header trans

gateway dec16In what could possibly be his final race in family-owned equipment, Bobby drove his Pierce Race Car into victory lane Saturday night at The Dome as he captured the $30,000 Gateway Dirt Nationals win. Starting second in the 40-lap main event, Bobby jumped out to the lead and stayed there until lap 27 when he fell back to second in a tight battle for the top spot. He would not stay in second for long as he took back the lead on the next lap and began to pull away from the field, building up an over two-second cushion. “Man, this is awesome," Bobby said. "This is like one of my biggest wins. I know I won the World (100) and the North-South, but to win in this Dome here … this is an incredible thing for the sport and to go down as the second winner in history, next to Scott Bloomquist, it’s just so awesome.” What a fitting way to close this chapter of Bobby's career … in victory lane. -- Heath Lawson Photo


dunn benson teamDunn Benson Motorsports owners Carlton and Kemp Lamm are excited to announce Bobby Pierce from Oakwood, IL will be their driver in 2018. The Lamm’s contacted Bobby Pierce and his family about the possibility of driving their cars after Earl Pearson Jr decided to part ways with Dunn Benson Motorsports following the Dirt Track World Championship back in October. Once the driver seat became available at Dunn Benson Motorsports, the Lamms put together a short list of drivers that they felt would best fit their Team and Bobby Pierce was the very first choice to contact.

Bobby just 21 years old, is already well accomplished in the dirt late model world with Three (3) consecutive UMP Dirtcar Summer Nationals Championships (2017, 2016, 2015), Three (3) UMP Dirtcar Late Model National Championships (2016, 2015, 2014) and many crown jewel super late model victories including the 2017 Show-Me 100, 2016 World 100, 2016 North/South 100 and finished 2nd in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Race at Eldora Speedway in 2015.


Bobby got an opportunity to drive a USRA Modified over the weekend in the annual Fall Nationals at Southern New Mexico Speedway. The three-night event featured qualifying races on Friday and Saturday with the main event on Sunday. In preliminary action, Bobby started 11th in the feature on Friday and fell back to 14th at the finish as the team worked on dialing in the car. On Saturday, he again started 11th and was inside the top ten when the radiator hose came off and he was forced pitside. Bobby started 14th in the main event on Sunday and charged to seventh at the finish as he earned hard charger honors in the 50-lap race. "Wish I had more laps, car was pretty good and was starting to feel a lot more comfortable in it," Bobby said. "Huge thanks to Fito and Jacob Gallardo for the opportunity to drive for their team!"


Bobby moved up from his 11th starting spot to run inside the top five, climbing as high as fourth, before settling for fifth at the finish in the WoO Chi-Town Showdown Friday night at Route 66.


tricity sep30Bobby cruised to a $3,000 Late Model victory in the finale of the three-night Modified Mania event at Tri-City Saturday night. He took the checkers a straightaway ahead of his closest pursuers. "We've been so close all weekend," Bobby said, "and finally getting a win kind of pays everything off and makes us feel really good." He finished third in the Modified finale after winning his heat race and setting quick time in his qualifying group. He finished second in the Modified Mania points.

On Friday night, Bobby scored a pair of second place finishes in both the Late Model and Modified features. He won his heat race in each division and was the fastest qualifier in his Modified group.

In the Modified opener on Thursday, Bobby won his heat race and moved up from his eighth starting position to grab the runner-up spot in the feature. In the Late Model main, he started sixth and finished fifth. "Good first night at "Mod Mania," Bobby said. "Shout out to all my sponsors and everyone involved in getting this Modified completed in five days. Had a lot of fun tonight!" Bobby pulled double duty in the tripleheader event as he piloted a brand new Pierce Platinum Modified along with his Platinum Late Model. -- Jimmy Dearing Photo


Bobby started 19th in the 100-lap Knoxville Late Model Nationals main event Saturday night and just like he did the previous two preliminary nights he charged through the field to score an eighth-place finish. He moved up from his 24th starting position to finish eighth in the 25-lap preliminary feature Thursday night. On Friday night, he picked up another eighth-place finish in the 25-lapper, this time rallying from 18th.


eldora sep8Moving up from his tenth starting position, Bobby finished fifth in the 25-lap, $10,000 to win World 100 preliminary feature on Friday night at Eldora. He ran second in his heat race. He started and finished fifth in the $10,000 to win, 25-lap caution-free World 100 preliminary feature on Thursday night. In heat race action, Bobby started second in the 10-lap race and grabbed the lead at the start as he went on to take the win.


florence aug12Bobby's repeat bid fell just short Saturday night at Florence in the North/South 100. Starting fifth in the 100-lap crown jewel race, Bobby consistently ran around fourth to fifth until late when he made his charge. Following McCreadie on the extreme top side of the track, with very little room for error, they ran down the leader setting up a wild finish. “I kind of showed (McCreadie) my line,” Bobby said. “He was running the middle so much, I didn’t think he’d move up that high. We kind of came up through the field like teammates there, it’s like we were drafting off each other." With three laps to go, Bobby briefly took the lead with a three-wide move as he went from the top of the track to the middle entering turn one. He was unable to hold off McCreadie's top side momentum however and fell back to second at the finish. "I’m just kind of surprised we both caught (Bloomquist)," Bobby said. "This top, there was like two inches of cushion. It was crazy.”


Bobby charged from his 17th starting position to earn a top five finish Thursday night in preliminary action for the North/South 100 at Florence. The 50-lap feature ran caution-free.


