ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Nov. 30) — Bobby Pierce picked up where he left off last year. Winning inside The Dome at America’s Center for the second year in a row, the 2017 Gateway Dirt Nationals victor raced to a preliminary feature triumph on Friday night. Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., inherited the lead from Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., when Babb backed his car into the turn-two fence on lap eight.

Pierce led the rest of the way, surviving a rough and tumble surface on the fifth-mile temporary oval to win Friday’s second VP Gateway Dirt Nationals preliminary feature. Pierce, who earned $5,000 for the victory, repeatedly pulled away following restarts for three more cautions, and beat Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., to the line by 1.458 seconds.

“It was a heck of a race those first five to 10 laps,” said Pierce. “The track was actually awesome. I know no one likes to drive on a rough track, but for the top to keep up with the bottom, I hate to say it almost has to be like that I think. It’s unfortunate that (Babb) stuffed it into the wall, because we were going to have a heck of a battle I think.”

Instead, Pierce was strong enough in his family-prepared machine to not have to worry where the rest of the field was, leaving O’Neal and Chad Zobrist, who started on the outside front row, to battle for the runner-up spot. The eighth-starting O’Neal had the spot by lap nine and never offered to relinquish it. Zobrist, of Highland, Ill., finished third, while polesitter Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo., finished fourth after losing the lead to Zobrist on the opening circuit.

Zobrist paced the field for a handful of laps early, but soon gave way to Babb and Pierce. The duo split Zobrist for the lead as they raced off of turn two on lap five, but Zobrist battled back and briefly took the point again. It was the sixth-starting Babb, however, who had inched ahead when a caution came on on lap six.

“When (Babb) slid me, I didn’t know that it was him,” said Pierce. “I thought it was Zobrist. I didn’t know Babb was in the picture. I knew he had to be right behind me somewhere, but for him to go dive-bombing in there like that, that was pretty crazy. I thought he was gonna stay up there and it looked like he was spinning out so I was gonna … I was actually gonna cross him over, but then he was spinning out. So I hit the brakes, then I  got passed by Zobrist too.

“Then when that caution came out it was like, well, I gotta get up on the wheel. I know Babb. He was gonna be pushing it up there. Heck we had a good car with him up there too. I was right there with him. Then I decided to drop down and see if I could hang with him on the bottom and right when I did that, he stuffed it in the fence. After that I just tried to hold on to the lead and tried not to break the car in half.”

With the top four finishers locked into Saturday’ s $30,000-to-win finale, O’Neal, who was driving his son Hudson’s blue and white No. 71, thought about the big picture and was happy just to make it to Saturday’s main event, though he momentarily thought he might have something for Pierce.

“Starting eighth, that was my goal, just to get locked in,”O’Neal said. “But then I thought, maybe I got a shot to win. It just seemed like we couldn’t get through that rough good enough. But at least we’re in there and we can work on it and maybe have a shot to win (Saturday).”

Zobrist, who became the only driver to get locked into all three Gateway Dirt National features through prelims, felt much like O’Neal, just happy to moving ahead to Saturday’s main event.

“We don’t have to worry about tearing things up before the feature,” said Zobrist. “We got pretty much all day to fix what I tore up tonight. When Babb and Pierce split me. … just, wow. I was hitting the ruts. I couldn’t get a good grove going, just couldn’t get in sync. I didn’t know where to go for sure. I just figured I’d try to keep it down there on the bottom and survive it.”

Preliminary notes and results:

Feature lineup

Row 1: Jeff Herzog, Chad Zobrist
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Bobby Pierce
Row 3: Logan Roberson, Shannon Babb
Row 4: Mike Spatola, Don O’Neal
Row 5: Patrik Daniel, Tyler Carpenter
Row 6: Bob Gardner, Caleb Ashby
Row 7: Greg Kimmons, Jason Feger
Row 8: Dan Jacober, Myles Moos
Row 9: Tim Manville, Cameron Marlar
Row 10: Eric Hickerson, Mike Fryer

B-main

Surviving a caution-filled B-main, Eric Hickerson of Linden, Tenn., led all 10 laps to transfer into the Friday’s final feature. Hickerson stayed well ahead of the chaos behind him during an opening six circuits with a plethora of yellow flags. With would-be challengers giving pursuit, it was eventually Mike Fryer who grabbed the runner-up spot. Fryer took second from Zach McMillan on lap six and held it the final four circuits to earn the final transfer spot.

