UNION, Ky. — The 43rd annual Sunoco North-South 100 will go down in the history books for a couple of obvious reasons.
Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., became the first to capture Florence Speedway’s crown jewel event three years in a row, and the first driver to win it four times.
But the throng packing the half-mile northern Kentucky oval won’t soon forget the feisty mid-race battle between the 14th-starting Pierce and polesitter Jonathan Davenport between laps 55-62 with a lead-swapping, paint-swapping — and eventually comment-swapping — battle that spiced Pierce’s $75,000 victory capping a three-day Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series weekend.
"I know he was mad,” Pierce said in victory lane.
A few moments later, a shouting fan suggested that Davenport “kick his ass,” and with a chuckle, the Blairsville, Ga., driver couldn’t resist with a retort: “He probably needs it.”
While J.D. might’ve won the war of words, Pierce won the race that counted in leading the final 39 laps, collecting Florence’s coveted hardware for the fourth time while Davenport, struggling with left-front nose damage, manhandled his car to a third-place finish behind runner-up Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz.
Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, who held the second spot from laps 66-97, settled for a fourth-place finish while ninth-starting Zack Dohm of Cross Lanes, W.Va., was fifth to match his best career North-South 100 finish from 2017.
Pierce, the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series points leader and interloper in the Lucas Oil event, knows his rival series competitors were eager to win at Florence, but “I wanted that win pretty bad, too,” he said. “It was just fun, hard racing and we got it done.”
A third-place finish in a heat race gave him a seventh-row starting spot for the feature, but the high-flying Pierce overcame the handicap, breaking into the top five by the 25th lap.
"I've done it here from the back before, but I definitely was in a bad mood at the start of the race just because, I didn't wanna start that far back. It makes it a lot harder,” Pierce said. “So we were coming up through the field. I was just worried about my tires. I was spinning pretty bad in certain parts, and then certain parts it was really hooked up, so it was really a challenge. Once I got to second there, it was just try to win the race and got the job done.”
While the first half of the race was dominated by Davenport and the second half by Pierce, it was their back-and-forth duel just after a lap-53 restart that had fans standing, cheering, pumping fists and pulling for their favorites as the frontrunners made contact multiple times, including when both took a swipe at the other exiting turn four to unsettle the other car.
“We raced hard, me and J.D. I know he was mad, but you know it was just, it's hard racing here. He runs a specific line — it's nothing against him, it's a very, very good line — it's just very hard to make a pass,” Pierce said, drawing hoots from the crowd. “It works for him. He's won a lot of big races kind of running that diamond line and it's just tough when you're trying to guess exactly if he's gonna do it or not.
“I hit the brakes down the straightaway because he ran up to the wall, so I'm like, 'OK, he's running the top,’ then (I) went into the bottom and then he kind of came down and we made contact.”
Davenport, after hearing Pierce’s comments, responded that “obviously he's always right — so I don't know how to throw sliders, and he does.”
Several times in his postrace interview, Davenport tried to dismiss what had just transpired — “it just keeps beating a dead horse,” he said — but he couldn’t ignore it.
In thanking Lance Landers of Double L Motorsports, Davenport guessed his car owner was “pretty mad about me not wrecking (Pierce) or something. I just hit him a couple of times just to show him that I could wreck him if I wanted to, but I'm not that kind of person,” Davenport said.
Over the last 40 laps, Davenport had his hands full trying to figure out how to keep his Longhorn Chassis pointed the right direction.
“This thing was so yaw sensitive that if I went a corner too straight I couldn't steer, obviously, because the left front's bent and stuff, but then if I got a little too crooked, it was like a big sail up there in the left front and it would just turn me sideways,” he said. “It took a lot behind the wheel, back and forth, to try to figure out how to drive it and salvage a good finish.”
The eighth-starting Thornton ran in the top five most of the way and slipped past Moran to grab second with four laps remaining.
"I definitely felt like I was running as hard as I could there, and, it just wasn't enough. Obviously, Bobby's stuff was really, really, really good, so I could barely see him there the last couple laps. Go back to the drawing board, try to get a little bit better,” said Thornton, who will head to next week’s Topless 100 on the Lucas Oil Series next weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark. “We’ve got good speed. We just don’t got our great speed like we had at the start of the year so we'll go to Batesville next week, and kind of tear it back down and just kind of go through it and try to get a little bit better.”
