Bobby Pierce found himself in fourth place early on in Saturday’s 100-lap race at Boone. He started to feel rubber coming down onto the track and knew it was time to drop the hammer.
Pierce quickly maneuvered through the top three positions, passing Billy Moyer Sr. for the lead on lap 30 of the inaugural Hawkeye 100 at Boone Speedway. It wasn’t long after that when the track took rubber and Pierce was in prime position to pick up his second career World of Outlaws victory.
“I felt it locking down off of (turn 2). Rubber always moves down, so once you feel it – and you’ve got to keep an eye on it – in your rear tires, that’s when you’ve got to go. I started feeling it when I was in fourth, that’s where I knew I had to get to the lead. A few laps later it started rubbering down really good.”
Pierce took the point and made any unknowing fans aware of his ‘Smooth Operator’ nickname.
The driver took his Hoker No. 32 through the turns on the low line, which eventually turned into a parade around the bottom. He lead the final 70 laps in route to victory lane.
After Pierce finally broke through a long, winless streak through his career with World of Outlaws specific races – even after winning big events like the World 100 – he’s captured another win with the tour.
It’s his second World of Outlaws victory in the past 30 days.
“Rick Eshelman – the World of Outlaws announcer – said once I get that first one the wins are going to keep coming and here it is, so,” Pierce said. “It’s crazy. It’s a crazy feeling. Out of all of the unexpected wins, this ranks up there.”
Through the weekend, Pierce wasn’t as confident in his car going into the feature.
He had utilized the the top of the race track more on Friday, but seemed to just be missing out on exit speed.
“We were alright today and we were alright Friday, I just felt like I wasn’t the fastest car,” Pierce said. “Everything just worked great there. I got that good restart and got by those guys. From there on it was my race to lose.”
And this time, he didn’t lose it.
Pierce beat out Shannon Babb and Brandon Sheppard, who rounded out the podium on Saturday night.
The defending champion in Sheppard – on May 1 – has still yet to earn a win during the 2021 season. It’s the longest he’s gone during his World of Outlaws career without finding victory lane in a points race at least once.
However, Sheppard is content with the strong, good points runs that his team is putting up.
“It feels good,” Sheppard said. “We’re getting our consistency back and that’s key to getting wins – getting our car out front every night.”
That win is coming right around the corner for Sheppard, but for now, it’s Pierce’s time to celebrate.
“It really hasn’t sunk in yet,” Pierce said. “I wasn’t expecting to win. It’s crazy, man. Thirty grand – that’s big money for sure. Next weekend, we’re with the World of Outlaws again and we’ll race for some big money there, too. Hopefully we can keep it up.”
The World of Outlaws will return to the track next weekend as the tour visits Mississippi Thunder Speedway for another bigger money show on Saturday. As always all of the action can be seen live on DirtVision.com.
World of Outlaws Late Models
Inaugural Hawkeye 100 Results
1. Bobby Pierce
2. Shannon Babb
3. Brandon Sheppard
4. Billy Moyer Sr.
5. Ricky Weiss
6. Chris Madden
7. Richie Gustin Jr.
8. Gordy Gundaker
9. Logan Martin
10. Frank Heckenast Jr.
11. Ryan Gustin
12. Tyler Bruening
13. Cade Dillard
14. Boom Briggs
15. Daniel Hilsabeck
16. Brent Larson
17. Jeremy Grady
18. Brennon Willard
19. Kyle Strickler
20. Dennis Erb Jr.
21. Chad Mahder
22. Spencer Diercks
23. Chase Junghans
2021 World of Outlaws Late Model Winners
Volusia | Kyle Bronson
Volusia | Kyle Strickler
Volusia | Kyle Strickler (2)
Volusia | Devin Moran
Volusia | Brandon Overton
Smoky Mountain | Chris Madden
Farmer City | Mike Spatola
Farmer City | Bobby Pierce
Bristol | Josh Richards
Bristol | Devin Moran (2)
Richmond | Tim McCreadie
Boone | Cade Dillard
Boone | Bobby Pierce (2)