Finish (top two transfer): Eric Hickerson, Mike Fryer, Scott Bell, Josh Knoll, Mike Schulte, Jeremy Sneed, Brandon Pralle, Blair Nothdurft, Jeremiah Hurst, Jon Ortega, Zach McMillan, Scott Halley, Peyton Walker, Brian Mullins, William Stile Jr., Matt Koch, Derek Fetter, Payton Looney, Daryn Klein, Cody Holtkamp, Kody Frame, Robert Ardry.

B-main lineup

(10 laps; top two advance)
Row 1: Eric Hickerson, Jeremy Sneed
Row 2: Daryn Klein, Zach McMillan
Row 3: Mike Fryer, Blair Nothdurft
Row 4: Peyton Walker, Mike Schulte
Row 5: Derek Fetter, Cody Holtkamp
Row 6: Matt Koch, Jon Ortega
Row 7: Kody Frame, Robert Ardry
Row 8: Scott Bell, Scott Halley
Row 9: Josh Knoll, Brian Mullins
Row 10: Jeremiah Hurst, Brandon Pralle
Row 11: Payton Looney, William Stile Jr.

C-main results

Finish (top four transfer to B-main): Donald Johns, Payton Looney, William Stile Jr., Richard Shepler, Corey Ford. Scratched: Dennis Erb Jr., Brandon Hood, Randy Timms, Dan Drury. DQ: Dewayne Kiefer (light).

C-main lineup

(10 laps; top four transfer to B-main)
Row 1: Dewayne Kiefer, Donald Johns
Row 2: Richard Shepler, William Stile Jr.
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Payton Looney
Row 4: Brandon Hood, Randy Timms
Row 5: Corey Ford, Dan Drury

Sixth heat

Chad Zobrist of Highland, Ill., powered ahead of Patrik Daniel exiting turn four as they completed the first lap to grab the lead in the sixth and final heat. Zobrist eld the rest of the way to win the heat ahead of Daniel, who turned back challenges from Cameron Marlar to finish second. Marlar finished third for the final transfer spot. Polesitter Payton Looney tagged a yuke tire exiting turn two on the opening lap, ending the Missouri driver’s heat run. Chad Zobrist and Patrik Daniel got together in turn two on the restart, drawing another caution before a lap was complete. Jon Ortega and Brian Mullins spun in turn one on the third lap to bring out the four caution. The pair got together again on lap six, bringing out another caution.

Finish (top three transfer): Chad Zobrist, Patrik Daniel, Camaron Marlar, Blair Nothdurft,  Jon Ortega, Brian Mullins, Payton Looney.

Fifth heat

Staving off Don O’Neal’s cross-over move on the opening lap, Logan Roberson of Waynesboro, Va., led all eight laps to win the fifth heat. Roberson won by 1.155 seconds in a heat slowed by a single caution on lap four. O’Neal finished second, while Tim Manville finished third after battling Paul Roider for the spot. Roider slipped to the tail after suffering a left rear flat.

Finish (top three transfer): Logan Roberson, Don O’Neal, Tim Manville, Mike Fryer, Matt Koch, Josh Knoll, Paul Roider.

Fourth heat

Rallying from sixth, Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo., took advantage of polesitter Dennis Erb Jr.’s mechanical trouble to win the fourth heat. Erb slowed in turn two with mechanical problems on the fourth lap, collecting Herzog, who was able to continue on in the lead. With Erb retired to the infield, Bob Gardner rallied from an early spin to finish second. Myles Moos finished third. Jeremiah Hurst was charging on the high side midway through the heat when he turned sideways, collecting Zach McMillan. McMillan went to the tail of the field, while Hurst pitted with a flat tire. Gardner was battling for a transfer spot when he spun in turn four on lap two.

Finish (top three transfer): Jeff Herzog, Bob Gardner, Myles Moos, Zach McMillan, Cody Holtkamp,  Scott Halley, Dennis Erb Jr., Jeremiah Hurst.

