6/17/2022
RacinBoys
Pierce Breaks, Simpson Wins First Hell Tour Feature In Nearly Seven Years At Davenport
By Jordan Delucia (Davenport, IA) -- Chris Simpson crossed underneath the start/finish line with six laps remaining, over two seconds behind leader Bobby Pierce. It didn’t appear to him that he was going to catch Pierce before the checkered. And then, snap.
The driveshaft yoke had busted on Pierce’s car, and he slowed suddenly in Turns 1-2, coasting into the Davenport Speedway infield and surrendering the top spot.
PHOTO CREDIT: Terry Page
“I was just hoping he pulled into the pits and didn’t cause a caution,” Simpson, of Oxford, IA, said. “I knew there were some good boys behind me.”
Simpson raced into the lead down the backstretch with Jason Feger and Ryan Unzicker two seconds behind him, only five-and-a-half laps away from his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory in almost seven years (July 2015).
Simpson (32S, foreground) leading early with Pierce (32, background) on his tail (Terry Page Photo)
Smooth and steady on the bottom, Simpson wheeled his Longhorn Chassis #32 around the quarter-mile without a hiccup to claim his third career Hell Tour victory in front of his home state crowd.
“We probably had a second-place car, but I’ll take a first any day,” Simpson said.
Back in the pits, Pierce’s car sat atop the pneumatic lift in in front of his hauler, the culprit parts leaning up against the back door. In reflection, the reigning Summer Nationals champ said the yoke may have actually broken before he got to Turns 1-2.
“I was basically on cruise control there at the end, but I hit that hole really bad in Turn 3,” Pierce, of Oakwood, IL, said. “The right-rear just sat in it – the only hole in the racetrack, really. It was right where everyone was going in and setting their right-rears and planting their cars.
“At the time, I thought I had dirt in my wheel or something because I felt something slightly off. And then bam, she just went.”
Pierce was credited with a 17th-place finish, effectively knocking him out of the Hell Tour points lead and back into third, 21 points behind.
Starting third on the grid, Simpson led the first 15 circuits of the race before Pierce got by him on the top. With 15-to-go, Pierce was checked-out, maintaining a two-plus-second lead, but it was slowly shrinking.
“I felt like I was running Bobby down, and then they moved him down in Turns 3-4,” Simpson said. “That’s kinda where it was really good. They moved him down both corners and he’d slip-up off of Turn 2 a little bit, then I’d get a run, then I’d mess-up a little bit.”
Mike Ruefer Photo
This quenches a big thirst for Simpson, who’s been searching for a night of success in front of a big crowd all season long.
“It feels good just to be in any Victory Lane,” Simpson said. “We’ve been struggling. We wrecked a car at Eldora and had a long couple of days. Bought [this car] from one of my customers that just came back from Longhorn on the jig.”
“It’s been hectic.”
Jason Feger earned his third-straight top-five finish with a runner-up to Simpson, while Ryan Unzicker drove from 16th up to third to complete the podium. Trevor Gundaker advanced five spots in his drive from 9th to finish fourth, and Missourian Logan Martin recorded his best finish on tour so far to complete the top-five.
UP NEXT
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models are back in action Friday night at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, IL, for the first $10,000-to-win show of the season. DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals is also back in action.
If you can’t be at the track, watch every lap live with a FAST PASS subscription to DIRTVision.
