ROSSBURG, Ohio — Bobby Pierce penciled a key gap in his Eldora Speedway resume Saturday night with a dream realized.
In an effort that was less high-flying theatrics than a steady run to the front from his 13th starting spot, the 29-year-old Oakwood, Ill., driver led the final 42 laps of the 100-lap Dream XXXII for a $100,000 payday.
With contenders falling by the wayside, Pierce captured his fifth crown jewel victory at the historic half-mile oval, adding his first Dream to a pair of victories in the World 100 (2016, ’24) and Dirt Track World Championship (2024-'25). He also ended the three-Dream winning streak of Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., who started alongside Pierce in the seventh row but was never in contention while finishing sixth.
“Finally got the Dream,” Pierce said during his victory lane celebration. “I mean, a lot of people would probably be like, ‘Well, you're only 29,’ but we've been coming here for a long time and we've been so good at the Dirt Track and the Worlds and never really been good at the Dream until these last couple of years.”
Pierce took the checkers 1.046 seconds ahead of eighth-starting Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., who posted his best-ever Eldora finish ahead of Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., who improved a dozen spots for his fourth consecutive podium finish in major Eldora events.
Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., posted a trademark 16th-to-fourth charge while 12th-starting Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, rounded out the top five on a night when rain hit in the afternoon, threatening to postpone the program.
Some key contenders weren’t around at the finish. Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., who led laps 25-58, stayed in touch with Pierce before blowing a right-front tire that sent the second-running driver into the turn-three wall, where he collected third-running Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind. Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, who ran third most of the way, retired during the caution period while the Sheppard and O’Neal cars were towed away after 79 completed laps.
Pierce expected his fellow Illinoisan Sheppard to stay in the hunt, so he knew he’d caught a break when he watched video board replays of the Sheppard-O’Neal mess against the turn-three wall.
"I studied that replay really hard and saw what happened to Brandon, noticed he blew a right-front (tire), so it really sucks for him,” said Pierce, whose No. 32 was powered by a backup powerplant after experiencing a shredded oil pump belt in his primary engine on Wednesday. “We were gonna have a hell of a race, and I don't know how the outcome would have been. He was really good in the middle and it was starting to get really clean there, and I probably should have moved down, but with lapped traffic. … but I was watching that replay and noticed it took out Huddy, too.
“That sucked for him, he had nowhere to go. So those two guys, felt bad for them, and I noticed Blair was the next one up and I noticed he was running the middle on the replay, so I figured just stay in that middle line. Every restart, the middle would feel so good, and after about five laps my tires would get hot, I guess, and I'd get loose. I just had to start searching around, but awesome race car, man.”
A disappointed Sheppard, interviewed with his car still on the hook, said that when his tire blew, it “just sent me straight into the wall. I was really hoping to get to charge back at that 32.”
Afternoon rain changed the track conditions, but Pierce handled it with aplomb in adding Saturday's $100,000 check to his $30,000 payday in Thursday’s preliminary feature.
“Awesome racetrack. (Eldora general manager) Levi (Jones) and the whole crew ... A lot of racetracks can't handle that amount of rain and still be smooth and racy all over. So Eldora’s back, baby,” Pierce said.
"I knew it would be fast like it was. I mean, honestly, the cushion moved up a little bit higher than I thought it possibly would have, so it was on that verge where it was getting really hard to run because it was actually forming a lip, and that's why the middle was so good because it almost was too much of a cushion. Like, you're going so fast here, you hit that curb, and you know we're not at (quarter-mile) Fairbury (Speedway in Illinois). We're going 100 and whatever mph here, so it got a little challenging and tricky to run up there.”
Blair, whose previous best Eldora finish was fifth, didn’t challenge Pierce seriously over the final 20 circuits.
"I love this place when it gets like that … it's a ton of fun,” Blair said. “It’s kind of surreal. You know, we've ran OK here the past handful of times we've been here, but to be up here with these guys, it's pretty awesome. We probably didn't have a second-place car there when Sheppy and Huddy had some misfortune — I hate it for them guys, but you know, I'll take it all day, that's for sure.”
