Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Awesome Racing Talk With The Champ Bobby Pierce!

Transcript

Awesome Racing Talk With The Champ Bobby Pierce! · Kenny Wallace Media

0:00
Hello everyone. Welcome to Kenny Conversation,
0:03
brought to you by Jags, the leader in high performance
0:07
aftermarket car parts. Remember to go to jags.com to
0:12
make your vehicles more awesome. Well, we are really lucky
0:17
because we don't get very many people out of the dirt Super
0:22
Late model world. And we've we've had a couple.
0:25
But now we finally have your most recent 2023 World of Outlaw
0:32
champion, Bobby Pierce. Bobby, welcome to Kenny
0:35
conversation. Hey.
0:37
Thanks for having me, Kenny. I'm glad to be here.
0:40
Awesome man. You you are calm right now.
0:42
Why are you so calm? Probably because I'm not in a
0:46
race car and your witty is all get out.
0:50
Well, Bobby, listen, just a little bit of business we're
0:54
going to, we're going to dive deep into it here in a little
0:57
bit. But man, oh man, you've wrapped
1:01
this 2023 World of Outlaw Dirt Super Late Model Championship up
1:07
in your first year trying. This is a huge deal and you had
1:11
an incredible year. Just a quick take on how you're
1:15
feeling right now as you guys get ready for the World Finals
1:19
in Charlotte. We're feeling pretty good, you
1:21
know, We go into it with such a big lead that we can just relax
1:25
and go into Charlotte's Been. Heck, since 2014, the last time
1:29
I was there. So yeah, we didn't want to go
1:32
into it with the points battle being tight, 'cause we were
1:35
like, man, you know, that could get interesting with us not
1:38
really racing there much. But yeah, we're pretty chill.
1:40
So we go into that deal, then we got some more races, we got to
1:44
tackle after that. But yeah, looking forward to it.
1:47
All right, let's get down to business.
1:48
We know that you've got a lot of race fans and we're going to
1:52
tackle all that a little bit later.
1:55
But first at hand, you just came back from Eldora the Lucas, you
2:01
know, Dirt Late Model Championship.
2:03
First of all, I know that all of you drivers got the hell beat
2:07
out of you. Track was gnarly.
2:09
How are you feeling right now physically?
2:13
This is the first day that my neck isn't.
2:16
So tight and sore just from bouncing around.
2:19
I know I told my mom right away after the race.
2:21
I was like, mom, I got a concussion, A mild concussion.
2:23
I know. I do.
2:24
Just it was that rough. It was the roughest track I've
2:26
ever raced on in my life. Just with the speed.
2:28
And to be fast you had to just send it through the rough stuff,
2:32
you know? You saw Brandon won the race
2:34
doing that. Somehow his car didn't break and
2:37
we had a couple of things break on.
2:39
The car slowed me down but my thumb was also a little sore
2:42
because early in the race I got in a wreck and.
2:44
Never once in my life has my fingers been stuck in the wheel
2:48
but this time it it must have slightly got you know a little
2:52
hurt there so it was sore but I'll be all right ready to go
2:56
for the next one and the car is was my main worry.
3:00
You know it was it took a beating.
3:02
Heck the the skid play underneath was was ripped off.
3:06
The there was shocks blowing out.
3:09
There was the radiator was almost knocked out.
3:12
Motor mounts bent down, just all sorts of stuff.
3:15
So wow. I mean, you know, I've been
3:18
lucky enough to run Eldora, but never at the speed that you all
3:23
are running now with the right front down, left rear up, just
3:27
massive amount of grip and just about cheating death.
3:30
Now I know you're a brave soul. Was there any time in that race
3:35
that you went? What in the hell are we doing?
3:38
Yeah, it was. I mean, I was debating.
3:41
You know racing it or not and and it was on qualifying day
3:44
when I was like man I was dropping down you know on the on
3:48
the board there and I was like if I if I end up like 8th or 9th
3:51
I'm just going to load up. Well, I ended up 7th and
3:53
qualifying so I raced, but now there was a kid next to me raced
3:59
the BMA and he's like, man, it's it's getting really rough and
4:04
well whatever, we're going for $100,000 so we sent it, went out
4:08
there and. You know, gotten that wreck
4:10
early on, but then we eventually got back to the lead and we're
4:13
leading this thing for 100 grand.
4:14
There's still like 60 laps to go and the tracks just getting
4:18
rougher, but it's like, what do you do?
4:19
You know you're racing for 100 grand, so you just got to stay
4:21
out there and fell back to 3rd, ended up running out of gas, got
4:26
back out there, finished sixth because there was only like 6
4:29
cars on the track. So, but you know Brandon
4:32
Shepherd that won the race? I asked him how he felt.
4:36
And I was like, you know, you can't feel too bad.
4:38
You got $100,000. But he said that his left side
4:41
was pretty sore from like his, like his, his leg and his.
4:45
He had a headache and stuff like that.
4:46
So everybody was, it was taking a toll on everybody.
4:49
And I got a feel for them guys that were going for the
4:52
championship. You know, to have a track like
4:54
that's, it's a lot different. Yeah, there, there's so much to
4:57
break down about this, this Lucas Oil Championship.
5:01
Let's wrap, let's wrap the race up.
5:04
But but let's talk about it just a little bit.
