Farmer City Raceway
Difficult Illini 100 demise leaves James emotional
By Alli Collis
DirtonDirt.com staff writer
Scott James (83) races with Bobby Pierce (32) before his demise. (Jim DenHamer)
FARMER CITY, Ill. (April 6) — Anger. Heartbreak. Confidence. All were emotions felt by Bright, Ind.’s Scott James during Saturday night’s World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series-sanctioned Illini 100 finale at Farmer City Raceway. | RaceWire
Charging from the 11th starting spot, the 47-year-old James was running second to eventual race winner Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., when a caution fell on the 64th lap. Choosing to restart in the outside lane, James and third-running Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., made slight contact when the race went back green, resulting in James spinning in front of the field to collect several other cars in turn four.
An obviously dejected James climbed from the wreckage, removed his helmet and tossed it back into his car and stomped away into the infield. He motioned toward Pierce, sitting in his car under the red flag conditions, and then confronted Pierce’s father Bob in the infield before returning to his Dolhun Motorsports pit area.
From Pierce’s perspective, the incident was nothing more than tight racing on the close-quarters Farmer City bullring. But from James’s vantage point, Pierce was to blame for the early end to what would have likely been a strong finish for the Indiana driver.
“The car was good on the top and it was good on the bottom and it was maneuverable,” James said. “That's what you’ve got to have, a maneuverable race car that has traction. Our Rocket car was good.
"It’s just a shame. That's racing and we're going be back in that position soon. The No. 32 car has a line up next to us again. We'll take care of the business. One way or another, we'll take care of it.”
Much like James, Pierce had to work his way through the field, joining frontrunners late in the race after starting outside the eighth row. After battling for position with James and Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., Pierce said the result of the lap-64 restart was something he’s seen happen in other races before.
“I've seen it happen a few times, where when the outside guy just kind of … you’re coming down the track and if his left-front gets into your right-rear, it just spins him on around,” Pierce said. “It's kind of weird how that happens. I don't know how the tire has that much force to spin a car around like that, but it’s just a deal where he was trying to get in that traction spot, I guess, on the bottom, and just got a little too close, and got into that right-rear tire with his left-front.”
Still disappointed as he loaded his damaged No. 83 into his team’s trailer some time after the checkered flag had waved on the 75-lapper, James wasn’t interested in discussing the specifics of the incident. After a lackluster performance in Friday’s Illini 100 opener, he was proud of how far his team had come on Saturday night.
“I'd rather talk about how good a car we had,” James said. “I don't want to talk about Bobby Pierce. Everybody knows. I will talk about my car and my team and how hard they worked today and how good we were tonight. I'm proud of them, I'm proud of us, proud of what we can do against professional racers. For us to do what we did tonight is great for our team.”
Saturday was a continuation of the bad luck James and team have been fighting early this season. Initially setting out with tentative thoughts of running the World of Outlaws tour in 2019, James’s plans for the season changed after a quiet performance in Georgia-Florida Speedweeks action at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., and Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. Returning to competition for March 23’s Spring 50 at Florence Speedway in Union, Ky., James was forced to retire early, recording a 13th-place finish after racing at the front of the field.
“We started on the front row, had the tire go down,” James said of his Florence run. "That's racing. I mean, it goes that way. Obviously, right now, lady luck, it's not been on our side. But it all goes in circles. Racing is a great equalizer. It teaches you ups and downs of life.
“I was upset and I think anybody would be upset. You line up next to the guys … every time you come off turn four you’re next to somebody. I get next to (Pierce) and he wanted the outside. He tail-whipped me. He tailed-whipped me pretty hard and it spun me. That happens a lot. The kid’s got tons of talent. But it is what it is.”
While Saturday’s finale didn’t end the way James would have hoped, he said he knows his team is capable of success moving forward. He’s slated to enter the April 13 Schaeffer's MARS Racing Series event at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway.
“It's great,” James said of his early performance. “Yeah, it's good. But at the end of the day, it's still a DNF and doesn't put the money in the bank account. You’ve got to finish races. They don't pay that great for last. We want to win. We want to run up front. At the end of the day everybody only knows who won. They don't know who run second.”
