Pierce Wows 'Em at Slocum 50

 Under sunny skies and in front of a huge crowd, the eleventh annual Slocum 50 race featuring the MLRA late models took place Saturday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. The event, staged to honor the memory of popular racer Brent Slocum, who was killed in a pit accident at his hometown track in 2005 paid a whopping $10,555 ( in honor of his #5) to the race winner.
  Along with 14 305 sprint cars and 16 IMCA stock cars, 37 high powered late models signed in to do battle on the high banked 3/8 mile oval, now in its 53rd season of operation.
  In order to draw as many " big " names as possible, a time trial qualifying format is used for the late models, and the cars went out two at a time, grouped with the cars in their heat race, which was determined by a pill draw at the gate. The ten lap heats were then lined up with the top qualifier on the pole and so on. As you might expect, all four heat winners came from the front row. Fastest overall timer, Chad Simpson, who turned a top lap of 15.296 seconds, claimed heat one ahead of Payton Looney, Dennis Erb Jr., and Will Vaught. Polesitter Ryan Unzicker ran first in heat two over Jordon Yaggy, Hudson Oneal, and Jay Johnson. The race was first yellowed when Oneal spun on the opening lap. Then outside row one starter JC Wyman brought out the red flag when he rolled his #4 car off turn two. He was uninjured, and returned as a provisional starter in the feature. Shannon Babb led all ten laps of heat three, besting Rickey Frankel, Tyler Erb, and Chris Simpson. Unfortunately Frankel needed a push back to his pit after the race and he was unable to make the feature call. Bobby Pierce was victorious in the final ten lapper, topping Brian Shirley, Garrett Albertson in Earl Pearsons back up Lucas Oil car, and Mitch McGrath.
  A pair of twelve lap B mains added six cars to the feature grid. The first saw Kyle Bronson outrun Chase Junghans and Logan Martin, who appeared to receive " congratulations " from Jonathon Brauns, who he tussled with for the final qualifying spot. The second consy went to Jesse Stovall ahead of Brandon Sheppard and Dave Eckrich. Jeremy Grady and Justin Reed joined Wyman as provisional starters in the 50 lap finale.
  First up was the twenty lapper for the 305 sprint cars. Harold Pohren grabbed the early lead, holding on through the only caution of the event on lap three. Meanwhile, Paul Nienhiser began to close in on the leader as that pair separated themselves from the pack. Nienhiser charged around Pohren at the halfway mark, then opened a commanding lead as the race stayed green. Following the top two at the checkers were Tanner Gebhardt, Brayden Gaylord, and Daniel Berquist.
  The late models were up next, with the straight up from the heat finishes lineup putting Chad Simpson and Babb in row one, with Unzicker and Pierce in row two. Babb shot in front of Simpson as lap one was scored, however the caution waved on the next circuit as Bronson spun in turn one, then headed to the trailer. Back to racing, it was Babb, Simpson, and Pierce the top three, and all three were separated by several car lengths, while Unzicker and Shirley battled for fourth. The caution came again on lap eleven as Johnson and Sheppard appeared to make contact, a break for Babb who was nearing slower traffic. As racing resumed, Pierce was riding the turn four wall, which had already proved treacherous for several drivers who hit the cushion wrong and were sucked into said concrete. Pierce was able to use his momentum to set up Simpson for a turn two slide job, giving him the runner up spot on lap fourteen. He began to reel in the leader, while Shirley found his way to third. But on lap seventeen, Pierce tagged the wall a bit too hard, losing several car lengths to Babb. As Simpson rebounded to third, the final caution came at lap eighteen. Now Chad reclaimed the runner up slot at lap twenty, and began to apply pressure to the leader. Three laps after the  halfway mark, Babb jumped the unforgiving cushion while negotiating heavy traffic, and Simpson shot to the lead. Three more laps found Pierce in second, although Chad now had what looked like a comfortable lead. As the race entered the final ten laps, Pierce was closing in on the leader, still running the high side while Simpson worked a lower line. With traffic again in play, Bobby powered to the top spot with seven circuits remaining. Simpson did not have an answer, as an excited Pierce came to victory lane to become a three time winner of the Slocum 50. Simpson settled for runner up honors, with Babb also grabbing a podium finish. Chris Simpson and Uzicker completed the first five, as Shirley disappeared from the scene in the closing laps. The second five was led by Albertson, besting Erb Jr., Vaught, Junghans, and Stovall. The finishing spots behind the top three are my best guess as I have not yet seen official results.
  The IMCA stock car feature was up next, and based on their heat races, it was shaping up to be a dandy. However, grandson Keagan had to be at work Sunday morning in Columbia, Missouri, so we headed to the car for the ninety minute drive home so he could catch a few ZZZ's. I did get partial results for the stock cars, with John Oliver Jr. capturing the win over Abe Huls and  David Brandies.
  It is true that we often think the last race we saw was the best, but quite simply, if you did not enjoy the 2019 version of the Slocum 50, you must not be a late model fan! Thanks to Brad and Jessie for their hospitality, to their crew for a well run program, and to the Slocum family and supporters for their efforts to continue to honor Brents' memory in such a special way.
 Enjoy your Easter, and if you still have the racing bug, maybe I will see you Sunday night at Quincy Raceways.