Blair, a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regular, added that his Centerline Motorsports team has “been working our tails off all year. It's definitely been my best year I've ever had on a national tour, and I really hope we can keep it rolling.”
Hoffman ran midpack most of the race and was 16th at halfway, but he made a late charge while benefitting from the lap-79 chaos.
“At the beginning, I just kind of bided my time — I guess maybe a little too much — and then I kept getting stuck on the inside of them restarts and couldn't fire off very well and got passed by a couple of cars and had to deal with them. So, I mean, to end up third, I didn't expect that,” said Hoffman, who finished third in last year’s Dream. “Around halfway, I was like, man, I'm gonna end up like 10th in this deal. And it just started to come to me and the racetrack slowed down and got to where I could float. I hate to see that happen to Sheppard and Huddy there, but at that time I felt like I had a pretty good rhythm going and I needed a caution. I just didn't expect it to be a frontrunner.”
Overall, Hoffman said, “another great week for us. We’ll come back stronger and stronger. It just sucks to run third.”
Notes: Bobby Pierce notched his 13th victory of the season. ... Jonathan Davenport was running 12th on the 79th lap when he pitted for a new right-rear tire and gained ground thereafter but settled for sixth. ... Provisional starter Ashton Winger started 19th and ran as high as sixth before slipping back a few spots as he was hampered by a loss of power steering for much of the race's second half. ... Polesitting teen Trey Mills led 24 laps but faded from contention thereafter. He pitted during the caution for Sheppard and O'Neal and finished 17th. ... Besides the lap-79 caution for the Sheppard-O'Neal yellow flag, three other cautions slowed the action, the first on the 43rd lap for a slowing Ricky Thornton Jr., whose broken right-front tie rod forced him out. ... On the 63rd lap, Ryan Gustin slowed to draw a yellow. ... A lap-66 caution dropped for a slowing Daulton Wilson. .... The 42-minute feature concluded at 11:08 p.m. ... Lap-51 leader Sheppard received $2,012 courtesy of Hellraizer Jacks, honoring the late NASCAR star Kyle Busch, an ode to the year he won Eldora's Prelude to the Dream event.
Dream XXXII
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Longhorn, $100,000
2. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., Longhorn, $30,000
3. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., Longhorn, $20,000
4. Dale McDowell (17m), Chickamauga, Ga., Team Zero, $15,000
5. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $12,500
6. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $10,000
7. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., Longhorn, $9,000
8. Ashton Winger (12), Hampton, Ga., Rocket, $8,500
9. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., Stinger, $8,000
10. Sam Seawright (16), Rainsville, Ala., Longhorn, $7,500
11. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., Rocket, $7,250
12. Ryan Gustin (19r), Marshalltown, Iowa, Longhorn, $7,000
13. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $6,800
14. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., Longhorn, $6,600
15. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., Longhorn, $6,400
16. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., Longhorn, $6,200
17. Trey Mills (14jr), St. Augustine, Fla., Longhorn, $6,000
18. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $6,000
19. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $6,000
20. Tyler Erb (51), New Waverly, Texas, Rocket, $6,000
21. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., Longhorn, $6,000
22. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $6,000
23. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., Longhorn, $6,000
24. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., Longhorn, $6,000
25. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $6,000
26. Jake O’Neil (0), Tucson, Ariz., Longhorn, $6,000
Lap leaders: Mills 1-24; Sheppard 25-58; Pierce 59-100
Fast qualifier (among 89 cars): McDowell, 15.036 seconds
Heat race winners: Ferguson, O’Neal, Alberson, Seawright, Sheppard, Mills
Consolation winners: Thornton, Shirley
Provisional starters: Winger, Bronson
Preliminary feature winners: Pierce, Davenport
Feature lineup
(100 laps)
Row 1: Trey Mills, Brandon Sheppard
Row 2: Sam Seawright, Garrett Alberson
Row 3: Hudson O'Neal, Chris Ferguson
Row 4: Tyler Erb, Max Blair
Row 5: Brandon Overton, Daulton Wilson
Row 6: Josh Rice, Devin Moran
Row 7: Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport
Row 8: Nick Hoffman, Dale McDowell
Row 9: Jason Feger, Ethan Dotson
Row 10: Ashton Winger, Kyle Bronson
Row 11: Ricky Thornton Jr., Brian Shirley
Row 12: Ryan Gustin, Drake Troutman
Row 13: Jake O'Neil, Dan Ebert
Consolation race results
(20 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation: Ricky Thornton Jr., Ryan Gustin, Jake O'Neil, Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden, Jackson Hise, Chase Junghans, Carson Ferguson, Mark Whitener, Luke Morey, Tyler Bruening, Justin Duty, Joe Chalmers, Mario Gresham, Alex Vance, Benji Hicks, K.C. Burdette, Tristan Chamberlain. Scratched: Dillon McCowan, Zack Mitchell, Dennis Erb Jr., Brody Smith, Freddie Carpenter, Ryan Johnson.
