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 |
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, MSD, Impact Race Products, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.