about time, and it’s an incredible feeling. Thank you, Eldora. Winning these championships is really tough. Honestly, I felt like I had a really good car. I drove a very conservative race, which kind of backfired at the end because I chose the bottom lane; I didn’t want to put myself in a bad situation and get slid going into one and two, which cost me a couple of spots. I don’t think I had anything for Bobby – he had a really good car. I never really pushed as hard as I could because I didn’t want any problems. I saw Ricky and JD having issues, and I didn’t want to cause any myself,” said the Dresden, Ohio native.
“It was hard to stay focused at the end. I got flustered during that restart. I felt like I did a really good job staying focused, running a smart and solid race, and I had a good car to do that. I hit the cushion hard in turns one and two, and I was thinking, Devin, get through the race – there are just a couple of laps left – just finish it and go celebrate with my friends, family, and crew. So, like I said, it is a really amazing feeling.”
The finish:
Bobby Pierce, Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Devin Moran, Nick Hoffman, Mike Marlar, Tim McCreadie, Carson Ferguson, Dale McDowell, Brandon Overton, Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Ferguson, Clay Harris, Jonathan Davenport, Daulton Wilson, Daniel Hilsabeck, Cory Lawler, Ricky Thornton Jr., Josh Rice, Donald McIntosh, Joseph Joiner, Dan Ebert, Garrett Alberson, Jason Jameson, Brian Shirley, Hudson O’Neal.