Second consolation: Brian Shirley, Drake Troutman, Dan Ebert, Dallon Murty, Jason Jameson, Joseph Joiner, Michael Leach, Kyle Hammer, Shane Clanton, Mike Marlar, Rod Conley, Brenden Smith, Kyle Strickler, Wil Herrington, Steven Roberts, Chase Frohnapfel, Ryan Payne, Jeff Roth, Eli Johnson. Scratched: Jerry Bowersock, Bryant Dickinson.
Heat race recap
Chris Ferguson overcame an early restart and led all 15 laps in winning the first heat race by 2.279 seconds over Tyler Erb who narrowly finished second after nipping Bobby Pierce by 0.154 of a second at the checkers. Those three drivers claim starting positions in the night’s Dream XXXII finale. The lone caution flew when Brody Smith and Lane Snook tangled in turn two on the fourth lap, with both drivers avoiding heavy contact; Smith finished 12th while Snook continued until retiring on lap 12 and was credited with 14th. … Second-starting Hudson O’Neal fired off from the outside front row and controlled the entire distance of the third heat, winning by 1.796 seconds over polesitter Max Blair. Jonathan Davenport fended off Ricky Thornton Jr. on an early restart to finish third, joining Blair and O’Neal in the 100-lap main event. The lone yellow flag came on the second lap when Chase Junghans had a solo-spin in turn one; Junghans avoided damage and continued to finish ninth. … Garrett Alberson was unfazed by a few early restarts in controlling all 15 laps of the third heat race, winning by 1.316 seconds over third-starting Brandon Overton, with Nick Hoffman hanging on for the final transfer position. Zack Mitchell retired from fourth on lap four after hard contact with the outside wall. Dennis Erb Jr. brought out the race’s first caution when he spun down the frontstretch after contact with Ryan Gustin on the third lap and backed hard into the inside wall. Jeffery Erickson and Greg Williams tangled on the ensuing restart attempt and retired. Jimmy Owens pulled off on the second lap when he lost an oil pump belt. … Polesitter Sam Seawright fought off early challenges from Daulton Wilson to win the fourth heat, earning his first career start in an Eldora crown jewel event by taking the checkers 2.787 seconds ahead of Wilson. Dale McDowell reclaimed the third spot from Ashton Winger on a lap-10 restart, clinching his starting spot in the $100,000-to-win feature. The only stoppage came on the 10th lap when Shane Clanton avoided contact with Drake Troutman entering turn three, sending Clanton’s car scrubbing to a stop along the wall; Clanton retired with heavy right-front suspension damage and was credited with 10th. … Brandon Sheppard dominated an eventful fifth heat, leading all the way and crossing the line 2.576 seconds ahead of Josh Rice, who took advantage of a lap-13 restart to move from fourth-to-second. Rice narrowly held off Jason Feger, who settled for third, as both drivers finished with heavy body damage following a mid-race collision where Rice’s right-front tire ramped over Feger’s left rear. Mike Marlar slowed from sixth on the final lap and coasted across the line in ninth. The first slowdown came on the sixth lap when Ryan Payne spun in turn one; Payne avoided contact and rebounded to finish fifth. The second stoppage came on the ninth lap when Jerry Bowersock spun from seventh at the exit of turn two and came to rest along the backstretch wall; Bowersock was credited with 10th after requiring a tow back to the pits. The third caution flew on the 13th lap when Dan Ebert and Michael Leach tangled at the exit of turn four, with both drivers continuing after avoiding heavy damage; Ebert finished sixth with Leach taking seventh. … Trey Mills cruised to win the sixth and final heat race, leading all 15 laps from the pole and winning by 1.160 seconds over third-starting Devin Moran, who trailed Mills all the way. Second-starting Ethan Dotson rounded out the top-three finishers. ... The six prelims combined to last approximately 90 minutes.
