MINOT, N.D. — Not even Mother Nature could put a damper on Bobby Pierce‘s winning ways.
Sunday night’s World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision Feature only lasted 38 of the 50 scheduled laps, but the result was the same as it’s been in the past four races – the No. 32 out front at the end.
The Oakwood, Ill., native proved that Nodak suited him in his first visit last year, when Pierce lost brakes but still finished second behind Tim McCreadie.
With his left pedal functioning as it should this time, Pierce started this year’s race on the outside of the front row alongside Bilstein Pole Award winner Tyler Erb. In the first corner, all eyes were on third-starting Ethan Dotson, who slid up in front of Erb off Turn 2. That was when Pierce cut low underneath both of them to make it a three-wide race down the backstretch, which Pierce won to grab the lead.
That move turned out to the the winning one, as no one had anything for the “Smooth Operator” the rest of the way. Pierce’s lead grew as large as 3.5 seconds before it was erased by a caution, but he had no trouble staying out front on the restarts.
The dark clouds behind Turns 1 and 2 ramped up the sense of urgency, as drivers knew there was a good chance the race wouldn’t go the full distance. Pierce remained out front when the yellow flew for a the slowing No. 55E car of Eli Johnson, and with lightning in the area, the race was put on pause. Heavy rain moved in moments later, forcing series officials to deem the race official with 38 laps complete.
The win was Pierce’s fifth in a row and his 15th of the season with the World of Outlaws, which makes 2026 the winningest season of his career with the series with more than four months of racing still remaining.
The single-season World of Outlaws win record stands at 18, a number achieved by Josh Richards in 2016 and Brandon Sheppard in 2017 and 2019. With Norman County Raceway coming up on Tuesday followed by three nights at Deer Creek Speedway next weekend, Pierce has a chance to rewrite history by the end of next week.
Behind Pierce, Nick Hoffman got around McCreadie nine laps before the stoppage to finish second and keep the points damage to a minimum. McCreadie still earned a podium spot with an impressive 15th-to-third charge, while Dennis Erb Jr. and Tyler Erb completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (38 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[6]; 3. 9M-Tim McCreadie[15]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[8]; 5. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[5]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 8. 14-Trey Mills[9]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[4]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[10]; 11. B1-Brent Larson[14]; 12. 22*-Jake Timm[12]; 13. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 14. 1Z-Logan Zarin[16]; 15. 8-Matthew Larson[17]; 16. 58V-Daulton Wilson[11]; 17. 7-Ross Robinson[18]; 18. 55E-Eli Johnson[13]; 19. 1E-Amelia Eisenschenk[19]; 20. 1L-Jeremiah LaDue[24]; 21. 49M-Collin Compson[23]; 22. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[20]; 23. 44*-Cole Schill[21]; 24. 37H-Michael Hartigan[22]; 25. 11-Gordy Gundaker[25]