2-27 Page 21

Pierce tops rain-delayed Volusia feature; Larsen, Sorensen & Nothdurft fail to qualify

From DirtOnDirt.com Staff Reports

BARBERVILLE, FL (Feb. 12) – Taking advantage of a lap-13 restart and overtaking Mike Marlar, fourth-starting Bobby Pierce led the final 13 laps to win Monday's $7,000 rain-delayed 53rd annual Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals feature at Volusia Speedway Park. Pierce earned his second victory of the night and his third career DIRTcar Nationals gator trophy at Volusia; it's his fifth career Georgia-Florida Speedweeks triumph. Sixth-starting Tim McCreadie moved into the runner-up spot on the lap-13 restart and trailed Pierce the rest of the way, finishing 0.826 of a second back.

“It was super treacherous (up by the cushion),” Pierce said. “I mean, it was to the point where even when I knew I had a pretty decent lead there at the end, I still had to tell myself every corner, ‘Don’t mess up, don’t get comfortable.’ It’s like an alligator up there, it’ll bite you and once you’re in it, you can’t get out. We survived, that was the big thing and then made the right moves, I think we made the right calls, too. (It was an) awesome night, this feels incredible.”

Sixth-starting Tim McCreadie moved into the runner-up spot on the lap-13 restart and trailed Pierce the rest of the way, finishing 0.826 of a second back. Cade Dillard started and finished third, while Devin Moran finished fourth after taking the spot from Hudson O'Neal on lap 15; O'Neal rounded-out the top-five finishers.

Originally scheduled as the DIRTcar Nationals opener, Monday's 25-lapper lasted 15 minutes, with 16 drivers completing the entire distance.

WISSOTA-region drivers Brent Larson, Dustin Sorensen and Blair Nothdurft failed to qualify for the feature through heat race and B feature action.

SUMMARY

DIRTcar Late Models:

Feature (25 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[6]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 4. 99-Devin Moran[21]; 5. 1-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[7]; 7. 18D-Daulton Wilson[9]; 8. B5-Brandon Sheppard[14]; 9. 111-Max Blair[23]; 10. 44-Chris Madden[10]; 11. 99T-Dylan Thompson[16]; 12. 9-Nick Hoffman[15]; 13. 16-Tyler Bruening[18]; 14. 5-Mark Whitener[11]; 15. 97C-Cody Overton[20]; 16. 30-Todd Cooney[12]; 17. 22*-Max McLaughlin[22]; 18. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 19. 114-Jordan Koehler[17]; 20. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 21. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 22. 7T-Drake Troutman[19]; 23. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[13]; 24. 12-Ashton Winger[24]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 2. 1-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 3. 18D-Daulton Wilson[4]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 5. 114-Jordan Koehler[5]; 6. 17M-Dale McDowell[6]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 8. 14JR-Jason Fitzgerald[11]; 9. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[10]; 10. 14C-Codee Schneider[12]; 11. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[8]; 12. 11-Austin Smith[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 6. 99-Devin Moran[7]; 7. 111-Max Blair[6]; 8. 11B-Stacy Boles[9]; 9. 54-David Breazeale[11]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[12]; 11. 10-Garrett Smith[8]; 12. 1Z-Logan Zarin[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[1]; 3. 5-Mark Whitener[3]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[6]; 5. 7T-Drake Troutman[4]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 7. 1T-Tyler Erb[9]; 8. 76-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 9. 4-Amanda Robinson[8]; 10. 89-Mike Spatola[10]; 11. 48-Tim Lance[11]; 12. 14W-Dustin Walker[12]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[7]; 3. 30-Todd Cooney[2]; 4. 99T-Dylan Thompson[3]; 5. 97C-Cody Overton[10]; 6. 22*-Max McLaughlin[5]; 7. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 8. 25B-Mike Benedum[4]; 9. B2-Brian Booze[11]; 10. 17Z-Seth Zacharias[9]; 11. 174-Ethan Dotson[8]