5:06
Then we'll go to your opinion on this whole format that is so
5:10
controversial. So you you're digging, you're
5:13
you're in and out of the pits. Cars are falling out like flies,
5:18
but you get up there to 3rd, you run out of gas, you go in and
5:21
out. What made you keep digging?
5:25
Is it Is it just money racing for the family or you're just 26
5:31
years old and you don't know any better?
5:35
I would like to say I just don't know any better.
5:38
But unfortunately I after owning the business for a little while
5:42
now, I I do think about that in the back of my mind.
5:44
You know, man, this is going to be costly, but the money was
5:49
nice. But it's also the dirt Track
5:50
World championship. It's a big race.
5:53
I've never won it before. So you want to go win races.
5:55
You know, it doesn't matter if you're racing for pennies or or
5:58
whatever, you know, racing against that kind of
6:01
competition, you want to beat them, but.
6:03
Yeah, man, it was tough. And you know, it was a lot of
6:08
processing. Should I stay out here?
6:09
Should I not? And the heck you saw guys like
6:12
Tim McCready. He's broken his back years ago
6:15
and he was still out there, just at the Chili Bowl.
6:17
At it. Jimmy Owens, he's a bit older
6:20
now and he was going at it too. So hat off to them guys that
6:25
were out there. But but everybody, let's just
6:29
clarify. Everybody paid a price, but we
6:32
do it for the love of racing, but we hear it all the time how
6:36
expensive this sport is. These motors are $60,000.
6:40
These shocks are thousands of dollars each.
6:44
You win 100 grand. You need it all because you got
6:46
to rebuild the motor and the whole car.
6:48
So I get it. Thank you for bringing us up to
6:52
date how you're feeling. So let's move on to, you know,
6:56
the controversy at hand and I'm going to phrase it like this and
7:00
then we'll talk about it. So Lucas, Oil, Dirt, Late
7:06
Models, they decided early this year, we're going to run this
7:09
format. We're going to copy NASCAR that,
7:12
see, that's the way it looked right there at Eldora.
7:17
So the dirt, Lucas Oil, Late Mile, they said we're going to
7:21
copy NASCAR, We're going to take the final four and we're going
7:26
to go to Eldora Little. Did anybody see Ricky Thornton
7:32
having a year like you? You two are pretty equal.
7:35
Both of you dominate your respective deals, but you know,
7:40
you guys are normal, you know, in the World of Outlaws.
7:43
So give me your opinion on this. Specifically, what did you think
7:49
when you heard early in the year that Lucas Oil was going to use
7:55
this format? Right off the bat, I was hoping,
8:00
man, I hope that Word of Outlaws doesn't use that format because
8:06
I have a lot of comparisons. That why I think it shouldn't be
8:10
used. And you know, you can, You can
8:13
look at any major sports, look at the NFL for example.
8:18
When they're playing on their football field, whether it's
8:22
turf or natural grass, it's almost the same.
8:25
But every single racetrack we go to, you, we got quarter miles,
8:28
we got half miles, we got banked, not banked.
8:31
Different types of dirt as you know, racing dirt, red dirt,
8:34
black dirt, that all feels different.
8:36
It all goes into it. So you take your whole year and
8:40
you combine it while you're racing against these guys,
8:43
you're racing against the same guys every night, so everybody
8:46
gets the same chance to beat the other guy every single night.
8:50
And I just feel like, you know, you go into that last race and
8:53
that's like saying, OK. The Chiefs versus the Eagles,
8:57
now they're going to play on rock instead of grass, so or
9:01
you're going to play on a on a sand beach instead of grass.
9:05
It just there was a big curveball at you or a different
9:08
size field. It's just it adds a lot of
9:12
excitement for the fans. I will say that I think some
9:14
people enjoyed it, especially how it ended up, but I do know
9:17
that a lot of people thought Ricky Thornton deserved the
9:21
championship. But what do you do, right.
9:24
Yeah. We we are at I made a Kenny
9:27
Wallace show. This is Kenny conversation.
9:30
Kenny Wallace shows where I give my opinions and and I said we
9:34
are in a time in life where kids your age now, you're different.
9:39
You're wise you're quiet you're you're just you're just
9:43
different, Bobby in a good way. I'm bragging on you.
9:48
People don't know what they want anymore.
9:50
So I said, and I and I want to know what you think about this.
9:54
What do we want? Do we want to show or do we want
9:59
to race? And when we race, it could be
10:01
like any other sport. It could be 1:50, but you're
10:05
going to have to take it. You're not going to have to
10:07
condemn it. So what do you think about that
10:11
nowadays? You know, do we want to show or
10:15
do we want to race? Right.
10:17
And I don't know I. I like the typical point format
10:21
where you just take your best races and or you take all year
10:25
every race and you know that's with War of Outlaws.
10:29
Heck, I would hate to go into Charlotte with knowing that
10:32
second, third, and 4th have a chance to beat me after.
10:35
Really. We dominated the War of Outlaws
10:37
this year, so it's tough. But what do you do some years
10:41
though? I was really hoping that. 1st
10:44
place and 2nd place in the points were neck and neck
10:47
heading into that last race. Because then it would have been
10:49
like, see, you didn't even need to do anything special.
10:51
But some years you'll have that, some years you won't.
10:55
I think as a racer you work so hard, your crew work so hard.
