What won the race: Clearing Drake Troutman with a turn-one slide job on lap 27, sixth-starting Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., led the rest of Tuesday's 50-lap FloRacing Night in America Series presented by Kubota opener at La Salle Speedway. Pierce beat Ricky Thornton Jr. to the checkers by 3.188 seconds for the $20,000 payday and his eighth career tour victory, one more than Thornton.

Quotable: “(Promoter) Tony Izzo (Jr.) did a great job, the track was phenomenal. I know the infield tires got knocked down here in (turns three and four), it got a little dusty and stuff,” Pierce said. “If you could hit a good lap on the top, it was really fast. You could go to the bottom and kinda make some passes down there, too. Pretty cool to see a racetrack come back to life like this. You know there’s a lot of good fans in this area, they deserve a good track here so that’s cool to see.”

Key notes: Pierce powered to his 12th victory of the season and surpassed $200,000 in race earnings. ... Eighth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr. rode the extreme bottom and grabbed second on a lap-29 restart when Drake Troutman jumped the cushion. Thornton never seriously challenged Pierce. ... Troutman led laps 4-26 before hopping the cushion twice on lap 29, settling in eighth before eventually slipping to finish 10th. ... Jonathan Davenport climbed six spots to round out the top five. ... Ryan Gustin led the opening three laps from the pole before giving way to Troutman; he finished 15th after pitting from third with a soft right-rear tire under the lap-43 caution when Kyle Bronson hit the frontstretch wall. ... Devin Moran spun from 16th after contact with Tyler Erb on the 34th lap. Moran continued without drawing a yellow flag, then pulled off. ... Cody Overton slowed with a flat right rear to draw the race's first stoppage on lap 29. ... The 50-lapper lasted 22 minutes with 18 starters completing the distance. ... It was the first Late Model event at La Salle’s quarter-mile since Brian Shirley topped a DIRTcar Summer Nationals field on June 23, 2021; Tony Izzo Jr. partnered with Justin McCoy to reopen the 39-year-old track for a special-event schedule. ... Allen Weisser had an oil line come loose in time trials; he made the call for the first consolation but pulled off as his car continued to trail smoke. … Shannon Babb retired with mechanical woes in his heat.

On the move: Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., started ninth and finished third.

Winner's sponsors: Pierce’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Low Voltage Solutions, Rio Grande Waste Services, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Oakwood Tire Center, Churchill Transport, Collins Brothers Towing, K1, Carnaghi Towing & Repair, Toyota of Danville, Floyd’s Waste Systems, PureMax Racing Oil, A Plus Vacuum, Leka Tree Service, Bert Transmissions by Budda, Ted Brown’s Quality Paint & Body Shop, VP Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Bilstein Shocks, Dirt Car Lift and Performance Bodies.

Points chase: After La Salle: 1. Bobby Pierce (87); 2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (81); 3. Nick Hoffman (78); 4. Brandon Sheppard (75); 5. Jonathan Davenport (72); 6. Brian Shirley (69); 7. Mike Marlar (66); 8. Dennis Erb Jr. (63); 9. Ethan Dotson (60); 10. Drake Troutman (57).

Current weather: Clear, 70°F

Car count: 49

Fast qualifier: Ricky Thornton Jr.

Time: 12.437 seconds

Polesitter: Ryan Gustin

Heat race winners: Ryan Gustin, Mike Marlar, Brian Shirley, Drake Troutman, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce

Consolation race winners: Max Blair, Frank Heckenast Jr.

Next series race: May 7, Spoon River Speedway (Banner, IL) $20,000