National notebook
Notes: After win, Short Cool One eyes La Salle
Bob Pierce gives son Bobby a thumbs-up at Florida Speedweeks. (thesportswire.net)
After winning his first career Super Late Model event Saturday night at Peoria (Ill.) Speedway, 14-year-old Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., had a multitude of people to thank. Among those were his parents, retired Hall of Fame driver turned car builder Bob Pierce and his wife Angie. Both parents were as happy for their son to win as he was.
It was like “winning the World 100,” Angie said of the victory.
This week the youngster sets his sights on the $10,000 first place money that is up for grabs in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned Spring Shootout at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway.
The Short Cool One — a nickname drawn from his father's Tall Cool One moniker — is in the midst of his first full season of Super Late Model competition after two successful years racing Crate Late Models. Pierce started 40 Crate features in 2010, scoring 16 victories and 37 top-five finishes. On only one occasion did he fail to finish in the top 10 of a feature event, an impressive feat for any driver, let alone an eighth-grader.
Watching 15-year-old Tyler Reddick of Corning, Calif., capture his first career Super Late Model victory during February’s Dart Winternationals at East Bay Raceway Park near Tampa, Fla., caught Pierce’s attention.
Pierce was making his first appearance at East Bay and learned a tremendous amount while battling against many of the nation’s top drivers and 60-plus car fields each night. He took notice that if Reddick could win, why not him?
Pierce’s father has been there from the beginning, starting the younger Pierce in quarter-midgets and then Crates before going full-time in Super Late Models this year. Along the way the elder Pierce taught his son that patience is the key.
Pierce was unsuccessful in making any feature lineups during his trip to East Bay, falling just short each night in preliminary action. But his father still considered the trip invaluable to the rookie driver’s learning curve.
“At East Bay, the biggest thing was qualifying,” the elder Pierce said of his son’s trip. “A lot of shows we had to draw for in the past, so this was good for him to gain experience qualifying. Racing the Crate he learned to be smooth and now with more horsepower, he’s adjusted great.”
While the Pierce family travels up and down the road this season visiting racetracks the young driver has never seen, much less competed at, there is a concern about burnout for the young man. But his father hopes some time away from racing will curtail that.
“If he wants to go and play football, basketball, video games to whatever with his friends, then I don’t mind at all,” the elder Pierce said. “He’s always in the shop working on the car, but it’s good for him to get away and just be a kid sometimes.”
Along with competing in this weekend’s event at La Salle, tentative plans for the young Pierce include entering his first Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., Memorial Day weekend, a race to be televised on CBS in a taped-delayed broadcast.
Battling against the best of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is one thing the younger Pierce realizes will make him a better driver.
“I just want to respect the other drivers out on the track,” said Pierce, who will be making his La Salle Late Model debut Saturday. — James Essex
Big trip for Moore?
With three victories so far in 2011, including the $10,000-to-win Pelican 100 at ArkLaTex Speedway in Vivian, La., Ray Moore is off to a hot start to the season in the Deep South. He’s hoping that the fan-voted FansFund.com sponsorship will help him take that momentum to Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., later this year for the $50,000-to-win USA Nationals.
Moore of Shreveport, La., is a participant in the online vote that raises money for drivers who attend the World of Outlaws Late Model Series-sanctioned event scheduled for Aug. 5-6. Fans donate and vote on drivers entered into the contest with the money that is raised helping to alleviate costs for a team participating in the race.
With his family’s business causing him to keep his racing efforts close to home, Moore doesn’t get many opportunities to make trips like the one to Cedar Lake, which is nearly a 20-hour drive from his northern Louisiana home.
"We are in the natural gas business; it is definitely booming real hard here in Louisiana and it is very hard for me to leave right now,” Moore said. “I try to pick and choose my races that I go to. I am glad that the business is doing good, it is enabling us to do what we do in racing, but also I wish it would slow down just a little bit so I can go out on the road a little bit more. I know our program would pick up a little bit more.”
The 29-year-old driver is hoping for the opportunity to compete at Cedar Lake, and he’s already making preliminary plans for the trip.
“I have got some people that are going to cover for me while I go up to Wisconsin,” Moore said. “The FansFund is definitely something that is going to be great, because Wisconsin is about a 18- or 19-hour drive for us. We have even discussed me and the crew flying up there and driving one of Jimmy's (Mars) cars in the USA Nationals. So if we were able to win the FanFunds, that would definitely help pay for our airfare up there and it would be a blast.”
The trip may serve as more than just an opportunity to race for Moore, who may pick up a new MasterSbilt Race Car during the trip from Mars, a Menomonie, Wis.-based racer and chassis dealer.
“We ordered a new car from Jimmy the other day, so if it is ready in time, we might just bring our stuff up there and pick the new car up while we are there,” Moore said. “If I do that, we would get there a couple days early, get the car ready and drive one of his, so I think that would be pretty cool too.
“Either way, every dollar and every vote counts on the FanFunds deal. We are looking good so far and I hope to keep it up. We have a lot of fans down here in this area and I think it is because we just try to put on a good show for them every time out.” — Bryan Wimberley
Odds and ends
The National Dirt Racing Association is gearing up for one of its biggest shows of 2011 as NDRA's Heintz Performance Road Show for Crate Late Models prepares to tackle The Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway May 27. Along with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, the NDRA Late Models will be the featured event of the Circle K Showdown during NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 weekend that takes place at Charlotte Motor Speedway just across the street from the The Dirt Track. The $2,000 to win event will be the first of the season for the series after a May 21 event at I-20 Speedway in Batesburg, S.C., was postponed. ... The Race Brothers Farm and Home Supply Show Me Racin’ Series will visit Mid-America Speedway in South Coffeyville, Okla., Saturday night for the inaugural Oklahoma Oil Bash. The event will feature an increased purse throughout the field, with the 30-lap main event paying $1,500 to the winner and at least $425 to each starter. Three-time series champion Justin Wells of Aurora, Mo., won the series opener April 2 at Tri-State Speedway in Pocola, Okla.