10:59
Everybody does, you know, every race is so important and this
11:03
kind of it. It kind of takes away the
11:07
importance of every single race because if you don't, I just got
11:10
to be in the top 4. I'm not going to worry about
11:13
busting my tail to to catch this guy or or or.
11:16
You know, we got to win this race.
11:17
If I win this race, you don't have to.
11:19
So it kind of takes away the importance of every single race
11:21
in my opinion. Yeah.
11:22
And you know, conversation with you here, not so much of a
11:27
question. But you know, we we have a group
11:29
of dirt racing fans that hate NASCAR, which is fine that
11:33
that's fine. But in NASCAR.
11:36
Now remind you, Lucas, Oil light models copied NASCAR on this
11:39
format. OK, so I hate NASCAR, but hold
11:45
on. Every single year that NASCAR
11:48
has had this format, one of those top four end up winning
11:52
the race. It hasn't happened yet.
11:54
Now I'm sure it will. So with that being said, you are
11:59
the world of all Light Model champion.
12:03
You Nick Kaufman, you all went into their turf.
12:07
What did that feel like when they dropped the green flag for
12:10
you? Were were you a little nervous
12:12
having to race race around Ricky Thornton and those guys going
12:16
for the championship? Oh, I Yeah, I definitely was.
12:18
And I said it a lot that I don't want to be the guy to cause any
12:23
one of them to fall out of the race and and lose their shots.
12:26
So there was an instance I was I was racing next to JD and and
12:30
Hudson. And we come off the corner and
12:33
we're almost going three wide and I'm in the middle and I'm
12:35
like, yeah, I'm just going to back out of this.
12:37
And you're a good man because you're racing for a living and
12:41
and that's one moment that you found yourself in a situation
12:44
you didn't want to be that guy that wrecked the championship
12:47
guys out. So what What is your thought on,
12:51
you know, in NASCAR? Because the fans compare.
12:55
In NASCAR, the players play OK, you guys, you World of Outlaws
13:03
invaded their turf. Do you think that's fair?
13:09
I mean, I don't know. We there's been several races
13:12
this year like I won the Gopher 50, which was a 50,000 win Lucas
13:17
race. I won.
13:20
Like, what was it? Something else?
13:22
And then there's I'm going to read those stats.
13:25
There are some races like Ricky Thornton came in.
13:27
He won the Parador Classic, which was a World Outlaw race.
13:29
I finished second. I think there was another
13:32
instance where something like that happened, like there was a
13:34
war of outlaw race, the USA Nationals that I won by slim
13:39
margin and Hudson threw a slider on me on the very last lap.
13:42
What a race. What a race.
13:43
Yeah, what a race. We had a we had a couple close
13:46
finishes this year. One of them was by like 2.
13:48
One thousandth of a second, but pretty crazy.
13:50
But now I you know it, you treat every race the same.
13:55
But. In the same sense, you know,
13:57
take Shepherd for example, if he was battling for the win there
14:01
on that last lap with any of them four guys, you know, maybe,
14:05
maybe he would have been just a little more cautious about it.
14:09
But you know, in the same sense then four guys had to be
14:12
cautious because they can't fall out of the race.
14:15
So everyone kind of had to take a little bit and you know, give
14:19
give a little bit. So it is what it is.
14:22
So we'll wrap this up. Controversially, we will wrap
14:27
this up controversially so we know that this Lucas Oil light
14:32
model, we know this banquet usually somewhere at the Lucas
14:36
Oil Stadium up there by you. Your.
14:38
I believe it's your girlfriend's house.
14:40
Is that the Indianapolis Colts? Is that where I see you and your
14:43
you and your your Chicago Bears and.
14:46
Colts Yeah, I'm I'm a Bears fan by.
14:49
I'm a Colts fan too. And yeah, she was a cheerleader.
14:52
And I know one time I actually had this funny story.
14:56
Back in school, we were in like the 4th grade and we had a,
15:00
like, wear your favorite sports jersey to school day.
15:04
And I had a Brian Urlacher jersey and I had a Peyton
15:07
Manning jersey. Oh, my mom literally cut them in
15:10
half because she knew I like both teams.
15:11
She cut them in half and she sewed them together.
15:14
Or was like half Urlacher, half Manning.
15:16
And I wore that. Your Mama loves you so.
15:20
And she is your mama's all about it.
15:22
A little wonderful family. I know your family well.
15:26
Your father's helped me out so much.
15:28
But so this banquet, and we're going to wrap it up right now,
15:33
the Lucas Oil Lake Model banquet will happen.
15:37
Do you think they announce at the banquet or do you think they
15:41
announce after? Are they going to do this again
15:45
or do you think they'll go back to a normal point system?
15:48
And you don't got to be right. It's just nobody knows what do
15:51
you? Think heck, I don't know.
15:53
There might be some guys that know.
15:55
But all I know is I hope War of Outlaws doesn't because I like
15:59
I'm going to follow Outlaws again next year and I like the
16:02
format. They how they do it.
16:04
Just the regular old school and we'll see.
16:07
I mean, hey. It did 'cause a a little bit of
16:11
drama, you know, at the last race, so maybe they'll do it
16:13
again, but we'll see. I talked to Michael Rigsby, you
16:18
know, who used to own Flo. Still very, very influential
16:24
Michael Rigsby, and and I texted him yesterday, he said most
16:30
likely the most eyes ever. A lot.
