Jon Henry Scores at Oakshade as Bobby Pierce Wins the Championship

| July 17, 2016
Bobby Pierce is the first repeat Summer Nationals champion since Dennis Erb Jr. won three in a row from 2007 to 2009. Photo by Jim Denhamer

Bobby Pierce is the first repeat Summer Nationals champion since Dennis Erb Jr. won three in a row from 2007 to 2009. Photo by Jim Denhamer

Jon Henry - Photo by Jim Denhamer

Jon Henry – Photo by Jim Denhamer

 

Pierce walks away with championship after a dominating season

WAUSEON, Ohio – July 16, 2016 – Jon Henry dominated the DIRTcar Summer Nationals finale at Oakshade Raceway on Saturday night as he scored the 18th Annual Birthday Race. As Henry of Ada, Ohio, celebrated his race win, 19-year-old Bobby Pierce celebrated his second straight series championship.

Henry started the night’s feature on the outside pole and quickly took control of the race. Henry held off Jason Feger, who took the previous night’s win and Pierce who charged into second late in the race.

Through three restarts Henry easily dispatched his competition and even with lapped traffic late in the feature, Henry crossed the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of Pierce, who finished in second.

The $10,000 victory is the biggest of Henry’s career.

“It’s unreal,” Henry said. “It’s something I always dreamed to do… it’s very emotional, to be honest with you. It doesn’t really sink in, but it’s gonna sink in probably here soon – tomorrow and the next week and the next month – that we were able to accomplish something that we’ve always wanted to do and in front of a great crowd.”

For Pierce, the second place finish wrapped up a dominating season that saw him in victory lane 10 times, score three of the five weekly championships and easily secure the DIRTcar Summer Nationals championship, his second straight.

“I wanted to get that last (win) so I could be 50/50 (11 wins in 22 features), but it’s been a great Hell Tour,” Pierce said. “It’s really cool to do it again. There’s a lot of competition with this series, and venturing out to other places… not only did we win the championship, but we ran really good at a lot of tracks that I’m not really used to running at. I’m pretty proud of the team and everyone who helped us out.”

Pierce is the first repeat Summer Nationals champion since Dennis Erb Jr. won three in a row from 2007 to 2009. He also became just the fifth driver in Summer Nationals history to cross over the double-digit win mark, joining greats Shannon Babb, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer and Don O’Neal.

Follow the Summer Nationals and Summit Modified Nationals on Twitter at Twitter.com/SummerNationals or on Facebook at Facebook.com/SummerNationals. Stay up-to-date with the latest news from the series throughout the lead up and the summer on the series’ websites at TheHellTour.com and ModifiedNationals.com.

DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Oakshade Raceway; Wauseon, Ohio

A-Main: 1. Jon Henry (Ada, OH), 2. Bobby Pierce (Oakwood, IL), 3. Matt Miller (Findlay, OH), 4. Kent Robinson (Bloomington, IN), 5. Wayne Chinn (Bradford, OH), 6. Ryan Unzicker (El Paso, IL), 7. Gordy Gundaker (St Charles, MO), 8. Brian Ruhlman (Clarklake, MI), 9. Devin Shiels (Britton, MI), 10. Devin Moran (Dresden, OH), 11. Steve Kester (Holland, OH), 12. Bob Gardner (East Peoria, IL), 13. Casey Noonan (Toledo, OH), 14. Rob Anderzack (Metamora, OH), 15. Rusty Schlenk (Weston, OH), 16. Taylor Scheffler (Waukesha, WI), 17. Mason Zeigler (Uniontown, PA), 18. Jason Feger (Bloomington, IL), 19. Curtis Roberts (Coleman, MI), 20. Jeep Van Wormer (Pinconning, MI), 21. Steve Casebolt (Richmond, TN), 22. Nick Kurtz (Greenville, MI).

2016 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule

Date Day Track Winners
Northern Kickoff
June 15 Wednesday Brownstown Speedway Rain/Cancelled
June 16 Thursday Kankakee Co. Speedway Bobby Pierce
June 17 Friday Cedar Lake Speedway Billy Moyer
June 18 Saturday Cedar Lake Speedway Billy Moyer (2)
June 19 Sunday Wilmot Speedway Bobby Pierce (2)
Heartland Tour
June 20 Monday OFF
June 21 Tuesday Jacksonville Speedway Bobby Pierce (3)
June 22 Wednesday Farley Speedway Rain/Cancelled
June 23 Thursday Spoon River Speedway Dennis Erb Jr.
June 24 Friday Tri-City Speedway Bobby Pierce (4)
June 25 Saturday Fairbury Speedway Brandon Sheppard
June 26 Sunday Tri-State Speedway Bobby Pierce (5)
Southern Tour
June 27 Monday OFF
June 28 Tuesday Clarksville Speedway Ryan Unzicker
June 29 Wednesday Belle-Clair Speedway Bobby Pierce (6)
June 30 Thursday Springfield Raceway Rain/PPD
July 1 Friday Fayette Co. Speedway Josh Richards
July 2 Saturday Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 Rain/Cancelled
July 3 Sunday Lincoln Speedway Rain/PPD
Independence Week
July 4 Monday LaSalle Speedway Bobby Pierce (7)
July 5 Tuesday Daugherty Speedway Jason Feger
July 6 Wednesday Peoria Speedway Bobby Pierce (8)
July 7 Thursday Macon Speedway Bobby Pierce (9)
July 8 Friday Farmer City Raceway Jason Feger (2)
July 9 Saturday Highland Speedway Billy Moyer (3)
July 10 Sunday Quincy Raceways Bobby Pierce (10)
Champions Week
July 11 Monday OFF
July 12 Tuesday Plymouth Speedway Rain/Cancelled
July 13 Wednesday Shadyhill Speedway Rain/Cancelled
July 14 Thursday Merritt Speedway Ryan Unzicker (2)
July 15 Friday Oakshade Raceway Jason Feger (3)
July 16 Saturday Oakshade Raceway Jon Henry

Tags:

Category: Hell Tour, Illinois, Series

Comments are closed.