ST. LOUIS, Mo. (Dec. 1) — Bobby Pierce was somewhat apologetic following his second straight victory in the Gateway Dirt Nationals.

“Big thanks to (Gateway Dirt Nationals promoter) Cody Sommer. I know he probably wanted to see a heck of a race for the lead, so sorry about that Cody,” said Pierce after climbing from his car in victory lane.

Indeed there was no race for the lead. Pierce made sure of that. Repeating his 2017 victory, Pierce, of Oakwood, Ill., led flag-to-flag to win Saturday’s third annual Gateway Dirt Nationals. From his pole starting position, Pierce grabbed the lead ahead of fellow front-row starter Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., on the opening circuit and never looked back en route to winning his third race overall inside The Dome at America’s Center in downtown St. Louis and a season’s best $30,000 payday.

Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., moved into second on lap seven and chased Pierce the rest of way, but eventually settled for a runner-up finish after starting fourth. Second-starting O’Neal finished third after slipping by Jason Welshan on a lap-33 restart. Welshan, of Maryville, Tenn., finished fourth for the second year in a row, while Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., rallied from 15th to complete the top five.

Pierce had to endure nine cautions and a rugged race track to secure his second victory of the weekend and third inside the Dome after winning a $5,000 preliminary feature on Friday.

“This feels amazing to go back to back,” said an elated, but obviously gassed Pierce. “Man I was pretty wore out after that race. That was kinda like riding a bull there. But man we got it done. I’m glad to win it again. I’m sure if (Shannon) Babb would’ve got up there, I bet he wouldn’t been able to make a run for it.

“When he jumped the cushion (in his preliminary feature Friday) and that didn’t let him get in the top eight … I’m just saying I know he’s one of the best cushion riders here. If he could’ve been up there, it probably would’ve been a really good show. I think there’s a lot of (cushion) on top up there. I just never went up there ‘cause I never got challenged.”

The nine cautions made sure of that. With six cautions flying in the first 20 laps — when most of the 22 starters were still on the track — Pierce never had to worry about negotiating lapped traffic. The longest green-flag run stretched from lap 25 — following a caution for Bob Gardner who spun to avoid Babb — to lap 33, when Gardner slowed again to bring out the ninth caution.

While the final seven laps went caution free, by then fewer than seven competitors remained on track, leaving little — other than a few developing ruts — to slow Pierce down.

“I didn’t really like to see the lapped cars in the way,” said Pierce. “But it almost kinda helped calm me down because then I had to calm down my driving style and that actually helped me through the rough stuff. You couldn’t go sailing off in there. You’d bounce and I just had to try to work the gas peddle the best I could to make that thing not bounce. I felt like a basketball a few times.”

Pierce, who enjoyed leads of more than 1.5 seconds throughout the race before finishing a comfortable 1.362 seconds ahead of Moyer, said he was prepared to go to the top of the track if he needed to.

“I think if I was pressured I probably could’ve turned the same lap times up top because that bottom was just so inconsistent,” said Pierce. “I was actually better when I was like eighth- or quarter-throttle because it seemed like if I got past that it just ran the left rear into the ground and made it dig harder and I hit the holes and there I went bouncing like a basketball.”

Moyer did venture off the bottom a time or two, but the Hall of Famer making his second Gateway Dirt Nationals appearance — he finished 19th last season — felt as though his best chance was in trying to negotiate the tricky bottom half of the track.

“There at one part of the race we did feel pretty darn good. Then it just kinda went away and I was just hanging on really,” Moyer said. “Maybe from a little bit before halfway I was just waiting for it to get over at that point.

"The outside wasn’t there like I thought it might be. I was really planning on running more middle to outside. I tried it there early and there was nothing off the corner. It was just like running on sand. I just got back to the bottom there and tried to survive and do what I could do.”

With Pierce long gone, Moyer was left to battle O’Neal and Welshan. Welshan ran fourth for most of the race, but did manage to slip by O’Neal for third just past the halfway mark. With seven to go, however, O’Neal, who was driving his son Hudson’s Todd Burns-owned No. 71, took the spot back.

“Billy, he got around me … he was a little better than I was,” said O’Neal. “I tried that outside and let that 29 car (Welshan) around me., just trying to make something happen. Then I got him back there towards the end. I knowed after five laps we probably didn’t have a chance to win it. We just weren’t quite good enough. But all in all, we’ll take third place. Man I want to win here so bad. I love this place. It’s a lot of fun. We’ll just have to come back next year.”