16:33
There was like a lot on Sunday night.
16:35
No, but it was that perfect storm body.
16:38
It was Sunday night because you guys got rained out.
16:41
Then the Cup race was over. It was that perfect storm where,
16:45
you know, everybody watched you guys, everybody knew what was
16:49
going on with with you. But so yeah, I hear you.
16:53
Well, that's OK. We put that the bed before I
16:58
remind you how great you are. And we do this with all the
17:02
drivers. Before we do that, let's talk
17:04
about the end of this year. So we know that you're going to
17:09
wrap up the World Finals, but I believe you got a couple more
17:13
championships that you're fighting for.
17:17
I see Castro Flow night in America Championship.
17:21
I see the XR chant, you got 1/4 of $1,000,000 laying out there.
17:26
Tell me what's up. Yeah, so.
17:30
War of Outlaws, that is sealed up.
17:31
I just got to show up and start the races basically, and I
17:35
should have that. Then we go to Senoia for the the
17:41
Flow Championship. We have two races and me and
17:43
Hudson O'Neill were basically neck and neck.
17:46
So we'll see who wins that deal. That's 75 grand to win and I'm
17:50
also leading the XR Super Series and that's 75 grand to win.
17:53
So yeah, there's a lot of money on the line.
17:56
And yeah, and then we go to Gateway.
17:59
Your. Your hometown.
18:00
Yeah. The Dome.
18:02
The Dome. It's you know while I have you
18:05
you know and like I said this conversation is about I just
18:08
respond. I listen, I've, I've always said
18:11
that the Dome is not meant for everybody but but you and
18:17
Shannon Babb and you know Shepherd, you you Illinois guys,
18:22
you're you're a different breed. You are.
18:24
You know, you got the guys running through the middle, you
18:27
know, down South in the clay. But then there's you guys, which
18:31
are bull ring dominators. So tell me about the Dome.
18:37
Obviously it is what it is. You grew up racing on those
18:40
tracks at Belleville, Belle, Clare, Macon.
18:43
Tell me about the Dome. Yeah, it is.
18:46
It's like racing back in the day and making, you know just go out
18:50
there and send it, put up put on your worst body you got.
18:54
And but no, it's the Dome is magical for sure, you know.
18:59
Anytime you get to race inside of a Dome, it kind of has that
19:03
electricity in the air where you know, you feel like you feel
19:07
like you're out there on the football field or something.
19:11
You're you're a superstar and you know you got these 800
19:15
horsepower cars. Just the the noise is
19:18
incredible. You got to go and check it out
19:19
if you're a fan, haven't been there before.
19:21
You got to go check out the Dome.
19:23
I recommend it. The racetrack is going to get
19:25
rough. And I kind of have the same
19:28
deal. But hey, at least we're going
19:29
about the third the speed as we did at Eldora, so we won't tear
19:33
up as much equipment. Do you feel like the Dome,
19:37
Although you can win 30 grand. Do you feel like it's a
19:39
theatrical event? I've always said it's a
19:42
celebration of dirt racing. You're not going to get rained
19:45
out. Yeah.
19:46
What do you what do you what's your feelings about going to the
19:49
Dome? And I mean, I just want to dive
19:52
a little deeper inside your brain.
19:54
Do you get jacked up on Mountain Dew when you go?
19:57
And you have to. That's the only way.
19:59
That is the only way that you just got to go out there and
20:02
ride the bull. I feel like you do that every
20:06
race. Yeah, sometimes it is smooth.
20:08
You know, we won the Thursday night portion last year and it
20:12
was really smooth. But I kind of stunk up the show.
20:15
So they're like, yeah, we got to add some character to the track
20:18
and then from there on it was cowboy up.
20:20
But you know, we won. We won that races two times and
20:23
since we won it then two times, I think it was 17 or 18 and 19.
20:30
And I haven't finished a race since.
20:32
So on Saturday, on Saturday, I have not finished a race there
20:35
since that. So that's my goal is to finish
20:38
race. So our goals are to win all
20:40
three championships. And then go to the home and
20:43
finish the race and sell and sell a lot of T-shirts.
20:46
You. You.
20:47
Yeah, boy, that's another subject.
20:49
But I mean, I I want to respond to what you just said your your
20:53
goal just for not in life, not in life.
20:57
But what is your goal the rest of this year?
21:01
Just say that one more time. Yeah, my goal is to of course
21:05
win the World Outlaws, win Flow Championship.
21:08
And win the XR Super Series championships, That'll be 3
21:12
championships. And then go to the Dome, sell a
21:14
lot of T-shirts and and the goal is to sell a lot of T-shirts at
21:18
Charlotte too. I'll say that there's a lot of
21:19
people there. Tell me about I've never really,
21:22
you know, I've interviewed Davenport and Nick Hoffman, and
21:26
you know, I've interviewed probably 6 dirt racers, but I've
21:30
never talked about souvenirs. I want to dive into this just
21:33
for a minute before I remind you about all your stats but this
21:40
T-shirt deal, is it true? I'm going to be specific.
21:46
Is it true that you all health have to sell T-shirts to survive
21:51
or is that a myth? Yeah, I don't know the way I do
21:56
it. You know, if if I don't win
22:00
races, if I don't sell shirts, yeah, I don't know how we could.
