When Bobby Pierce announced in the offseason that he’d accepted a ride with the Dunn Benson Motorsports team to replace the departing Earl Pearson Jr. — a move for Pierce that meant relocation from his Oakwood, Ill., home to Dunn-Benson’s headquarters in North Carolina — my first thought was not of Pierce’s newfound opportunity to chase the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.

No, at first I thought, what about the DIRTcar Summer Nationals? After all, Pierce was a Summer Nationals MORE

Twenty-four races. Twenty-three tracks. Six states. Thirty-two days.

The 2018 DIRTcar Summer Nationals was another long, grueling odyssey, a test of dedication and willpower that only a select number of diehards manage to make it through from start to finish. This year that group totaled 17 people, down significantly from the 31 who completed the Hell Tour’s 25 events in ’17. | Slideshow | Complete Summer Nationals coverage

What follows is DirtonDirt.com’s annual review of the people — MORE