Bobby Pierce wins fourth-straight WoO LMS feature with RCS victory
· Yahoo Sports
Jun. 27—GRAND FORKS — Bobby Pierce had raced River Cities Speedway a handful of times prior to Friday night's World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at The Bullring. His previous nights at RCS weren't great.
But when you're hot, you're hot — regardless of venue.
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Pierce won his fourth-straight WoO LMS feature as the Illinois driver captured the 40-lap race at RCS, taking home $15,000 in the process.
"This track has given me fits," said Pierce. "So, to win tonight is a testament to our team. This track is not really like any of the last few tracks we've been at. This track is one of the tougher ones to race. Starting position here is so important."
Pierce started third and quickly moved into second behind pole-sitter Ethan Dotson. With 29 laps to go, Dotson got caught up in lapped traffic in Turn 1 and Pierce took advantage with Tyler Erb moving into second.
Pierce led the rest of the way, keeping Erb at bay in a race that featured only one yellow flag.
Pierce ran the middle and high side of the track, effectively handling lapped traffic throughout.
He led Erb by 2.137 seconds halfway through the event. With 10 laps to go, Pierce led by 0.959 seconds. Erb managed to cut that gap late in the race and finished 0.534 seconds behind Pierce at the checkered flag.
"Luckily, most of the lapped cars were staying on the bottom so I could go around them," said Pierce. "But a couple of times they were side by side. It was like, 'Oh, man, I've got to get by them as quickly as possible and I had to make some nice moves. Actually, I ran into one of them to get him out of the way."
Dotson finished third, followed by last year's winner Nick Hoffman and Dennis Erb Jr.
Pierce said RCS is a difficult track for the Outlaws.
"You really have to have a good car here if you're going to be able to pass," said Pierce."I feel you can't just be a little better, you have to be a lot better to pass here. This being a sprint car track and how wide the late model bodies are, it's a little tight. We could barely go four wide for the parade lap. But I really like what they did to the track tonight. It raced really well."
A handful of RCS regulars made the feature as 31 late models showed up to race.
Amelia Eisenschenk was 20th while Joey Pederson was 21st, Laela Eisenschenk 22nd and Cole Schill 23rd.
In qualifying, eight drivers posted sub 12-second laps. Hoffman was the fastest at 11.687 seconds.
Pierce has won eight of his last nine starts since the Dirt Late Model Dream Race and has pocketed more than $230,000 in the last three weeks.
In Pierce's three previous starts at RCS, he finished 11th, 19th and sixth.
Midwest modifieds and streets complemented the Outlaws.
Memphis Klassen, an 18-year-old driver from Winkler, Man., won the Midwest modified feature, his first at the track.
And Cole Greseth continued his dominating season at RCS by winning the 20-lap streets event as it concluded the night of racing.
River Cities Speedway
Friday's results
WoO LMS
Feature — 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Ethan Dotson, 4. Nick Hoffman, 5. Dennis Erb Jr., 6. Jonatan Davenport, 7. Tim McCreadie, 8. Jake Timm, 9. Daulton Wilson, 10. Ryan Gustin
Midwest modifieds
Feature — 1. Memphis Klassen, 2, Reise Stenberg, 3. Brennan Schmidt, 4 Aaron Blacklance, 5. Austin Hunter
Streets
Feature — 1. Cole Greseth, 2. Levi Randt, 3. Greg Jose, 4. Trey Hess, 5. Adam Dehne