22:03
Keep getting to the next track because, you know, I don't race
22:06
for somebody where it's not like I just get a percentage.
22:09
So I I got to pay the bills and everything and everything.
22:15
Typically that you make in racing, you know, your race
22:18
winnings typically go back into the race car, they go to pay and
22:21
crew, they go for overhauling engines, paying for tires, you
22:25
know, all that stuff getting up and down the road.
22:27
So T-shirts is kind of. Where you are able to put food
22:32
on the table, but it's tough. But hey, when when it's going
22:35
good, it's going good and you just got to, you know, keep
22:39
giving it your best And you know we're in a way we're living the
22:43
dream. So we work hard and we race a
22:46
lot of races, but when it's going well, it's going well and
22:50
you just try to keep that up. There's an inside joke and
22:53
racing. When things are junkie, you go,
22:54
we're living the dream. It's it's a tough Rd.
22:58
Bobby, I admire you. I think you're incredible.
23:00
So, all right, this is the time, Kenny, conversation.
23:04
We do this with every driver. We're not going to skip any
23:07
driver. So I looked up your stats.
23:10
I'm going to need a couple minutes here, but this is to
23:13
remind all your fans. I say it every time.
23:16
I'm not going to stop now, brother, Brother, Rusty says.
23:19
You got to remind people because they remember what they want to.
23:24
So here we go. Give me a little time.
23:27
This is nuts. 2023 stats. First first year.
23:32
The Longhorn chassis. This is insane. 34 wins so far
23:38
this year. Over 900,000 in race winnings so
23:42
far. Obviously motors and tires and
23:46
everything. You've got this world of Outlaw
23:49
championship locked up headed into Charlotte your first year
23:53
trying ever. Also leading the Flow series.
23:57
As we talked about the XR series, this is another subject.
24:01
This is your greatest year. It's got to be arguably.
24:05
I think this is my opinion. I think you're arguably the
24:08
number one ranked dirt late mile driver.
24:11
You know dirt on dirt rankings. I I think, you know, it's going
24:16
to be a hell of a race between you and Ricky, 'cause you guys
24:20
get the best of each other a lot.
24:24
Let's look at some of these big wins and some career highlights.
24:28
I put a lot of work into this. World 100 winner.
24:34
Wow, you're 26 years old. You've already won the world.
24:38
When? What year did you win that?
24:41
I was 2016. I was 19 years old.
24:46
Unbelievable. north-south down in Florence 2 * 1 for 50 grand.
24:51
The other 175 grand. USA nationals, silver dollar
24:56
nationals as we talked about the Dome gateway dirt nationals 2
25:01
times Vegas duel in the desert they go go for 50 which you won
25:06
by .002 and I watch that race. That was insane.
25:14
Five time Summer Nationals champion.
25:18
Five time UMP Dirt Car national champion.
25:22
Google tells me you raced in 30. Now interrupt me.
25:27
Google tells me you raced in 30 states.
25:30
That's accurate. You want to race in New Zealand
25:33
with them funny looking late models?
25:36
We're almost done. This is a big one.
25:40
Set QuickTime in the NASCAR Truck Series at El Dora.
25:45
Started racing late, models at 13 and I'm going to end it like
25:50
this. 282 career wins so far. So Bobby is all that pretty
25:59
close. Yeah, that's that's that's about
26:01
accurate. I know my website stays updated.
26:04
I think that's what it is. I got a little I have for them
26:07
states too. I have a notes list in my notes
26:10
where I keep track of all the states I've raced in all the
26:12
tracks I've raced at. I think I'm up to like 200
26:15
different dirt tracks. That's awesome.
26:19
Kenny Schrader taught me that. And I had a laminated old Atlas
26:24
and I take a marker. I got up over 100 and I lost the
26:27
damn Atlas. But so, Bobby here, here's my
26:29
conversation with you. You're 26 years old.
26:33
I just read all that. Off to you.
26:36
You've already done more than a 60 year old man that is, you
26:41
know, depleted his racing life. You've already done more.
26:46
When I read all that to you and you're listening to everything,
26:48
like right now, what do you think of what goes through your
26:53
head? Makes me feel like I've been
26:57
doing this for a long time, which I have, I guess.
27:02
No, it's it's great because man, I mean it's it's everything that
27:06
you work so hard to do and. You know, it's hard when you're
27:11
a racer to sit back and kind of look at everything you've done
27:16
and because you're you're always go, go, go looking at the next
27:19
race and that's what your focus is on.
27:21
Sometimes you're looking 5 races ahead just to get a game plan,
27:25
so you don't get a whole lot of time to relax and and look back
27:29
and you know see all accomplishments.
27:32
So it's nice and that's what we do it for.
27:35
And yeah, it's crazy. I got I got to thank a lot of
27:40
people that have helped me get to that point too.
27:43
You know, one being like my dad. Obviously, I none of that would
27:47
have been possible without legend.
27:48
The legend, Yeah. So OK, I got lots of
27:54
conversations going on right now after listening to you say that.
27:59
You say you got to thank a lot of people.
28:03
This this is crazy for me to say, but you guys, you guys own
28:06
your own team. So even though you've won all
28:09
this money, you've spent it all because of the motors and the
28:12
tires, and you got to live. Do you need a big sponsor?
28:18
Do you need a sponsor next year? Yeah, Yeah.