Third heat

Leading flag-to-flag in the caution-free third heat, West Virginian Zack Dohm easily won ahead of Mike Spatola and Dan Jacober. Dohm, the polesitter, won by 1.804 seconds ahead of Spatola, who started third. Second-starting Daryn Klein finished fourth, just outside a transfer spot.

Finish (top three transfer):  Zack Dohm, Mike Spatola, Dan Jacober, Daryn Klein, Derek Fetter, Scott Bell, Brandon Tibaldi, Dan Drury.

Second heat

From the outside front row, Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., blasted into the lead on the opening lap and slowly pulled away. Polesitter Tyler Carpenter won a spirited battle with Jason Feger to finish second, while Feger settled for the third and final transfer position. Carpenter spun in turn four on the opening circuit, requiring a complete restart. Robert Ardry slipped out of the grove in turn two ad tagged the outside wall to bring out a yellow just as the first lap was completed.

Finish (top three transfer): Shannon Babb, Tyler Carpenter, Jason Feger, Jeremy Sneed, Mike Schulte, Robert Ardry, William Stile Jr., Brandon Pralle.

First heat

Grabbing the lead from Caleb Ashby on the first lap, 2017 Gateway Dirt Nationals winner Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., pulled away to win the first heat. Pierce survived a quartet of early cautions to win by .918 seconds ahead of Ashby. Greg Kimmons rode in third for the eight-lap distance to grab the final transfer spot. A caution waved in the first lap for a turn-one tangle involving Corey Ford and Eric Hickerson. Hickerson was collected again on the restart when Peyton Walker got turned around in turn one. Hickerson spun again in turn four to draw a caution on lap three. Kip Hughes spun in turn four on lap four after making contact with another car to bring out the fourth caution in as many laps. Peyton Walker slowed in the restart for a fifth caution.

Finish (top three transfer): Bobby Pierce, Caleb Ashby, Greg Kimmons, Eric Hickerson, Peyton Walker, Kody Frame, Kip Hughes, Corey Ford.

Pre-race notes

Twelve Dirt Late Model heats — six for each qualifying group — kick off Friday’s jam-packed VP Racing Fuels Gateway Dirt Nationals program at 3 p.m. A total of 32 races are scheduled between the Late Models, midgets and open-wheel modifieds; the action is set to climax this evening with the twin 20-lap Late Model preliminary features paying $5,000 to win. … Hot laps are not being held for any of the three divisions, though the midgets did hit the track shortly after 2 p.m. for slow circuits to get heat in motors. … Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., is hopeful that he’s solved the fuel-system problems that prevented him from logging a qualifying lap and forced him out of the 20-lap Race of Champions. … Tyler Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va., who finished second in last year’s Gateway finale, secured a pole position starting spot for his heat in Thursday’s time trials but nevertheless had some work to do on his car after the qualifying session. He clipped an inside tire with the left front of his car on his second lap, bending his nosepiece and causing him to slide into the outside wall with his machine’s right-rear corner. “We tore it all up,” Carpenter said of his bodywork, “but luckily it was all cosmetic.” … Logan Roberson of Waynesboro, Va., wore a big smile as he rode a scooter around the pit area on Friday afternoon after landing a heat-race pole start in what is his Super Late Model debut. The 21-year-old Crate Late Model standout is driving his father Greg’s Mike and Michelle Smiley-owned No. 19 after his own machine, which he planned to bring to St. Louis, was sidelined after engine problems in practice curtailed his expected first Super Late Model appearance the previous weekend at 411 Motor Speedway in Seymour, Tenn. … Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., was featured on a segment of St. Louis’s Fox2 News morning show on Friday. Standing in front of the midget he’s driving this weekend, he spoke to a reporter about the Gateway Dirt Nationals and his own racing career, providing some superb local publicity for the event.

