After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis of Pierce's prelim victory
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Bobby Pierce on his way to victory. (joshjamesartwork.com)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (June 4) — Instant reaction and analysis from Thursday’s Dream XXXII preliminary night at Eldora Speedway, a 50-lap, $30,000-to-win split-field program captured by Bobby Pierce (RaceWire; complete Dream coverage):
BOBBY'S BACK: If there were any lingering questions surrounding Bobby Pierce's brand-new race car after Wednesday's oil pump belt failure while leading the B-main, they were answered emphatically Thursday. His drive from seventh to victory in the Dream prelim feature wasn't just impressive because he pocketed another $30,000. It was the way he did it. Few drivers in Dirt Late Model racing can churn out speed in a race car quite like Pierce. His ability to manhandle a machine and adapt to whatever the racetrack allows is what makes him as good as he is. He can rip the cushion at a pace few others are able, smooth-ride the bottom when conditions call for it and land aggressive sliders that leave competitors in disarray and observers wide-eyed. But just 24 hours earlier, the Pierce camp were kicking themselves. The mechanical trouble nearly had the team questioning the new Longhorn they brought to Eldora. Of course, the team returned from Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway and built this car from scratch in roughly 48 hours, essentially cramming two weeks of work into two days before finishing at 7 a.m. Wednesday . So it makes sense why the part failure occurred Wednesday. The setback prompted an engine change before Thursday's program, but any concerns about the 2-race-old car now appear squarely in the rearview mirror. Now, all signs point toward the Pierce camp going full blast into Saturday as Bobby vies for his first career Dream triumph with momentum on his side.
TERBO RIGHT THERE: Tyler Erb was the only driver who could consistently keep pace with Bobby Pierce on Thursday, and he did it through the middle of the racetrack — a place that's not typically his wheelhouse. Usually, Terbo's game mirrors Pierce’s of live and die by the cushion, but Terbo has brought a complete race car to Eldora this week, as evidenced by his heat race rebound Thursday. After spinning early, Erb charged from 11th to fourth, then hustled from 12th to second in the feature. Two things impress me most about Erb right now. First, his car can go in heat action, which is crucial with an invert likely coming Saturday. Second, he can maneuver, make speed and, most importantly, maintain speed all over the racetrack. That versatility bodes extremely well for 100 laps. He seems capable of hanging with Pierce, Nick Hoffman and Jonathan Davenport. Now, it’s a matter of whether this version of Terbo — one that appears more mature, seasoned, tactful and brimming with confidence, especially after last Friday’s $100,000 windfall at Mansfield — can put it all together. If everything does indeed fall into place, he can absolutely win come Saturday.
MADDEN'S MISERY: Chris Madden's night came undone by the slimmest of margins — not once, not twice, but three times. He missed the eight-driver heat invert by just 0.046 of a second in qualifying, leaving him fifth in the first heat instead of on the pole for the second heat. His luck plummeted from there. After taking a hard lick to his car's right-rear corner from Eli Johnson on the first heat lap, he pressed on and missed transferring in a photo-finish with Johnson. The body damage sustained in that heat proved costly. Scheduled to start from the pole of the first B-main, Madden and his team couldn't complete repairs in time, causing him to miss staging and therefore the green flag. For a driver who harbors more than his share of Eldora heartbreak, it was another cruel evening at the half-mile. The three-time Dream runner-up ended Thursday 28th in event points among 44 drivers. For perspective, John Henderson’s 377 points last year started him 10th in Saturday's second heat that only transfers three. That means Madden’s in position to start no better than the fourth or fifth row of a Saturday heat race, making the path from here very difficult.
SEEDING SCORECARD: One exercise I may get in the habit of is "seeding" the field entering a crown jewel event, borrowing a concept popularized by T.J. Buffenbarger at tjslideways.com in the sprint car world. Before Thursday’s action, I ranked all 44 drivers in order of who I believed was most likely to contend. I’m proud to report the exercise held up pretty well. Not only did the drivers I seeded first through fifth — Bobby Pierce, Hudson O'Neal, Devin Moran, Tyler Erb and Ricky Thornton Jr. — all finish inside the night's top five, seven of my top eight drivers finished inside the actual top eight. The only miss among that group was sixth-seeded Chris Madden, who had a deflating night. The exercise is far from an exact science, but it's a fun one, I think.
RTJ'S RALLY: Ricky Thornton Jr.'s fifth-place finish Thursday night from 20th doesn't fully capture what his Koehler Motorsports team overcame to get there. After a porous qualifying effort (17th of 22 drivers in his group), the team discovered a fuel-related issue and replaced the entire fuel cell, fuel line and fuel pump before the heat race. The changes immediately paid dividends, eventually scoring enough points to climb to 11th in the Dream standings entering Friday at 450 points. For perspective, 450 points would've ranked 18th overall after both prelim nights a year ago. Under last year's format, that would've been enough to land on the front row of a Saturday heat race with the six-car invert.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: The first two nights of Dream week have only strengthened a trend that has emerged among recent Dream winners. Since 2017, every Dream winner entered Eldora with at least five victories on the season, multiple May victories on eight of nine occasions and often winning within their previous five races (also eight of nine occasions). Entering this week, the only three drivers who fit that profile were Jonathan Davenport (10 wins, three May victories, two races since his last victory), Bobby Pierce (11 wins, two May victories; three races since his last victory) and Nick Hoffman (seven wins, two May victories and fresh off Mansfield’s $100,057 windfall). Hoffman won Wednesday's FloRacing Night in America feature and Pierce convincingly captured Thursday's Dream prelim. That leaves only Davenport — the reigning three-time Dream winner who prelims Friday — as the remaining member of the trio yet to reach victory lane this week.