Notes: Bobby Pierce's fourth North-South victory breaks a tie with three-time winners Jack Boggs and Jimmy Owens. ... Pierce's first North-South victory came in 2016. ... Bobby Pierce won his 24th career full-field Lucas Oil Series victory (Pierce also won a Friday semifeature). ... Owens extended his longest standing consecutive North-South feature starts streak (21). … Jonathan Davenport led by four-second margins often over the first 25 laps with a lap-30 caution erasing a 5.7-second edge. But after leading comfortably through halfway, Pierce moved up to challenge after a lap-53 restart. ... Pierce reached the second spot on the 32nd lap. ... Four cautions slowed the action, the first on the initial start when Brandon Overton's hood flew off (Overton rallied to finish eighth). ... On the 30th lap, Daulton Wilson stopped with right-front damage on the frontstretch. ... A lap-53 yellow appeared for debris. ... The final yellow dropped on the 93rd lap for Hudson O'Neal's flat right-rear tire. ... Hellraizer Jacks paid Davenport $500 for leading at halfway. ... The feature began at 9:50 p.m and concluded at 10:32 p.m.
43rd annual Sunoco North-South 100
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Longhorn, $75,000
2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $25,000
3. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $10,000
4. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $9,000
5. Zack Dohm (17), Cross Lanes, W.Va., Longhorn, $8,000
6. Jason Jameson (12), Lawrenceburg, Ind., Longhorn, $7,000
7. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $6,000
8. Brandon Overton (76), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $5,000
9. Cory Hedgecock (23v), Loudon, Tenn., BMF, $4,750
10. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., Longhorn, $4,500
11. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., Longhorn, $4,250
12. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $4,000
13. Donald McIntosh (79), Dawsonville, Ga., Longhorn, $3,750
14. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Longhorn, $3,700
15. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., Stinger, $3,650
16. Clay Harris (6), Jupiter, Fla., Longhorn, $3,600
17. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $3,550
18. Dustin Nobbe (5N), Batesville, Ind., Rocket, $3,500
19. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., Rocket, $3,500
20. Daniel Hilsabeck (22), Earlham, Iowa, Capital, $3,500
21. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., Rocket, $3,500
22. Joseph Joiner (10), Milton, Fla., Capital, $3,500
23. Daulton Wilson (18D), Fayetteville, N.C., Longhorn, $3,500
24. Justin Rattliff (16), Campbellsville, Ky., Longhorn, $3,500
25. Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., Rocket, $3,500
26. Ryan Montgomery (12), Fairmont, W.Va., Longhorn, $3,500
Lap leaders: Davenport 1-55, 57-61; Bobby Pierce 56; 62-100
Heat race winners (among 51 cars): Davenport, Hoffman, Ch. Ferguson, Overton, Nobbe, Jameson
Consolation race winners: Hedgecock, Joiner, Harris
Provisional starters: Hilsabeck, Ebert
Non-qualifiers’ race winner: Kyle Strickler
Aug. 8 semifeature winners: Alberson, Wilson
Aug. 9 semifeature winners: Pierce, Moran
Feature lineup
(100 laps)
Row 1: Jonathan Davenport, Nick Hoffman
Row 2: Chris Ferguson, Brandon Overton
Row 3: Dustin Nobbe, Jason Jameson
Row 4: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 5: Zack Dohm, Donald McIntosh
Row 6: Carson Ferguson, Mike Marlar
Row 7: Josh Rice, Bobby Pierce
Row 8: Garrett Alberson, Jimmy Owens
Row 9: Hudson O'Neal, Brandon Sheppard
Row 10: Cory Hedgecock, Joseph Joiner
Row 11: Clay Harris, Justin Rattliff
Row 12: Daulton Wilson, Ryan Montgomery
Row 13: Daniel Hilsabeck, Dan Ebert
Non-qualifiers' race
Finish: Kyle Strickler, Max Blair, Adam Stricker, Kyle Bronson, Logan Zarin, Cory Lawler, Michael Leach, Trevor Landrum, Conner Mertens, Mike Bargo, Brandon Hardgrove, Austin Lay, Michael LeFevers, Josh Vinyard, Calvin Carlton, Donnie Jeschke, Rogers Williams, Brad Rickels, Blake Creek, Tripp Gerrald.
Consolation race results
(Various lap counts; top two transfer)
First consolation: Cory Hedgecock, Justin Rattliff, Kyle Strickler, Dan Ebert, Adam Stricker, Tripp Gerrald, Brad Rickels, Brandon Hardgrove, Calvin Carlson, Roger Williams, Daniel Hilsabeck. Scratched: Derek Groomer.
Second consolation: Joseph Joiner, Daulton Wilson, Trevor Landrum, Logan Zarin, Cory Lawler, Blake Creech, Austin Lay, Conner Mertens, Mike Bargo. Scratched: Chad Stapleton, Devin Gilpin.
Third consolation: Clay Harris, Ryan Montgomery, Max Blair, Kyle Bronson, Michael Leach, Michael LeFevers, Josh Vinyard, Donnie Jeschke. Scratched: Michael Chilton, Billy Green.