Heat race results
(15 laps; top three transfer)
First heat: Chris Ferguson, Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce, Kyle Bronson, Jake O'Neil, Chris Madden, Tristan Chamberlain, Tyler Bruening, Benji Hicks, Dillon McCowan, Freddie Carpenter, Brody Smith, Mathew Porter, Lane Snook. Scratched: Mason Zeigler.
Second heat: Hudson O'Neal, Max Blair, Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr., Tim McCreadie, Luke Morey, Jackson Hise, Justin Duty, Chase Junghans, Ryan Johnson, Alex Vance, Todd Morrow. Scratched: Tim Lance, Dalton Cook, Mike Hildebrand.
Third heat: Garrett Alberson, Brandon Overton, Nick Hoffman, Ryan Gustin, Mark Whitener, Joe Chalmers, Carson Ferguson, Mario Gresham, K.C. Burdette, Zack Mitchell, Dennis Erb Jr., Jeffery Erickson, Greg Williams, Jimmy Owens. Scratched: Mike Spatola.
Fourth heat: Sam Seawright, Daulton Wilson, Dale McDowell, Ashton Winger, Drake Troutman, Kyle Hammer, Kyle Strickler, Wil Herrington, Jeff Roth, Shane Clanton, Ryan Crane. Scratched: Shannon Babb, Tyler Thomason, Carson Hocevar, David Watts.
Fifth heat: Brandon Sheppard, Josh Rice, Jason Feger, Brenden Smith, Ryan Payne, Dan Ebert, Michael Leach, Chase Frohnapfel, Mike Marlar, Jerry Bowersock. Scratched: Ryan Montgomery, Trent Ivey, Garrett Smith, Austin Smith, Chad Stapleton.
Sixth heat: Trey Mills, Devin Moran, Ethan Dotson, Brian Shirley, Dallon Murty, Joseph Joiner, Jason Jameson, Eli Johnson, Rod Conley, Steven Roberts, Seth Daniels, Bryant Dickinson. Scratched: Devin Gilpin, Dustin Nobbe.
Pre-race notes
The thunderstorm that struck the track at 4:40 p.m. was just the extreme edge of a cell crossing the area, but it brought nearly three-quarters of an inch of rain in just 10 minutes. ... The racetrack itself took the deluge extremely well — as evidenced by the first cars hitting the speedway at 6:57 p.m. to pack it for hot laps — but the precipitation left some spots in the pit area partially flooded, most notably the area inside turns one and two. Within an hour, though, the water had drained away. … The FloRacing broadcast’s prerace show anchored by Ben Shelton, Dustin Jarrett and Randy Weaver was extended from its 4:30 p.m. start to the call for hot laps. A portion of the time during the rain delay was filled by 2025 World 100 winner Ricky Thornton Jr. commandeering pit reporter Mike Norris’s microphone and walking the pit area to interview multiple people himself. … Jason Durham, the crew chief of Hudson O’Neal’s SSI Motorsports entry, was spotted during the rain delay standing alongside the team’s car holding a RaceAir Pro Weather Station, a digital contraption that provides readouts of air temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and elevation. Durham said he analyzes the numbers to determine how to jet O’Neal’s carburetor, which becomes even more important on a soupy, warm day like Saturday. … Jason Jameson’s JRR Motorsports entry is carrying a fresh Clements engine after the team made a swap because the Indiana driver was felled by broken valve springs during Friday’s preliminary feature. Team owner James Rattliff purchased the engine from Dale McDowell after Jameson’s Friday problems. “So if you see me running the bottom, that’s because I got McDowell’s motor in there,” Jameson said with a laugh. “I told Dale, ‘This motor comes with the setup to run the bottom, right?’” … North Carolina’s Benji Hicks decided to pull out his backup car for tonight’s action after a Thursday heat-race accident following contact with Tyler Erb left his primary machine heavily damaged. … Mason Zeigler headed home to Pennsylvania after the only car he brought to Eldora for the weekend was damaged too much for further action in his wild series of flips during Friday’s preliminary feature.
