ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Updates from Thursday’s opening round of the sixth annual Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome at America's Center in downtown St. Louis, which hosts a $5,000-to-win main event for Super Late Models (results unofficial):

Feature

Leading all 25 laps from the pole, Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., dominated Thursday's Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals preliminary feature at The Dome at America's Center. A two-time winner of the event (2017-18), the 26-year-old's $5,000 triumph locked him into Saturday's $30,000-to-win finale along with runner-up Ryan Unzicker and third-place Tanner English.

Feature lineup

(25 laps)

Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Ryan Unzicker
Row 2: Shannon Babb, Tanner English
Row 3: Ricky Thornton Jr., Chris Simpson
Row 4: Jayme Zidar, Gordy Gundaker
Row 5: Kyle Hammer, Tanner Collins
Row 6: Brandon Sheppard, Jason Feger
Row 7: Rusty Schlenk, Freddie Carpenter
Row 8: Ryan Montgomery, Kylan Garner
Row 9: Ryan Wilson, Chris Carpenter

Consolation race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First consolation: Rusty Schlenk, Ryan Montgomery, Ryan Wilson, Bob Gardner, Jim Rogers, Chad Zobrist, Dewayne Kiefer, Scott Bell, Daniel Adam, Josh Boller, David McCoy, Colt Smith, Blake Higginbotham, Rachel Carpenter, Jason Wagner.

Second consolation: Freddie Carpenter, Kylan Garner, Chris Carpenter, Jeffrey Ledford, Jacob Magee, Jeffrey Shackelford, Jake Miller, Steve Fairbanks, Erik Thorne, Morgan Alexander, Chris Fetter, Joe Denby, Josh Baker, Doug Tye. Scratched: Matt Koch.

Heat race results

(Eight laps; top two transfer)

First heat: Bobby Pierce, Jayme Zidar, Rusty Schlenk, Jason Wagner, Josh Boller, Dewayne Kiefer, Colt Smith, Quentin White, Justin White, Brandon Tibaldi, Adam Elliott.

Second heat: Ryan Unzicker, Gordy Gundaker, Ryan Montgomery, Jim Rogers, Scott Bell, Daniel Adam, Rachel Carpenter, Jeff Neubert, Patrick Kelley, Michael King Jr., Brian Wolfmeier.

Third heat: Chris Simpson, Kyle Hammer, Ryan Wilson, Bob Gardner, Chad Zobrist, David McCoy, Blake Higginbotham, Matthew Tribble, Jacob Kolwyck, Timothy Welch II. Scratched: Tegan Evans.

Fourth heat: Ricky Thornton Jr., Tanner Collins, Freddie Carpenter, Chris Carpenter, Steve Fairbanks, Morgan Alexander, Erik Thorne, Dakota Smith, W.L. Stile, Kyle Wiser, Jordan Barbee.

Fifth heat: Tanner English, Brandon Sheppard, Kylan Garner, Jeffrey Ledford, Jeffrey Shackelford, Doug Tye, Chris Fetter, James Walters, Preston Farmer, Chase Burda, Brayton Laster.

Sixth heat: Shannon Babb, Jason Feger, Jake Miller, Jacob Magee, Joe Denby, Josh Baker, Matt Koch, Kevin Smith, Scott Rhoades, Jon Woods.

Pre-race notes

Sixty-five of the 72 competitors entered for Thursday’s preliminary program are in action to kick off the sixth Castrol Gateway Dirt Nationals. … Conditions outside are clear but rather cold (low 40s), which means there are some chilly spots in the pit area where the convention center doors are opened for cars to head to the fuel truck and staging area. … DirtonDirt.com reporter and videographer Derek Kessinger is filling in as Thursday’s roving announcer for Trenton Berry, who had to call in sick for opening night but is hopeful of feeling well enough to resume his usual post combing the grandstand for interviews on Friday or Saturday. … The qualifying format for the Thursday and Friday preliminary shows calls for six heats with the top two finishers transferring to the 25-lap feature and positions 3-7 heading to B-mains; the remainder of the drivers are done until Saturday’s finale. … Tri-City Speedway promoter Kevin Gundaker, who has overseen the construction of the Dome’s fifth-mile oval since the event’s launch in 2016, said his crew laid down the racing surface in a bit different manner this year with access to “more heavier equipment.” Early indications from Thursday’s hot laps showed a track surface was appears to be shaping up smoother than past years. … Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., noted the smoother look of the track before he even hit the track for practice; as he sat in his car waiting to head to the staging area he was watching the FloRacing broadcast of hot laps on his phone. … Kyle Hammer of Clinton, Ill., is debuting a new XR1 Rocket No. 45 fielded by his father Don — the first time he’s raced for his dad since June when they had a falling out that ended Hammer’s Rookie of the Year run on the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series. … Making his first appearance at the Dome since finishing 18th in the finale of 2016’s inaugural event, Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa, is behind the wheel of Illinois racer Jason Suhre’s MB Customs No. 4. … Perennial Gateway Dirt Nationals contender Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., is piloting the Rocket machine he entered in last year’s Dome action rather than the Longhorn car he drove over the final months of the 2022 season. … Ryan Montgomery of Fairmont, W.Va., is back in St. Louis for the second straight year with western Pennsylvania’s Suppa Racing, but this time he’s driving the team’s 2016 Rayburn car (boasting a swing-arm suspension) rather than the Lazer Chassis he piloted to a ninth-place finish in last year’s finale. The car does, however, sport the same glittery accents it had for the 2022 event. … A first-time Dome entrant is Morgan Alexander, a 25-year-old Crate Late Model racer from Locust Grove, Ga., who is driving a Rocket car fielded by Rusty Griffaw of Festus, Mo. While Griffaw has himself raced in each of the previous five Gateway Dirt Nationals, he decided to raffle off the seat in his car — he sold 100 tickets at $100 apiece — and Alexander obtained the berth from a fellow Georgian who won the contest but realized he couldn’t race this weekend because of a previously planned trip to Mexico.

Time trials

First group
Driver (car no.), hometown

Thursday’s schedule

8 a.m.: Competitor parking continues
10 a.m.: Registration and credentials office opens
10:30 a.m.: Permitted early access (credential required)
11 a.m.: Pit area opens
11 a.m.: Technical inspection begins
1 p.m.: Driver’s meeting
1 p.m.: Fuel storage opens
2 p.m.: Spectator gates open
2 p.m.: Engine heat permitted
3 p.m.: On-track activity begins
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials
- Modified hot laps/time trials
5 p.m.: Opening ceremonies
- Super Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Modified consolations (8 laps)
- Super Late Models feature (25 laps)
- Modified feature (20 laps)
(Pit area cleared and closed one hour after final checkered flag)