Heat race recap
Jonathan Davenport’s first heat victory puts him on the pole for the 100-lapper. … Josh Rice’s car showed smoke finishing third in the first heat and engine woes forced him to a backup car (he’ll drop to the rear in the feature lineup). … Nick Hoffman and Cory Hedgecock unofficially swapped the early lead in the second heat with Hoffman pulling away for the victory while Hedgecock faded. … Bobby Pierce, aiming for his third straight North-South 100 victory, got too high in turn two early in the second heat and slipped back to fifth before recovering to grab third from Hedgecock in the final laps. … Chris Ferguson and his Stinger Race Car captured the third heat. … Indiana drivers Devin Gilpin and Chad Stapleton (elevated heart rate; he returned to racing last month after heart treatment) scratched from the third heat. … In the fourth heat, Brandon Overton jumped from his fourth starting spot and into the lead to dominate the prelim. … Jimmy Owens took third place from Daulton Wilson on the final lap of the fourth heat to clinch his 21st straight start in the North-South 100. … Former track champion Dustin Nobbe fought off a stiff challenge from Carson Ferguson to win the fifth heat and earn his second career North-South 100 start. … In the sixth and final heat, Jason Jameson overtook polesitter Mike Marlar to lead the final three laps.
Heat race results
(10 laps; top three transfer)
First heat: Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Josh Rice, Justin Rattliff, Kyle Strickler, Adam Stricker, Brad Rickels, Daniel Hilsabeck, Calvin Carlton.
Second heat: Nick Hoffman, Ricky Thornton Jr., Bobby Pierce, Cory Hedgecock, Dan Ebert, Tripp Gerrald, Brandon Hardgrove, Roger Williams. Scratched: Derek Groomer.
Third heat: Chris Ferguson, Zack Dohm, Garrett Alberson, Joseph Joiner, Logan Zarin, Blake Creech, Austin Lay. Scratched: Chad Stapleton, Devin Gilpin.
Fourth heat: Brandon Overton, Donald McIntosh, Jimmy Owens, Daulton Wilson, Trevor Landrum, Cory Lawler, Conner Mertens, Mike Bargo.
Fifth heat: Dustin Nobbe, Carson Ferguson, Hudson O'Neal, Clay Harris, Kyle Bronson, Michael Chilton, Michael LeFevers. Scratched: Billy Green.
Sixth heat: Jason Jameson, Mike Marlar, Brandon Sheppard, Max Blair, Ryan Montgomery, Michael Leach, Josh Vinyard, Donnie Jeschke.
Heat race lineups
(10 laps; top three transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Josh Rice, Jonathan Davenport
Row 2: Justin Rattliff, Devin Moran
Row 3: Kyle Strickler, Brad Rickels
Row 4: Adam Stricker, Daniel Hilsabeck
Row 5: Calvin Carlton
Second heat
Row 1: Nick Hoffman, Cory Hedgecock
Row 2: Ricky Thornton Jr., Bobby Pierce
Row 3: Tripp Gerrald, Derek Groomer
Row 4: Brandon Hardgrove, Dan Ebert
Row 5: Roger Williams
Third heat
Row 1: Chris Ferguson, Logan Zarin
Row 2: Zack Dohm, Garrett Alberson
Row 3: Joseph Joiner, Blake Creech
Row 4: Chad Stapleton, Austin Lay
Row 5: Devin Gilpin
Fourth heat
Row 1: Donald McIntosh, Jimmy Owens
Row 2: Daulton Wilson, Brandon Overton
Row 3: Cory Lawler, Trevor Landrum
Row 4: Mike Bargo, Conner Mertens
Fifth heat
Row 1: Michael Chilton, Dustin Nobbe
Row 2: Carson Ferguson, Hudson O’Neal
Row 3: Kyle Bronson, Clay Harris
Row 4: Michael LeFevers, Billy Green
Sixth heat
Row 1: Mike Marlar, Jason Jameson
Row 2: Max Blair, Brandon Sheppard
Row 3: Ryan Montgomery, Michael Leach
Row 4: Josh Vinyard, Donnie Jeschke
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
11:30 a.m. - Hall of Fame induction ceremony (closed to public)
2:30 p.m. - Pits, grandstands closed and cleared
2:30 p.m. - Drivers’ autograph session (Hall of Fame building opens to public)
3 p.m. - All gates reopen
3:15 p.m. - Tech and registration opens
5 p.m. - Outreach service
5:45-6:30 p.m. - Drivers’ autograph session
7 p.m. - On-track activity (Hall of Fame building closes)
- Late Model hot laps
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (10 laps)
Intermission/track prep
- Late Model consolations (12 laps)
Driver introductions
- 43rd annual North-South 100 (100 laps)
- Late Model non-qualifiers (25 laps)