VP Gateway Dirt Nationals

Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Pierce, $30,000
2. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., Moyer Victory, $15,000
3. Don O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Club 29, $10,000
4. Jason Welshan (29), Maryville, Tenn., Savage, $5,000
5. Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., Pierce, $3,000
6. Billy Moyer Jr. (21jr), Batesville, Ark., Black Diamond, $2,500
7. Mike Spatola (89), Manhattan, Ill., Rocket, $2,400
8. Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., Black Diamond, $2,300
9. Tyler Carpenter (28), Parkersburg, W.Va., Kryptonite, $2,200
10. Jeff Herzog (11), Herculaneum, Mo., Rocket, $2,100
11. Patrik Daniel (75), Wills Point, Texas, Rocket, $2,000
12. Camaron Marlar (57m), Winfield, Tenn., Rocket, $2,000
13. Bob Gardner (4G), East Peoria, Ill., Longhorn, $2,000
14. Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., Sweet-Bloomquist, $2,000
15. Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., Rocket, $2,000
16. Joey Coulter (2), Concord, N.C., Longhorn, $2,000
17. Manny Falcon (995), Pine Grove, La., Sweet-Bloomquist, $2,000
18. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $2,000
19. Brandon Sheppard (B5), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $2,000
20. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., Rocket, $2,000
21. Chad Zobrist (78), Highland, Ill., Rocket, $2,000
22. Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $2,000
Lap leader: Pierce 1-40
Fast qualifier: English, 11.119 seconds
Heat race winners: English, Davenport, McCreadie, Moyer, Sheppard, Welshan, Pierce, Babb, Zack Dohm, Herzog, Logan Roberson, Zobrist
Consolation winners: Davenport, Marlar, Coulter, Babb, English, Gardner
Provisional starters: Bloomquist, Moyer Jr.
Preliminary feature winners: Pierce, Sheppard
Race of Champions winner: Rusty Schlenk

Preliminary notes and results:

Pre-feature notes

The 40-lap feature will include 22 cars with the addition of provisional starters Scott Bloomquist (past event champion) and Billy Moyer Jr. (fastest qualifier who did not transfer). … Taking the green flag will make Bloomquist one of eight drivers who have started all three Gateway Dirt Nationals finales, joining Bobby Pierce, Don O’Neal, Chad Zobrist, Brandon Sheppard, Joey Coulter, Shannon Babb and Gordy Gundaker. … Babb starts 12th as he chases his first career win in the Dome’s headliner. Last year he started 17th and charged all the way up to second before slipping to seventh at the finish. … First-time starters in the headliner are Jeff Herzog, Tim McCreadie, Jonathan Davenport, Camaron Marlar, Patrik Daniel, Manny Falcon and Mike Spatola. … The 1-5 for the 40-lapper is $30,000, $15,000, $10,000, $5,000 and $3,000 with $2,000 earmarked to start the race. The total base purse payout to Super Late Models for the weekend is over $155,000. … A notable fact from last year’s Gateway Dirt Nationals pre-race driver introductions courtesy of DirtonDirt.com’s Andy Savary: the two drivers who received boos from the crowd when their names were announced were Bloomquist (2016 winner) and Pierce (eventual 2017 winner). Perhaps the rough reception is actually a good omen?

Gateway Dirt Nationals lineup

Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Don O'Neal
Row 2: Jeff Herzog, Billy Moyer
Row 3: Tim McCreadie, Jason Welshan
Row 4: Chad Zobrist, Brandon Sheppard
Row 5: Jonathan Davenport, Camaron Marlar
Row 6: Joey Coulter, Shannon Babb
Row 7: Tanner English, Bob Gardner
Row 8: Ryan Unzicker, Tyler Carpenter
Row 9: Gordy Gundaker, Patrik Daniel
Row 10: Manny Falcon, Mike Spatola
Row 11: Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer Jr.

Sixth consolation

A yellow flag waved on the opening lap when Caleb Ashby spun in turns one and two, collecting Jon Ortega, Peyton Walker, Robert Ardry and Dewayne Kiefer. Polesitter Bob Gardner shot to the lead when the green flag dropped, with another yellow flag flying on lap two when Ardry spun in turn two. Gardner and Mike Spatola maintained the top two spots on the restart, distancing themselves from the rest of the field. Gardner won the heat, with Ortega bringing his smoking car to a stop in turn two as the checkered flag waved. Suffering a flat tire on the start, front-row starter Logan Roberson retired early.

Finish (top two transfer): Bob Gardner, Mike Spatola, Dan Jacober, Caleb Ashby, Josh Knoll, Brandon Pralle, Brad Simpson, Jon Ortega, Robert Ardry, Logan Roberson, Peyton Walker, Dewayne Kiefer.

Fifth consolation

Polesitter Manny Falcon shot out to an early lead, fending off early challenges from fellow front-row starter Tanner English. Slipping under Falcon as the pair exited turn four, English assumed the point on the fourth circuit, quickly stretching his lead. Pulling away late-race, English won the consolation, with Falcon holding off Freddie Carpenter to take the second and final transfer spot.