RESULTS
Feature (40 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[3]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[8]; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker[16]; 4. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 5. 36-Logan Martin[11]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[23]; 7. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 9. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[19]; 10. 11-Gordy Gundaker[15]; 11. 25S-Chad Simpson[1]; 12. F1-Payton Freeman[7]; 13. 15-Justin Duty[17]; 14. 21B-Rich Bell[14]; 15. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 16. 14G-Joe Godsey[13]; 17. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 18. 51-Matt Furman[18]; 19. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 20. 15K-Justin Kay[21]; 21. 7-Drake Troutman[12]; 22. 10K-Daryn Klein[10]; 23. 9R-Curtis Roberts[22]
Last Chance Showdown (12 Laps): 1. 15-Justin Duty[2]; 2. 51-Matt Furman[7]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[8]; 4. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 5. 10-Paul Parker[4]; 6. 9R-Curtis Roberts[11]; 7. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 8. 15K-Justin Kay[13]; 9. 44-Luke Goedert[14]; 10. 26M-Brent McKinnon[16]; 11. 14R-Jeff Roth[5]; 12. C15-Brandon Hamburg[9]; 13. 30-Mark Voigt[12]; 14. 77-Preston Luckman[10]; 15. 80-Rich Dawson[1]; 16. (DNS) 44W-David Webster
Consolation Race (10 Laps): 1. 15K-Justin Kay[9]; 2. 44-Luke Goedert[7]; 3. 44W-David Webster[4]; 4. 26M-Brent McKinnon[3]; 5. 31-Paul Stubber[2]; 6. 4D-Doug Tye[10]; 7. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[6]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin[1]; 9. T8-Tim Gauntt[8]; 10. (DNS) 29-Spencer Diercks; 11. (DNS) 30C-Todd Cooney
Heat 1 (10 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 4. 14G-Joe Godsey[6]; 5. 80-Rich Dawson[5]; 6. 14R-Jeff Roth[3]; 7. C15-Brandon Hamburg[9]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin[8]; 9. 29-Spencer Diercks[10]; 10. (DQ) 15K-Justin Kay[7]
Heat 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[1]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[2]; 3. 10K-Daryn Klein[3]; 4. 21B-Rich Bell[5]; 5. 15-Justin Duty[7]; 6. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr[6]; 7. 77-Preston Luckman[9]; 8. 31-Paul Stubber[4]; 9. 0-Deshawn Gingerich[8]; 10. (DNS) 4D-Doug Tye
Heat 3 (10 Laps): 1. 25S-Chad Simpson[2]; 2. F1-Payton Freeman[1]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[3]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 6. 51-Matt Furman[5]; 7. 9R-Curtis Roberts[10]; 8. 26M-Brent McKinnon[9]; 9. 44-Luke Goedert[6]; 10. 30C-Todd Cooney[8]
Heat 4 (10 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. 7-Drake Troutman[4]; 4. 24-Ryan Unzicker[5]; 5. 10-Paul Parker[6]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 7. 30-Mark Voigt[7]; 8. 44W-David Webster[8]; 9. T8-Tim Gauntt[9]
Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.801[5]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:13.913[4]; 3. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:14.143[1]; 4. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.300[2]; 5. 80-Rich Dawson, 00:14.310[8]; 6. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:14.571[9]; 7. 15K-Justin Kay, 00:14.638[6]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:14.996[7]; 9. C15-Brandon Hamburg, 00:15.885[3]; 10. (DQ) 29-Spencer Diercks, 00:14.908[10]
Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:13.904[5]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:14.289[1]; 3. 10K-Daryn Klein, 00:14.380[7]; 4. 31-Paul Stubber, 00:14.489[4]; 5. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:14.564[8]; 6. 21B-Rich Bell, 00:14.564[9]; 7. 15-Justin Duty, 00:14.613[10]; 8. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:14.817[3]; 9. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:15.096[2]; 10. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:15.096[6]
Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:13.871[10]; 2. 25S-Chad Simpson, 00:13.944[1]; 3. 36-Logan Martin, 00:14.047[3]; 4. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:14.295[2]; 5. 51-Matt Furman, 00:14.366[5]; 6. 44-Luke Goedert, 00:14.436[4]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:14.507[8]; 8. 30C-Todd Cooney, 00:14.668[7]; 9. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:14.767[9]; 10. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:15.508[6]
Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:13.902[4]; 2. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:14.130[5]; 3. 25-Jason Feger, 00:14.174[3]; 4. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:14.207[9]; 5. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:14.271[8]; 6. 10-Paul Parker, 00:14.369[2]; 7. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:14.816[7]; 8. 44W-David Webster, 00:15.553[6]; 9. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:17.513[1]
Hot Laps 1: 1. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:14.405[4]; 2. 14G-Joe Godsey, 00:14.428[9]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.483[5]; 4. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.671[2]; 5. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:14.754[1]; 6. 80-Rich Dawson, 00:14.906[8]; 7. 15K-Justin Kay, 00:15.006[6]; 8. 23NZ-Mick Quin, 00:15.239[7]; 9. C15-Brandon Hamburg, 00:16.781[3]; 10. 29-Spencer Diercks, 00:16.781[10]
Hot Laps 2: 1. 10K-Daryn Klein, 00:14.138[7]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.261[5]; 3. 31-Paul Stubber, 00:14.527[4]; 4. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:14.638[1]; 5. 77-Preston Luckman, 00:14.746[2]; 6. 15-Justin Duty, 00:14.792[10]; 7. T6-Tommy Sheppard Jr, 00:14.856[8]; 8. 0-Deshawn Gingerich, 00:15.033[3]; 9. 4D-Doug Tye, 00:15.503[6]; 10. 21B-Rich Bell, 00:15.503[9]
Hot Laps 3: 1. 25S-Chad Simpson, 00:14.158[1]; 2. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:14.393[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin, 00:14.398[3]; 4. F1-Payton Freeman, 00:14.402[10]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:14.464[8]; 6. 30C-Todd Cooney, 00:14.470[7]; 7. 9R-Curtis Roberts, 00:14.554[6]; 8. 51-Matt Furman, 00:14.606[5]; 9. 26M-Brent McKinnon, 00:14.617[9]; 10. 44-Luke Goedert, 00:14.921[4]
Hot Laps 4: 1. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 00:14.402[8]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:14.412[4]; 3. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:14.453[5]; 4. 10-Paul Parker, 00:14.471[2]; 5. 25-Jason Feger, 00:14.541[3]; 6. 44W-David Webster, 00:14.869[6]; 7. 7-Drake Troutman, 00:15.330[9]; 8. 30-Mark Voigt, 00:15.428[7]; 9. T8-Tim Gauntt, 00:16.994[1]
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IMCA LATE MODELS - PETERSEN PLUMBING
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 15K-Justin Kay[4]; 2. 7-Andy Nezworski[6]; 3. 42-Fred Remley[5]; 4. 92-Dustin Schram[3]; 5. 07-Matt Ryan[1]; 6. 77-Joe Beal[9]; 7. 10-Jacob Waterman[11]; 8. 8L-Chris Lawrence[10]; 9. 35-Ryan Claeys[13]; 10. 96-Jacob Beal[16]; 11. 1M-Mike Goben[8]; 12. 53-LeRoy Brenner[14]; 13. 19-Kelly Pestka[2]; 14. 70-Mack Mulvany[17]; 15. 8R-Sean Johnson[7]; 16. 65-Chuck Hanna[12]; 17. 12-Don Pataska[15]; 18. (DNS) 32-Curtis Glover
Heat 1 - Top 4 Redraw (10 Laps): 1. 7-Andy Nezworski[1]; 2. 15K-Justin Kay[4]; 3. 10-Jacob Waterman[6]; 4. 8R-Sean Johnson[5]; 5. 35-Ryan Claeys[2]; 6. 96-Jacob Beal[3]
Heat 2 - Top 4 Redraw (10 Laps): 1. 1M-Mike Goben[1]; 2. 19-Kelly Pestka[2]; 3. 8L-Chris Lawrence[4]; 4. 92-Dustin Schram[6]; 5. 53-LeRoy Brenner[3]; 6. 70-Mack Mulvany[5]
Heat 3 - Top 4 Redraw (10 Laps): 1. 65-Chuck Hanna[1]; 2. 07-Matt Ryan[4]; 3. 42-Fred Remley[3]; 4. 77-Joe Beal[5]; 5. 12-Don Pataska[6]; 6. 32-Curtis Glover[2]
IMCA MODIFIEDS - ERIKSEN CHEVROLET
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 9Z-Chris Zogg[4]; 2. 93-Matt Werner[3]; 3. 37B-Brunson Behning[9]; 4. 56D-Travis Denning[7]; 5. 70-Mitch Morris[12]; 6. 12T-Timmy Current[6]; 7. 53-Matt Stein[1]; 8. 29C-Craig Crawford[11]; 9. 38-Josh Geigle[14]; 10. 37-Steve Gustaf Sr[15]; 11. 9G-Anthony Guss[13]; 12. 77S-Stephan Kammerer[19]; 13. 5D-Bob Dominacki[18]; 14. 2X-Patrick Moore[17]; 15. 21T-Ryan Duhme[2]; 16. 99-Charlie Mohr[5]; 17. G1-Mike Garland[8]; 18. 3-Dustin Smith[10]; 19. 32H-Skyler Harroun[16]
Heat 1 - Top 5 Redraw (8 Laps): 1. 99-Charlie Mohr[4]; 2. 21T-Ryan Duhme[7]; 3. 37B-Brunson Behning[8]; 4. G1-Mike Garland[5]; 5. 3-Dustin Smith[1]; 6. 29C-Craig Crawford[3]; 7. 9G-Anthony Guss[9]; 8. 37-Steve Gustaf Sr[10]; 9. 2X-Patrick Moore[2]; 10. 77S-Stephan Kammerer[6]
Heat 2 - Top 5 Redraw (8 Laps): 1. 9Z-Chris Zogg[1]; 2. 56D-Travis Denning[5]; 3. 53-Matt Stein[4]; 4. 93-Matt Werner[8]; 5. 12T-Timmy Current[9]; 6. 70-Mitch Morris[6]; 7. 38-Josh Geigle[2]; 8. 32H-Skyler Harroun[7]; 9. 5D-Bob Dominacki[3]
Submitted By: Kirk Elliott