Heat race lineups

(eight laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Caleb Ashby
Row 2: Greg Kimmons, Kody Frame
Row 3: Eric Hickerson, Kip Hughes
Row 4: Corey Ford, Peyton Walker
Second heat
Row 1: Tyler Carpenter, Shannon Babb
Row 2: Jason Feger, Robert Ardry
Row 3: Jeremy Sneed, Brandon Pralle
Row 4: William Stile Jr., Mike Schulte
Third heat
Row 1: Zack Dohm, Daryn Klein
Row 2: Mike Spatola, Dan Jacober
Row 3: Derek Fetter, Scott Bell
Row 4: Dan Drury, Brandon Tibaldi
Fourth heat
Row 1: Dennis Erb Jr., Myles Moos
Row 2: Jeremiah Hurst, Bob Gardner
Row 3: Zach McMillan, Jeff Herzog
Row 4: Cody Holtkamp, Scott Halley
Fifth heat
Row 1: Logan Roberson, Don O’Neal
Row 2: Tim Manville, Paul Roider
Row 3: Mike Fryer, Josh Knoll
Row 4: Matt Koch
Sixth heat
Row 1: Payton Looney, Chad Zobrist
Row 2: Patrik Daniel, Blair Nothdurft
Row 3: Camaron Marlar, Jon Ortega
Row 4: Brian Mullins

Time trial results

Driver (car no.), hometown, time
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 11.276
Tyler Carpenter (28), Parkersburg, W.Va., 11.419
Zack Dohm (6T), Cross Lanes, W.Va., 11.437
Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 11.445
Logan Roberson (19), Waynesboro, Va., 11.455
Payton Looney (15), Republic, Mo., 11.474
Caleb Ashby (61), Cunningham, Tenn., 11.573
Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 11.612
Daryn Klein (10K), Fairview Heights, Ill., 11.623
Myles Moos (84), Lincoln, Ill., 11.623
Don O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 11.641
Chad Zobrist (78), Highland, Ill., 11.656
Greg Kimmons (27), Pleasant Plains, Ill., 11.661
Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., 11.672
Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., 11.689
Jeremiah Hurst (58), Dubuque, Iowa, 11.721
Tim Manville (33), Highland, Ill., 11.785
Patrik Daniel (75), Wills Pont, Texas, 11.827
Kody Frame (97), Elkview, W.Va., 11.829
Robert Andry (127), Murfreesboro, Tenn., 11.851
Dan Jacober (22j), Highland, Ill., 11.861
Bob Gardner (4G), East Peoria, Ill., 11.901
Paul Roider (23R), Columbia, Ill., 11.947
Blair Nothdurft (76), Sioux Falls, S.D., 11.952
Eric Hickerson (98), Linden, Tenn., 11.964
Jeremy Sneed (24S), Bluford, Ill., 11.965
Derek Fetter (32F), Troy, Mo., 11.970
Zach McMillan (14), Gladewater, Texas, 12.019
Mike Fryer (44w), Freeport, Ill., 12.054
Camaron Marlar (57m), Winfield, Tenn., 12.106
Kip Hughes (G0), Enid, Okla., 12.127
Brandon Pralle (56), Ashkum, Ill., 12.136
Scott Bell (45), East Prairie, Mo., 12.174
Jeff Herzog (11H), Herculaneum, Mo., 12.182
Josh Knoll (87k), Lake, Mich., 12.217
Jon Ortega (22), Las Cruces, N.M.    12.325
Corey Ford (84F), Belleville, Ill., 12.356
Dan Drury (21D), Eldora, Iowa, 12.366
William Stile Jr. (51), Muse, Pa., 12.385
Cody Holtkamp (23), Holts Summit, Mo., 12.392
Matt Koch (96K), Aviston, Ill., 12.421
Brian Mullins (626), Cincinnati, Ohio, 12.423
Peyton Walker (2), Paducah, Ky., 12.505
Mike Schulte (27m), Summerfield, Ill., 12.568
Brandon Tibaldi (119), Almo, Ky., 13.340
Scott Halley (H20), Washington, Mo., 13.864

Friday's schedule

11 a.m. - Pit doors open
1 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
2 p.m. - Spectator doors open
2 p.m. - Midget engine heat and qualifying
3 p.m. - Racing begins
- Late Model heat races
- Midget heat races
- Late Model C-mains
- Modified B-mains
- Midget B-mains
- Late Model B-Mains
Opening ceremonies
- Modified features (20 laps)
- Midget features (20 laps)
- Late Model features (20 laps)
(Pits close one hour after final checkered flag)