Post by LMR on 04/12/14 at 9:34pm
Eldora Speedway
April 12, 2014
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YOUNG SENSATION BOBBY PIERCE DUPLICATES FATHER’S 1993 VICTORY
Matt Mevert Completes an Illinois Sweep With His Win
Eldora Speedway
ROSSBURG, OH (April 12) – At only 17 years of age, second generation driver Bobby Pierce used Saturday’s UMP DIRTcar Spring Nationals win to propel him into his second century of Late Model wins. Joining the Oakwood, IL speedster on Eldora’s coveted stage to celebrate win number 101 was fellow Prairie State hotshoe Matt Mevert who earlier in the night captured the Modified leg of the doubleheader on a night presented by Allstar Performance.. For both them, this marked their first-ever Eldora wins.
With frost still emerging as a tell-tale reminder of the brutal winter, and winds gusting at 30 MPH, the track proved itself to be tricky while remaining lightning fast. Pierce’s run to the front found the teams running steadily in the 16.0 second range around the .500-mile mile clay oval.
Dogged determination and commanding restarts played key ingredients for Pierce, who was greeted in victory lane by the man who had captured this event 21 years ago in 1993, Bob Pierce. Bobby had no recollection of that ceremony as he hadn’t even been born yet.
By virtue of his second Heat race win, Pierce started on the outside pole of the 24-car, $5,000 to win 25-lap chase, with Heat one winner Dona Marcoullier inside of him on the pole. As the green flag dropped, Pierce took it right to the limit by running full throttle within inches of Eldora’s oft-intimidating concrete walls and stealing top spot away from Marcoullier.
Several minor caution periods slowed the pace and with the double-file restart rule, it would put the entire field back within the shadows of Pierce. His restart approach let the field know that at 17 he was already a veteran in his own right. He would choose the outside lane and when the green flag was unfurled to resume racing, he would shoot off of turn 4 right down in front of the field to shut off their momentum.
Marcoullier remained in contention as the field approached lapped traffic, but behind them Ryan VanderVeen, Brian Ruhlman, Jeep VanWormer and Duane Chamberlain were engaging in a see-saw battle for positioning among the top five. VanderVeen and VanWormer eventually fell victim to crashes which allowed Ruhlman and Chamberlain to take on their own battle while Matt Miller soon entered the scene.
Through it all, Pierce remained undaunted and charged to his second feature win of the weekend. Saturday’s win came at the expense of Chamberlain, Ruhlman, Marcoullier and Miller who completed the top five.
Ruhlman was trying to salvage a disappointing run in the Modified A-feature just moments before, wheere he appeared to be locked into the $5,000 victory.
His pole starting position was to his liking and he made the most of it by enduring three attempts by the 32-car field to get under green flag conditions and opened nearly a straightaway lead over the field. Devin Gilpin was the first to try and reel him in, but had his hands full fending off Mevert and Jonathan Taylor and host of others including Eldora stalwarts Jeff Babcock and Jerry Bowersock.
Ruhlman’s vast Eldora experience played right into his hand to make it look like the balance of the 31 cars were merely racing to determine an order behind him. Yet Mevert and Taylor had other thoughts, with Mevert learning the Eldora track more and more with every lap.
A rare lap 16 miscue by Ruhlman and near-collission with the concrete wall was all Mevert needed to not only knock on the door, but walk right in. As he rallied to regain his composure, Taylor took advantage to advance forward as well.
The slight contact was enough to drop Ruhlman somewhat off the pace being enjoyed by Mevert and Taylor, and found team mates Matt Westfall and Jeff Babcock now looking towards the checkered flag. Mevert wasn’t about to be denied and took advantage of a long green-flag run in the closing stages to score the win. Taylor, Westfall and Babock waged a battle to the end and finished in that order, while Chad Kinder slid up into fifth.
Eldora’s entry into its 61st season of racing will be followed by an invasion of the USAC National Sprint Car series this Saturday night (April 19) along with the UMP DIRTcar Modifieds and Eldora Stock Cars.
Tickets for that event, or any of the other events on Eldora’s exciting menu may be purchased by going to the track’s website www.EldoraSpeedway.com
UMP DIRTcar Late Models
A-Main
1 2 32P Bobby Pierce $5,000
2 10 20C Duane Chamberlain
3 3 49 Brian Ruhlman
4 1 6M Dona Marcoullier
5 13 3 Matt Miller
6 11 20H Jacob Hawkins
7 15 81JR Jason Riggs
8 22 M14 Brandon Thirlby
9 23 15H Jon Henry
10 12 15A Phil Ausra
11 21 27S Eric Spangler
12 16 34R Herb Reich
13 5 55 Jeep Vanwormer
14 7 88 Andrew Reaume
15 17 00K Chris Keller
16 9 1J Jeff Babcock
17 18 24U Ryan Unzicker
18 6 23V Ryan Vanderveen
19 20 11S Rusty Schlenk
20 19 15J Greg Johnson
21 8 33S Aaron Scott
22 14 95J Jerry Bowersock
23 24 1N Casey Noonan
24 4 75M Dusty Moore
B-Main
1 00K Chris Keller
2 24U Ryan Unzicker
3 15J Greg Johnson
4 11S Rusty Schlenk
5 1WC Wayne Chinn
6 15H Jon Henry
7 3G Brian Gray
8 1N Casey Noonan
9 27S Eric Spangler
10 M14 Brandon Thirlby
11 5P Chad Poorman
12 99M Devin Moran
Heat #1
1 6M Dona Marcoullier
2 55 Jeep Vanwormer
3 1J Jeff Babcock
4 3 Matt Miller
5 24U Ryan Unzicker
6 15J Greg Johnson
7 27S Eric Spangler
Heat #2
1 32P Bobby Pierce
2 23V Ryan Vanderveen
3 20C Duane Chamberlain
4 95J Jerry Bowersock
5 00K Chris Keller
6 5P Chad Poorman
7 99M Devin Moran
Heat #3
1 49 Brian Ruhlman
2 88 Andrew Reaume
3 20H Jacob Hawkins
4 81JR Jason Riggs
5 11S Rusty Schlenk
6 1N Casey Noonan
7 M14 Brandon Thirlby
Heat #4
1 75M Dusty Moore
2 33S Aaron Scott
3 15A Phil Ausra
4 34R Herb Reich
5 3G Brian Gray
6 15H Jon Henry
7 1WC Wayne Chinn
UMP DIRTcar Modifieds
1 22M Matt Mevert
2 5 Jonathan Taylor
3 54 Matt Westfall
4 7B Jeff Babcock
5 22S Chad Kinder
6 5XB Jerry Bowersock
7 K1 Jimmy Payne
8 49 Brian Ruhlman
9 55S Zach Schroeder
10 2S Travis Stemler
11 69 Jim Farris Sr.
12 45 Nick Stroupe
13 5 David Smith
14 36 Brandon Vaughan
15 5X Tim Richardson
16 47 Collin Thirlby
17 18 Ryan Sutter
18 1SW Scott Williams
19 28R Chad Rosenbeck
20 4J David Treon, Jr
21 11MH Mike Hohlbein
22 79 Shane Unger
23 0A Derrick Austin
24 111 Curt Spalding
25 1AS Andy Sprague
26 8C Corey Bevard
27 1G Devin Gilpin
28 7 Evan Taylor
29 20 Josh Morton
30 7AO Aaron Orr
31 25SO Scott Orr
32 10BB Bryan Barber
Event Photos courtesy of Jim Denhamer