Finish (top two transfer): Tanner English, Manny Falcon, Freddie Carpenter, Rusty Schlenk, Bryce Davis, Blake Martin, Ruben Mayfield. Scratched: Mike Hammerlee.

Fourth consolation

Easily pulling away after three early cautions, Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., won the fourth consolation. Patrik Daniel nursed his smoking machine across the line in second, finishing just a car length ahead of Jason Feger. The race was slowed by three cautions, the first for Payton Looney who slowed to stop in turn one before a lap could be completed. Two more cautions, both for minor incidents, slowed the pace, but did little to slow Babb.

Finish (top two transfer): Shannon Babb, Patrik Daniel, Jason Feger, Jeremiah Hurst, Jeremy Sneed, Myles Moos, Scott Bell, Payton Looney, Kody Frame, Kip Hughes, William Stile Jr., Mike Fryer, Scott Halley.

Third consolation

Polesitter Joey Coulter shot to an early lead, with a yellow flag waving on lap one when Greg Johnson and Hunter Rasdon tangled in turns three and four. Rich Bell and Gordy Gundaker raced side-by-side for second on the restart, with Bell maintaining the advantage. Coulter held a comfortable lead late-race, with a red flag falling on lap nine when Chris Fetter wildly rolled his car on the backstretch; he was able to climb from the car on his own power but told announcer Blake Anderson he was “just a little dizzy.” The program was delayed as repairs were made to the catch fence. Leading the final lap when the race went back green, Coulter won the consolation, witch Gundaker edging out Bell on the final lap to finish second and transfer to the main event.

Finish (top two transfer): Joey Coulter, Gordy Gundaker, Rich Bell, Clay Fisher, Oakley Johns, Greg Johnson, Hunter Rasdon, Donald Johns, Brian Woodard, Chris Fetter, Randy Manos, Richard Shepler.

Second consolation

Grabbing the lead at the start, polesitter Camaron Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., led all 10 laps to win the second consolation. Marlar fought off a challenge from Eric Hickerson of Linden, Tenn., early and then held off a charging Tyler Carpenter of Parkersburg, W.Va. Carpenter snuck by Hickerson to take the second spot on a lap-six restart and dogged Marlar to the finish before settling for second. Both Marlar and Carpenter advance to the main event. After running second for six laps, Hickerson slipped to eight following another caution one lap seven. Corey Ford spun in turn three, drawing the first caution on lap six. Zack Dohm headed to the pits during the caution, giving up the third position.

Finish (top two transfer): Camaron Marlar, Tyler Carpenter, Mike Schultz, Blair Nothdurft, Tim Manville Zach McMillan, Cody Holtkampom Eric Hickerson, Derek Feter, Corey Ford, Brian Mullins, Greg Kimmons, Zack Dohm, Brandon Hood.

First consolation

Polesitter Jonathan Davenport charged to the lead at the drop of the green flag, with second-starting Ryan Unzicker in tow. A yellow flag waved on lap two for a frontsretch tangle involving Luke Goedert, Trevor Gundaker, Mark Shipman and Don Hammer. Davenport held his lead on the restart, with Scott Bloomquist advancing from the tail of the field to run sixth. Austin Rettig raced on the rear bumper of second-running Unzicker at the halfway mark, but was unable to make the pass for position. Unchallenged up front, Davenport won the consolation, with Unzicker finishing second to transfer to the feature. Suffering nose damage during hot laps, Rusty Griffaw, who was slated to start third, retired to the pits before taking the green flag.

Finish (top two transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Ryan Unzicker, Austin Rettig, Scott Ward, Billy Moyer Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Luke Goedert, Mark Shipman, R.C. Whitwell, Jake Miller, Trevor Gundaker, Don Hammer. Scratched: Rusty Griffaw, Dennis Erb Jr.

