Bobby Pierce finishes second in first Truck Series start
RELATED: Complete race results
ROSSBURG, Ohio — The pit crew swarmed the truck; the driver climbed out and threw his hands high into the night air; the owner ran around screaming and handing out hugs.
In the background of this scene, as fireworks exploded over Eldora Speedway’s half-mile dirt oval, race winner Christopher Bell turned victory donuts that sent plumes of dust skyward.
The fact that Bobby Pierce finished second didn’t dampen the celebration on pit road. In fact, it heightened it.
In his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut, Pierce chased Bell all over the track in a thrilling conclusion to the third annual event at the Tony Stewart-owned facility in western Ohio. He did so in a battered No. 63 MB Motorsports Chevrolet that, by the end, looked like something from a nearby junkyard.
The decklid was drooping, the back right fender was covered in dents and discoloration and tiny chunks of the body were scattered somewhere along the hard clay.
"I knew these trucks could take a lot before they started falling apart," Pierce said with a grin after hopping out of his truck. "It was a lot of fun out there. I’m out of breath, but so happy."
The 18-year-old had to spend a few moments composing himself inside the cockpit following the checkered flag, a piece of time that included third-place finisher Tyler Reddick strolling over, leaning into the window and patting him on the helmet.
A member of his pit crew walked in circles, screaming "(Expletive) yeah! Can you believe it?"
They couldn’t.
Pierce led 39 of 154 laps after starting from the pole. He was in the top five throughout the entirety of the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic, including the frenzied finish that saw four cautions — and thus four harrowing restarts — over a 42–lap span and resulted in a green-white-checkered finish.
Bell, 20 years old, and Pierce put on another Eldora classic. They went high into the wall, sending both sparks and dirt spraying from their trucks. They went low, dodging Reddick, Austin Dillon, Ty Dillon and Matt Crafton, among others. It was reminiscent of last year’s frenzied finish, when Kyle Larson used all his truck would give him, careening into walls while attempting to chase down eventual winner Darrell Wallace Jr.
"I know a lot of people before the race were thinking I was going to be the Kyle Larson this year, probably," Pierce said. "I didn’t want to be the guy in second, but that’s how it goes."
Team owner Mike Mittler was fine with second. A team owner in the Truck Series since its inception in 1995, Wednesday was his best finish. His only other career top 10 in 213 starts was an eighth-place showing with Carl Edwards in 2002.
It was a wait of 13 years for a man well-regarded in the NASCAR community, one who helped drivers such as Brad Keselowski (who finished 28th Wednesday), Edwards, Jamie McMurray and Justin Allgaier start their careers.
After celebrating with Pierce and the crew, Mittler took a congratulatory phone call and helped wheel the truck across the infield for inspection before pausing to consider what the runner-up result meant.
"I thought if it stayed green, we’d have every opportunity to work (Bell) and get by him, but it just didn’t go that way," Mittler told NASCAR.com. "I just thought, ‘Wow, what a phenomenal opportunity after 20 years, to be in position to finally have an opportunity to win a race.’ "
The opportunity came with a driver Mittler has known for years — he is friends with Pierce’s father outside of racing — and one who watched the inaugural Eldora race on television at home, and took in last year’s event from the grandstands.
"The whole thing is pretty cool," Bell said, "because I remember we were at a local show in Illinois a year ago, and I had never heard of Bobby Pierce and I’m sure he’d never heard of me. He kicked their butt in the late model race. I never dreamed we’d be racing neck and neck at Eldora."
But they were. And on a night in which Bell cemented his place in NASCAR, Pierce’s possible NASCAR career also took flight.
"That’s why you’re in this sport, to be in contention to win," Mittler said. "It wasn’t a fluke. We were there all day. It was no fluke at all. The kid’s the real deal. He said this is a dream come true for him, and it is for me, too."
