It seemed only one thing could keep Bobby Pierce from a fifth Slocum 50 title at 34 Raceway on Saturday, but for a brief moment it looked like it might happen. The second generation driver, currently the hottest and perhaps most popular racer in the country took the lead on lap six and survived lapped traffic to sweep the weekend features by no more than a car length over hard charging Carson Ferguson.
One addition - Ryan Gustin - and two subtractions left us with a strong thirty eight car field of MARS Super Late Models at the three eighths mile high banked West Burlington facility. The first driver out for qualifying, affectionately known as "Squirrel," Brian Shirley led things off by turning the overall quick time of 15.183 seconds on what various drivers described to pit reporter Dustin Jarrett as a " tricky" racing surface. All four eight lap heat races were captured from the pole position, with Shirley, Dennis Erb Jr., Pierce and Ferguson taking wins, then redrawing for the front pair of rows for the fifty lap headliner. Two B Main last chance races looked like mini features of their own, with again pole sitters Garrett Alberson and Frank Heckenast Jr. taking wins. Indeed, Heckenast was a story on his own, timing in seventeenth in his group of nineteen, advancing from row five to finish one spot out of the four car transfer in his heat, then charging to a B main win. Unfortunately, his run ended early in the main event. Three provisionals were awarded on this night, giving us a twenty three car lineup for the $10,555 to win feature.
Shirley jumped to the feature lead from the outside pole, followed by his row one mate Ferguson. The North Carolina pilot would power past Shirley to lead lap two, and third starting Pierce also cleared Shirley on lap three. Pierce moved to the front on lap six, briefly ceding the spot to Ferguson for lap seven. With Carson racing down low on the reworked surface, Bobby used a higher line to charge back ahead one lap later in what quickly became a two car breakaway. With Erb moving to third, the leaders caught the back of the pack on lap seventeen. Pierce was forced to give up his low line to negotiate the traffic as Ferguson continued to move around, searching for an opening. With Pierce gaining some separation, Erb and eleventh starting Gordy Gundaker closed in on Ferguson. One lap before the halfway mark hard luck Drake Troutman slowed with a flat tire to bring out the first yellow flag. With clear track ahead, the leaders migrated to the inside line even as Gundaker climbed to third. Pierce opened a comfortable lead ahead of a lap twenty nine caution for Kayden Clatt. Back to racing, Gundaker was shuffled back as Erb and Shirley filled out the top four. Pierce was well out front and Ferguson had a sizable advantage in second when Bobby again caught the tail of the pack on lap thirty nine. For the next few laps Pierce had things well in hand, but as lap forty three was scored, Ferguson was closing fast. Pierce was trying to keep his machine in the bottom groove, but Carson managed to poke the nose of his #93 even lower. As the white flag waved the pair raced side by side, and as they entered the final set of turns it looked like Ferguson would seal the deal. So with the large crowd on their collective feet, Pierce slid his ride all the way to the top of turn four and found enough bite to clear Ferguson down the front straightaway for a breathtaking win. Erb Jr., Gundaker, and Tony Jackson Jr. completed the top five. Jake Timm advanced ten positions to finish a weekend best six, while Ryan Unzicker picked up a dozen spots to claim seventh. McKay Wenger, Shirley, and Dylan Thornton rounded out the top ten. As mentioned earlier, it was an unbelievable fifth Slocum 50 title for Pierce, added to his Friday win in the Prelude and a runner up finish Thursday at Cedar County Raceway. So he will now return to the World of Outlaw Late Model series, likely giving up his hefty MARS points lead.
Before the excitement of the Late Model finale, both IMCA Modifieds and IMCA Stock Cars did battle. Twenty laps of Modified action saw Michael Claeys and Denny Eckrich bring the field to green, with Denny jumping to the front. As the veteran driver stretched his margin, an intense three car scrum developed behind him, with Claeys, Chris Zogg, and Sport Mod move up Logan Anderson vying for position. Soon the #32 Skylar Harroun car, driven this night by Carson Ferguson, joined the battle. On lap six, Anderson cleared that group, taking the runner up spot, and began to close on the leader. At the half way mark, Eckrich and Anderson raced side by side, and Logan then charged ahead, soon opening a comfortable lead. Slowly becoming comfortable in the strange ride, Ferguson eased around Eckrich for second just ahead of a lone caution with lap fifteen official. Back to racing, Anderson held on for an emotional win, his third in six tries since moving up to the Mods. Ferguson ran second chased by Eckrich and eighth starting Dustin Wilwert. Claeys won a side by side battle with Blaise Lewis for fifth.
The Stock Car turnout was surprisingly light, but still produced an entertaining fifteen lap feature. Kirk Kinsley and John Oliver Jr. brought the field to green, and it was Kinsley getting the jump to the front. Oliver lurked in second, patiently waiting for an opening that never came. Beginning at lap ten, he applied pressure to the veteran Kinsley, and the pair raced nose to tail under the white flag. As the pair entered turns three and four for the final time, Oliver jumped to the high line looking for extra momentum. His gamble failed to pay off, as not only did Kinsley hold on for the win in the non stop event, but Brayton Carter managed to drive underneath Oliver to grab second. Corey Strothman and Austin O'Donnell filled out the remaining spots.
Despite less than ideal weather conditions, a large and enthusiastic crowd once again turned out to honor the memory of Brent Slocum and they were rewarded with top notch racing and an on your feet finish. After seventeen seasons, this continues to be a highlight event of the racing season. Thanks once again to Jessi Mynatt, Brad Stevens, and their entire team for their hospitality! Time to catch our breath and begin watching the weather for another full weekend of racing coming up. Thanks for reading, and we hope to see you at the track!
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