28:21
Actually I do. I have a spot open on the car on
28:25
on the quarter panel. So big spot.
28:27
Basically the. Basically the main marketing
28:30
sponsor for 2024. One of them.
28:32
And yeah, if anyone's interested, we'd love to have
28:35
you on board. Hey, leave it up to me.
28:38
I'm the keen of getting sponsors, so I know everybody's
28:41
listening. Poker, Allgire, everybody.
28:46
We need somebody to grab a hold of.
28:48
You know, Bobby, I got to tell you something.
28:50
You can slap me if you want, but I love you and I care for you
28:55
and it bothers me that you've got to win all the time to make
28:58
a living. It's just that's a shame you you
29:00
know, it's just my opinion. Like I said, bitch, slap me all
29:03
you want. I I just see you running ragged.
29:07
I admire you for that. You're you're a hero to many
29:11
because they know that those fans know you're against all
29:14
odds. Do do you feel like sometimes
29:17
you're against all odds, or is it just normal to you?
29:22
It's pretty normal, you know, You just just.
29:26
Hey, it's either going to work out or it's not.
29:28
God, you got to, I think. I think what you just showed
29:32
right there is why you're so good.
29:35
From what I can tell. Being around you.
29:38
And I've been around you a lot. We know this.
29:42
I feel like when you get in that car, you just start singing a
29:44
song or something. Does Does anything rattle you
29:48
besides your your mom or your girlfriend?
29:52
Does anything rattle you? That is true, no.
29:56
Yeah, you know, the only time, heck, as much as I've raced now,
30:00
the only time you ever get nervous in the car is you know
30:03
when you just want to perform your best.
30:05
You know you have a chance to do that.
30:08
You could be. Have you you.
30:10
You probably felt this before. You were probably more nervous
30:13
in the car when you. I think you got a chance to win
30:17
Hunter Hunter and 1000% in in my Cup career when we're QuickTime
30:26
in all the practice sessions it's like Oh no.
30:30
Yeah and and I'm just I'm I'm QuickTime with natural ability
30:33
now I'm going to go out and I got I know I got to step it up
30:36
because their Bell's going to step it up.
30:38
To this day people go, God, Wallace, you qualify.
30:41
Good. I said that's from all those
30:44
NASCAR races, knowing that, you know, nowadays everybody's
30:48
locked in the race. In my day, if you didn't
30:50
qualify, you didn't qualify, right?
30:53
So Bobby, you're you're right. So you're telling me that when
30:56
you know you got like the dominant car, that's that's when
30:59
you get nervous? I mean it's it's a mixture of
31:03
the two 'cause you know, you you do get a a confidence boost when
31:07
you're fast, no doubt, or when you've won several races, it's
31:11
it's almost like a confidence boost, but.
31:13
Then you're almost like, man, maybe I can keep winning.
31:16
And then you're almost more because you know as a racer you
31:21
just, you want to, you want to win and that's the that's your
31:26
main worry is not winning. You know, because you want to go
31:29
win every race. At least I want to go win every
31:31
race possible. There's not a race that I think
31:33
I can't win. So when when the cars junk, when
31:38
I'm junk, it's just like whatever.
31:40
I don't care. But when I'm fast, then it's
31:42
like, OK, capitalize on this. I want to give you a compliment.
31:47
I I think that you're one of the only drivers in dirt racing
31:52
today that when your car's junk you will somehow will it?
31:58
Will it? You know what I mean?
32:01
You ever feel like that has your car?
32:03
You're like, what in the world is falling over on the right
32:06
rear and and and somehow you? Yeah, you win.
32:10
And that's why you like a good race track, because some tracks,
32:13
you know, if your car is not good, there's nothing you can do
32:16
about it. And you know it is what it is.
32:18
But if you got a track out there, a little bit of cushion,
32:20
a little bit of moisture you can get a hold of.
32:22
But a good race track that you have lanes to race on.
32:26
Racers love that. So yeah, and then you can make
32:28
something happen. So nice little statement.
32:33
I want to I want to say, first of all, we love it.
32:35
The fans love it when you send it.
32:38
You made, you brought the you brought the sliders black back.
32:41
You know, like you said, you you got a track you can't pass.
32:44
We're at the old Belle Belle, Belle Claire.
32:47
You know, hopefully Brad Loyette is going to bring Belle Claire
32:50
back for midgets. You know, he teased the Posey.
32:53
He lives here one mile from me. I could walk right up there to
32:56
Brett right now. So we don't know.
32:59
But the sliders that you threw I think made you famous because
33:05
when you threw the slider you were going for the win, you you
33:09
didn't throw a slider for 4th. Do you think when you when you
33:14
did these you you were just going for it?
33:18
And then the response to the fans, I think.
33:21
Tell me about the slider days, which were very controversial.
33:26
Yeah, you know, I guess slide jobs are more of a thing that
33:30
you would see in in other forms of racing, not not nearly as
33:34
much as late models. And then nowadays it's it's
33:37
pretty common but sometimes you know to to fully clear a guy and
33:42
get past him you you got to do a slide job and growing up racing
33:46
in in Illinois you know that's you kind of learn how to do that
33:50
I guess and I mean it anyone's fine with it as long as it's
33:55
clear and you know heck years of doing it you've you get better
34:00
at doing it and and and your judgement gets better that's the
34:03
thing like. You know anyone can go in there
34:04
and pull a slider. It's the judgement of whether or
34:07
not you should or not and and sometimes sometimes it is just
34:13
like anything it takes a while to of learning and experience to
34:18
to get better at your craft and you know the heck, I've raced a
34:23
lot so I pulled a lot of probably not clear sliders but
34:27
you know the majority of them I would say are and yeah it, it
34:30
makes, it makes racing more exciting, yeah.