Ready to go
Eldora’s plan to start hot laps one hour earlier than scheduled, at 5:30 p.m., was nixed by a brief but strong thunderstorm packing hail and strong that struck the track at 4:40 p.m. and lasted roughly 10 minutes. Additional showers threatened over the ensuing two hours, but only some periodic light drizzle fell so Eldora’s packer trucks were able to hit the track by 6:15 p.m.
At 6:40 p.m., officials blew the 10-minute horn to begin lining up hot laps, prompting all the race teams to immediately remove their car covers and fire up their engines in preparation for hitting the speedway for practice.
Heat race lineups
(15 laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Chris Ferguson, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Bobby Pierce, Kyle Bronson
Row 3: Tristan Chamberlain, Jake O’Neil
Row 4: Mason Zeigler, Dillon McCowan
Row 5: Freddie Carpenter, Chris Madden
Row 6: Brody Smith, Tyler Bruening
Row 7: Lane Snook, Mathew Porter
Row 8: Benji Hicks
Second heat
Row 1: Max Blair, Hudson O’Neal
Row 2: Jonathan Davenport, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 3: Jackson Hise, Tim McCreadie
Row 4: Todd Morrow, Chase Junghans
Row 5: Justin Duty, Luke Morey
Row 6: Tim Lance, Ryan Johnson
Row 7: Dalton Cook, Alex Vance
Row 8: Mike Hildebrand
Third heat
Row 1: Garrett Alberson, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Brandon Overton, Zack Mitchell
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Ryan Gustin
Row 4: Mark Whitener, K.C. Burdette
Row 5: Carson Ferguson, Mario Gresham
Row 6: Jeffery Erickson, Jimmy Owens
Row 7: Greg Williams, Joe Chalmers
Row 8: Mike Spatola
Fourth heat
Row 1: Sam Seawright, Ashton Winger
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Daulton Wilson
Row 3: Kyle Strickler, Drake Troutman
Row 4: Shane Clanton, Kyle Hammer
Row 5: Shannon Babb, Ryan Crane
Row 6: Tyler Thomason, Carson Hocevar
Row 7: Wil Herrington, Jeff Roth
Row 8: David Watts
Fifth heat
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Josh Rice
Row 2: Jason Feger, Mike Marlar
Row 3: Michael Leach, Dan Ebert
Row 4: Brenden Smith, Ryan Montgomery
Row 5: Trent Ivey, Garrett Smith
Row 6: Austin Smith, Jerry Bowersock
Row 7: Chase Frohnapfel, Ryan Payne
Row 8: Chad Stapleton
Sixth heat
Row 1: Trey Mills, Ethan Dotson
Row 2: Devin Moran, Dallon Murty
Row 3: Brian Shirley, Joseph Joiner
Row 4: Jason Jameson, Eli Johnson
Row 5: Seth Daniels, Rod Conley
Row 6: Devin Gilpin, Steven Roberts
Row 7: Bryant Dickinson, Dustin Nobbe
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
8 a.m. - Ballroom opens, breakfast buffet begins
11 a.m. - Ticket office opens (ticket and pit pass sales)
11 a.m. - Grounds cleared and secured
11 a.m. - Ballroom breakfast buffet ends
Noon - All gates, suites and concessions open
Noon - Turn one camping opens
1 p.m. - Outreach service (white tent behind main office)
3:30 p.m. - Driver autograph session (fan zone)
4:30 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting (fan zone)
7 p.m. - Ballroom closes
7 p.m. - Hot laps
7:50 p.m. - Opening ceremonies
Competition
- Late Model heats (15 laps)
- Late Model consolations (20 laps)
- Dream XXXII feature (100 laps)