Bobby mounted a late charge from his 16th starting spot to earn a podium finish in the annual running of the USA Nationals Saturday night at Cedar Lake. He fell back to 18th on lap 22 and did not break into the top five until lap 86. "With about 75 laps to go I finally started picking a (competitor) off about every five or 10 laps, and with about 40 (laps) to go I started coming on really strong,” Bobby said. “I was really good on the top. I was just praying for a caution. I’ve got a second here, a third here, and a fourth here, I just want that win one of these days.”


The week of bad luck continued for Bobby and his team on Saturday night at the annual running of the Prairie Dirt Classic. With flat tires and mechanical failures earlier in the week at Macon and Fayette County that forced Bobby to come from the back, it looked like at Fairbury that he would finally start toward the front in the 100-lap race. But it didn't take long before bad luck found him again. Starting sixth, he was caught up in a first lap accident and suffered significant damage to his Pierce Platinum machine. The crew worked feverishly to repair the car in time to rejoin the race. He was able to continue and joined the field in the back (28th). Within thirty laps, he made his way up to sixteenth and continued his march to the front. A caution with 43 laps complete found Bobby just outside the top ten in twelfth. When the cross flags were shown at halfway, he was eighth and it looked like he might be able to complete an improbable comeback to challenge for the win. Unfortunately, he stalled out in eighth and maintained that position until late in the race when he got shuffled back to tenth as the checkered flag flew.


eldora nascar jul19It was an eventful Wednesday night for Bobby and his #63 MB Motorsports team at Eldora's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, but in the end he earned a hard fought sixth place finish after the 150-lap Dirt Derby. Running in a transfer spot in his qualifying race, Bobby spun and hit the wall and as a result was forced to run the last chance race, in addition to fixing the rear of his truck. "I was in the transfer spot but you know starting that far back in the feature I wanted to get one more," Bobby said. "I've been struggling to turn all weekend and I just drove it in real hard on the gas seeing if that would make it turn and it's kinda hard as I'm fighting a tight and loose race car and it went right on around."

The team was able to make the repairs just in time as the field was rolling out for the consi. Bobby started fifth in the 15-lap race and took the lead with four laps to go and led the rest of the way to pick up the win. He rolled off 26th in the 150-lap main event, but trouble found him early on the fifth lap as a truck in front of him spun and Bobby got slowed down to try to avoid him but he got hit from behind and spun to bring out a caution. He came to pit road and went a lap down. Then on lap 19, a caution would fly again as a multi-truck wreck collected Bobby as he suffered slight front end contact while trying to avoid the accident. Finally getting his lap back in the final stage of the race, Bobby made his move to the front as he was able to get into a rhythm. The race stayed green until 32 to go as he cracked the top ten for the first time. As the race went back to green with 25 to go, he jumped to the top and made his charge. He got as high as fifth but fell back one spot late to finish sixth. "Came from a lap down to being one of the fastest trucks out there in the closing laps, just needed a little luck," Bobby said. "Big thanks to Mike and Bev Mittler and special thanks to crew chief Rick Ren."


sn champBobby received his $25,000 check on Saturday for his third consecutive UMP DIRTcar Summer Nationals championship. He becomes the second driver in the history of the tour to win three straight titles. He won five tour races, reaching victory lane at Highland ($10,000), Oakshade ($5,000), Macon ($5,000), Spoon River ($5,000), and Kankakee ($5,000). He completed every lap in the 25 feature races and finished in the top ten in every race to go along with 19 top fives. He picked up three $2,000 weekly crowns for a combined points fund total of $31,000. “It’s a lot of fun running all these races, and running so many races back-to-back, running a different racetrack every night, makes you so much better as a driver and a team,” Bobby said. “Your transition from track-to-track, adapting to the conditions, just helps you improve so much. Hopefully we can take that momentum and carry it on to races past the Summer Nationals and turn this into a really good year.” -- Jim DenHamer Photo


oakshade jul14Surging into the lead on lap 32 in lapped traffic, Bobby led the rest of the way as he collected his fifth winner's check on the Summer Nationals tour and a $5,000 payday Friday night at Oakshade. He has now clinched his third consecutive UMP Summer Nationals title! “This is one of my favorite wins just because it’s so hard to win here,” Bobby said, as he bested a tour season high field of 59 cars on hand. “It’s really nice,” Bobby said when asked about his early clinching of the title. “We don’t have to worry about points. We can kind of just relax this whole weekend and go for the win.” -- Jim DenHamer Photo


Bobby rallied from deep in the field to record his 17th top five finish (out of 22 races) on the Summer Nationals tour Tuesday night at Hartford as he closes in on his third consecutive tour title. He was forced to use a provisional and start 19th due to a flat right-rear tire that sidelined him as he was leading his heat race. He set a new track record in qualifying.


highland jul8Taking the lead just past the halfway mark of the 50-lap feature, Bobby went on to score his fourth UMP Summer Nationals victory and a $10,000 payday Saturday night at Highland. “There for awhile I wasn’t sure that we were gonna be able to get through there. But they kinda fanned out a little bit and went to the middle, just barely left a little door open and I snuck under there to try to really pinch it off the corners and get that traction and luckily we ended up doing it," Bobby said. “The car was awesome tonight and we’ve been working really hard. We’re always really good on these small tracks, so hopefully we can just keep it up.” -- Jim DenHamer Photo


copyright trans