34:34
Glare in my face. I'm trying to get rid of.
34:35
You're fine. Don't worry about it.
34:37
It's daytime. So man, look at this.
34:39
We've already been going 36 minutes and just and just to
34:42
going because you know so much has been going on in your career
34:45
right now. Speaking of that, here you are
34:49
only 26 years old and I I'm ashamed to ask to ask this, but
34:53
I I feel like I got to ask it. Your dad's a legend.
34:59
My mom's a legend. But my mom's 85 years old.
35:03
My mom ran powder puffs. So with your mom and dad getting
35:11
up there in age, listen, I get it.
35:13
They're there every day. They love you.
35:15
They love you with your life. You just told me you, said
35:17
Herman. I got to get back out in the
35:19
shop, work on this race car. So what is your goal in life
35:24
right now? Knowing that?
35:25
The tall, cool one. Your great father is, you know,
35:30
we're all getting older. What?
35:32
What is your goal? Where, where is this at?
35:34
You going to keep owning that team you're going to go to?
35:37
As far as I can tell, you're the only one that owns A-Team.
35:40
Everybody else drives for somebody.
35:42
Yeah, there is a lot of, like most I would say the top late
35:46
model guys all drive for somebody or at least they have
35:50
you know, an owner that owns the motors, cars, haulers, Daddy's
35:56
is what we call. It's a quick shortcut.
35:58
And I've got some good sponsorships too, no doubt.
36:00
But but yeah, you know, my goal is to keep doing it this way.
36:05
You have more control over your team.
36:07
You can, you know, make your own calls, call your own shots
36:10
basically. And it can be tough sometimes.
36:14
But you know, at the end of the day, if you can make it work
36:17
like that, it it should be better in the long run because
36:20
you know, you just have more control and you don't have to.
36:24
It's probably more pressure driving for somebody than
36:27
driving for yourself even though it is a lot of pressure driving
36:30
for yourself because you know you I mean it is you the whole
36:35
operation falls back on you but yeah, you know so far so good
36:40
and yeah we'll see. My dad's taught me a lot and
36:44
heck he always drove for himself.
36:47
You know, he he there was times where he drove for other people
36:50
but towards the end of his career he was always he was
36:52
driving for himself and. He's kind of instilled that in
36:54
me that if you can make it possible to to do that.
36:58
But there's some great car owners out there too and you
37:01
know, I, I, you know someday I might drive for somebody again.
37:05
But we'll, we'll just have to wait and see.
37:06
Yeah, well, you're 26. You can 10 years from now you're
37:11
only going to be 36. I started dirt racing at 44
37:14
years old. I mean that's you know and and
37:17
Davenport, I'm sitting at a bar with Davenport Jonathan at the
37:23
Dome and I started, you know, I'm, I'm serious.
37:26
I was serious about my dirt racing and Jonathan would not
37:31
have any of it because he knew I made my living in NASCAR.
37:34
He goes you don't got to run good for a living year.
37:37
And it I'm not saying it hurt my feelings, but yeah you guys race
37:42
dirt for a living. That's how you eat.
37:45
So with that being said I know this is on the same subject.
37:50
I've been to your shop. I've been in your house.
37:54
You know your fame. Like I said, you know I'm just
37:57
I'm just explaining to the people why I know all these
37:59
things I wanted Kickapoo Danville you said come to my
38:03
house. I took a look at your operation
38:08
and then you Fast forward 10 years and you see Mark Richard
38:11
Jones rocket chassis and I know that you guys are blood sweat
38:19
and tears and your house is basically not but bolted to your
38:24
shop and and then you look at these videos of you know I'm not
38:29
blaming nothing on nobody. I'm just saying do you ever look
38:33
at rocket chassis they unload their car in a miniature blue
38:36
beacon. I mean, it is like a it is like
38:40
a factory. When when you look at that
38:43
Valvoline car and how well oiled it is, what what goes through
38:48
your mind? Or do you look around and go
38:49
what the hell? Yeah, we've always said, you
38:52
know, like they are a well oiled machine, no doubt.
38:57
And yeah, you know, but shops don't win races.
39:00
But I do have goals of owning a shop like that someday, You
39:04
know, building a nice shop on a piece of land and a house and
39:07
whatnot. But yeah, you know, heck, that's
39:11
sometimes though, like the organization.
39:13
And the the team dedication that they got, you know, they've had
39:16
guys stick with them for a long time and that can win you races,
39:21
you know, when you have a good, solid team.
39:23
And right now I got a pretty good team this year too, you
39:26
know. So they worked my guys, they
39:28
worked really hard. And my dad, he's 72 years old
39:31
basically at 7172, something like that.
39:34
And like, he's out there like my age, you know, all the time
39:38
working my two guys, Austin, Zach and.
39:42
My mom and my girlfriend and any anyone at the shop that just it
39:47
takes a lot. It takes a lot, but yeah, like
39:50
they like you were saying they unload their car and they got a
39:54
a good wash Bay there. Your blue beacon is what I call.
