What won the race: Polesitter Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., executed a perfect slide job for the lead on lap 24, overtaking Ryan Unzicker to pace the final 16 circuits and win Saturday's MARS Racing Series season finale at Spoon River Speedway, collecting $5,000.

Quotable: "Those restarts got me a little nervous there towards the end, I was getting kinda loose and I got pretty lucky because I hit one of those tires getting under Ryan and it folded the nose under pretty good, made it hard to turn," Pierce said.

Key notes: Pierce won on his parents' anniversary. ... The victory is the 13th of his MARS career and second consecutive win at the Banner, Ill., oval, after winning a DIRTcar Summer Nationals event there in July. ... After leading the first 23 laps, Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., settled for the runner-up position, 1.268 seconds behind Pierce. Unzicker ran the last half of the race without power steering. ... MARS champ Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., finished third. ... Contending within the top-five for the entire race and running as high as second on lap 36, Garrett Alberson of Las Cruces, N.M., finished fourth. ... After making contact while battling Alberson for fourth place on lap 37, Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., was forced off the track in turn three, relegating him to eighth. ... Saturday's feature, the season finale for the MARS Racing Series, was slowed by four incidents and lasted 16 minutes with 12 competitors completing 40 laps.

On the move: Mike Chasteen Jr. of Creve Coeur, Ill., started 20th and finished ninth.

Winner's sponsors: Pierce’s Pierce Race Car is sponsored by Hoker Trucking, Allgayer Inc., Premier Waste Services, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Go Lithium, Base Racing Fuel, Carnaghi Towing, Viper Risk Management, Extreme Electric, First Spear, Quality Paint & Body, Leka Tree Service, Advanced Suspension and Allstar Performance.

Points chase: Before Spoon River: 1. Brian Shirley (684); 2. Jason Feger (630); 3. Ryan Unzicker (556); 4. Tanner English (525); 5. Bob Gardner (277).

Current weather: Clear, 64°F

Car count: 20

Fast qualifier: Bobby Pierce

Time: 13.856 seconds

Polesitter: Bobby Pierce

Heat race winners: Bobby Pierce, Ryan Unzicker, Brian Shirley