Pre-race notes

The Dome’s pit area opened at 11 a.m. and the sounds that follow a rough-and-tumble race night on the fifth-mile bullring soon filled the building. Crews were hard at work hammering and pop-riveting nosepieces and front bumpers that were either bent up or needed to be completely replaced after Friday’s action. … Two drivers who put on new new nosepieces were Billy Moyer Jr. of Batesville, Ark., who crushed his machine’s nose after clipping the tire inside of turn three and shooting into the outside wall on lap 11 of the first preliminary feature, and Payton Looney of Republic, Mo., whose nose was crushed when he clobbered a tire inside turns one and two at the start of a heat. … Four of the eight drivers who locked into the 40-lap finale through Friday’s preliminary features — Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., Chad Zobrist of Highland, Ill., and Don O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind. — also started the first two Gateway Dirt Nationals headliners in 2016 and ’17. The other racers already in the A-main’s field are second-time starters Jason Welshan of Maryville, Tenn., and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., and first-time starters Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., and Jeff Herzog of Herculaneum, Mo. … Welshan drew plenty of attention last year when he punctuated his pre-race driver introduction by holding a “Scott Who?” sign directed toward Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn. The pressure is on him to come up with something different this evening. “I don’t know that I can top what I did last year,” Welshan said. “I mean, that’s kind of hard to do. I kind of done it all at one time … everybody’s wondering what I’m gonna do. All I can say is, I love entertaining people. I like making people smile and have a good time. We’re gonna do our best tomorrow when we walk through that curtain to make everybody stand on their feet, I promise you that.” … McCreadie looked strong en route to his runner-up finish in Friday’s first preliminary feature, but getting his Sweeteners Plus-backed Longhorn to the starting grid was anything but easy. His car’s starter burnt out after his heat win, forcing his Philip Snellen-led crew to work hard to replace the starter and make other residual fixes. “We needed all seven hours before the feature,” Snellen quipped, referring to the extended stretch between the end of the heats and the start of the features. … Speaking of the long Friday program, the late checkered of Sheppard’s feature (11:55 p.m.) prevented his 4-year-old son, Jase, from joining him in victory lane. The kid had already gone to bed; when B-Shepp told his boy he had won, “He just said, ‘Ha ha, I was sleeping.’” … After his involvement in a B-main tangle Friday night left his car with significant nose damage, Bloomquist faces an uphill climb to transfer to the finale — which he won in ’16 — from deep in a last-chance race this afternoon. His crew unloaded the car about 12:30 p.m. to begin repairing it. … Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., has scratched from Saturday’s action after suffering terminal engine trouble while leading a Friday heat.

Consolation lineups

(10 laps; top two transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Ryan Unzicker
Row 2: Rusty Griffaw, Austin Rettig
Row 3: Scott Ward, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 4: Don Hammer, Trevor Gundaker
Row 5: Jake Miller, R.C. Whitwell
Row 6: Mark Shipman, Scott Bloomquist
Row 7: Luke Goedert, Dennis Erb Jr.
Second consolation
Row 1: Camaron Marlar, Greg Kimmons
Row 2: Eric Hickerson, Tim Manville
Row 3: Zack Dohm, Tyler Carpenter
Row 4: Mike Schulte, Blair Nothdurft
Row 5: Zach McMillan, Brian Mullins
Row 6: Derek Fetter, Cody Holtkamp
Row 7: Corey Ford, Brandon Hood
Third consolation
Row 1: Joey Coulter, Gordy Gundaker
Row 2: Rich Bell, Oakley Johns
Row 3: Chris Fetter, Clay Fisher
Row 4: Donald Johns, Brian Woodard
Row 5: Randy Manos, Greg Johnson
Row 6: Hunter Rasdon, Richard Shepler
Row 7: Amber Crouch, Randy Timms
Fourth consolation
Row 1: Shannon Babb, Mike Fryer
Row 2: Jason Feger, Patrik Daniel
Row 3: Myles Moos, Scott Bell
Row 4: Jeremy Sneed, Jeremiah Hurst
Row 5: Scott Halley, William Stile Jr.
Row 6: Payton Looney, Kody Frame
Row 7: Kip Hughes, Dan Drury
Fifth consolation
Row 1: Manny Falcon, Tanner English
Row 2: Freddie Carpenter, Rusty Schlenk
Row 3: Bryce Davis, Ruben Mayfield
Row 4: Blake Martin, Mike Hammerlee
Row 5: Adam Schrag, Robbie Stuart
Row 6: Dan Patnoe, Levi Ashby
Row 7: Paul Roider, Brandon Tibaldi
Sixth consolation
Row 1: Bob Gardner, Logan Roberson
Row 2: Mike Spatola, Caleb Ashby
Row 3: Dan Jacober, Josh Knoll
Row 4: Brandon Pralle, Jon Ortega
Row 5: Peyton Walker, Matt Koch
Row 6: Daryn Klein, Robert Ardry
Row 7: Brad Simpson, Dewayne Kiefer

Pre-race setup

The St. Louis indoor action wraps up on Saturday night in The Dome at America’s Center with the 40-lap, $30,000-to-win VP Gateway Dirt Nationals finale. Eight drivers are already locked in to Saturdays main event based on their finishes in Friday’s preliminary features.

Saturday’s Late Model program includes six 10-lap consolations, with the top two finishers from each race transferring to the feature. The eight drivers already locked in to Saturday’s finale will redraw for their starting positions in the first four rows, with Friday’s preliminary winners Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., among those drivers guaranteed a starting spot.

Along with Late Models, Saturday’s program will include a $10,000-to-win feature for both midgets and modifieds. DirtonDirt.com is offering live pay-per-view coverage of the indoor action.

Saturday’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
3 p.m. - Racing begins
- Late Model consolation races
- Midget consolation races
- Modified consolation races
 Opening ceremonies
- Late Model feature (40 laps)
- Midget feature (30 laps)
- Modified feature (30 laps)