39:59
It and there's not one time that rig pulls in the track and it is
40:02
not spotless. Yeah, you know, it is shining
40:04
all the time. With that being said, let's kind
40:09
of start. And in this, I want to thank you
40:11
so much for all your time because you're a true dirt race.
40:13
I know you're working in the shop.
40:15
I see you on Snapchat. Why?
40:20
Why was this year so incredible? Why?
40:24
I mean, I know you kind of got a little, not a slow start, but
40:28
what, what happened this year that made you just get it on?
40:34
A lot of things really. You know you look at the end of
40:36
the last year and. We had a good stretch at the end
40:40
of last year in our Pierce Carr and I think we just carried that
40:44
momentum into this year. Even though we had a switch to
40:47
Longhorn chassis, Bilstein shocks, a bunch of different
40:51
things. You know that we that we changed
40:52
our program and you know whenever you make a change like
40:55
that as you know it, it's tough sometimes.
40:58
And we went into it, we were like man, we don't know how this
41:01
is going to go because it could, it could be a huge learning
41:04
curve. And right off the bat, the first
41:07
race, we almost beat Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Larson, all them
41:11
guys, the very first race. But was that new Vado?
41:15
What's that? Was that at New Vado?
41:17
Yeah, that was Slide City USA, man.
41:20
Yeah, you gave me so much entertainment in the winter,
41:23
sitting back here watching on flow.
41:25
Right, Yeah, that was a a good week for us and and we won two
41:30
of the six races at Vado, so that was the first races of the
41:33
year. You know, a lot of help from all
41:37
the guys at Longhorn, Matt Langston, Kevin Romley, Steve
41:41
Arpin. I'm sure you know Arpin.
41:43
He's a great guy, knowing very well.
41:46
You know, they just really, you know, brought us in with open
41:51
arms and you know, their car is really good.
41:53
So when I practiced it right off the bat, I was like, man, we got
41:57
something, we got something to work with here.
41:59
So went to Votto, that was good. Went to Volusia.
42:02
That was our first war of outlaw race and.
42:06
Just, I don't know, just continue to to get better and
42:09
better throughout the year and here we are.
42:12
Well Bobby, you know we've all got a lot of great fans and one
42:19
fan said to me, Kenny, it's getting old.
42:21
When you end these conversations, you say, well,
42:24
you've done it all but but you've done it all, you're a
42:29
champion, you won the world 100I.
42:31
I read all those stats off. So you've done it all.
42:35
I wish you a lot more success. I know you got to get up out
42:40
there in the shop right now. You got to get that slip yoke,
42:44
right? It it it you you got to get the
42:47
springs rebuild. You got to get your your stuff
42:49
cleaned up. You know, I know what you're up
42:53
against. Don't, don't.
42:54
Tell me everything I got to do. Tell me.
42:57
That's just great. What do you what do you got to
42:59
do? No, I was saying I don't want to
43:00
have to think of all the things I got to do because it's a lot.
43:03
Well, you're nocturnal. You if, if if you're still the
43:06
way I know you. Yeah.
43:08
Oh yeah, you got a disease. You how late?
43:10
I mean, you you stay awake all through the night.
43:13
Do you go to bed like 4 in the morning or how do you still do
43:16
that? Yeah, you know, when you race so
43:18
much and you drive from track to track, sometimes you get there
43:23
like 5:00 AM. So that's just kind of became my
43:26
normal. I'll wake up kind of later work
43:29
later, but I think, well, a couple of things.
43:33
One, it makes me better in the race because, you know, it's not
43:38
really my bedtime yet. So we've been up since 7.
43:42
And but you know, my girlfriend, she would definitely like it if
43:46
I change my sleeping habits. But you know, it's the racer
43:49
life and I I can get up early if I have to.
43:54
I. Want to have to.
43:56
If I have to, I can't I I teased about the Slip yoke because I
44:00
heard you, your chassis binding up and and we know how bad race
44:05
cars go if the yoke binds up in and out of that transmission.
44:08
And I I know your car was just blown apart.
44:12
These race cars, they got to move and when stuff starts
44:14
binding up, there goes everything, trash and the cars.
44:18
I mean, that's why. That's why I was so beat up.
44:21
The more the car got beat up, it just.
44:23
I was. It was taking a toll on
44:25
everybody. But hey, we'll be ready for the
44:27
next one. We'll be ready for Charlotte.
44:29
Got our eyes set on that. And it's going to be a lot of
44:32
fun. Well, all right, everybody.
44:35
Listen. We are in podcast form now.
44:37
We're on Spotify, iTunes. Listen to this Bobby Pierce
44:41
conversation on your way to work.
44:43
And we know it's long and you're going to want to hear it all And
44:45
then listen to it on the way home.
44:48
Bobby, thank you so much for being on Kenny conversation.
44:52
Thanks Kenny. It was a lot of fun and I know
44:55
you've had a lot of special people on here, but and I'm glad
44:59
to be one of them, so thank you and not as special as you.
45:03
Stop it. I don't want to hear that type
45:06
of talk. All right, everybody.
45:07
Well, listen, we got the best coming up.
45:09
I mean, we've got them all. We're just going to keep on
45:12
rolling until next time we'll see you.