BELLEVILLE, Ill. (July 1) — Bobby Pierce went from the depths of despair to the highest of highs in one unforgettable stretch of the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals.

Two days after escaping injury in a car-crunching series of flips, the 17-year-old sensation from Oakwood, Ill., stormed back into the Hell Tour’s spotlight with a dramatic victory in Tuesday night’s 40-lap feature at Belle-Clair Speedway.

“Forty-eight hours can make a huge difference,” said a smiling Pierce, who tumbled wildly through the third turn during a heat race on Sunday night at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway.

Pierce’s first Summernationals triumph of 2014 — in the 13th race of the grueling five-and-a-half-week-long series — came in never-say-die fashion. He lost the lead to the cushion-pounding Shannon Babb of Moweaqua, Ill., on lap 26, but 10 circuits later he executed a go-for-broke charge of his own on the inside of turns one and two and slid in front of Babb to steal the top spot back.

The final four laps belonged to Pierce, who repelled a last-ditch challenge from Babb amid heavy lapped traffic to beat the three-time Summernationals champion to the finish line by 0.618 of a second for a $5,000 payday.

Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., who started from the pole position but never led a lap, slipped to fifth early in the race before rallying to place third. The defending Summernationals titlist was right behind Babb at the checkered flag.

Hell Tour points leader Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill., quietly worked his way forward from the 17th starting spot to finish fourth and Randy Korte of Highland, Ill., completed the top five after starting second and leading laps 1-17.

Pierce, who started third in a car built by his Hall of Famer father Bob, appeared to be in the driver’s seat when he passed Korte for the lead on lap 18. He thought the inside was the preferred groove and stuck to it, but shortly after a lap-22 restart he was shocked to see Babb, who started fourth, vault by him to assume command on the 26th circuit.

“Every single lap I was down there (running the bottom) I kept a good eye on my dad (giving signals in the infield) to make sure no one was kind of catching me,” Pierce said. “I think both of us were kind of a little shocked about how fast Babb shot around me on the top.”

Pierce refused to concede the race to Babb, however. After a lap-27 caution flag tightened the field, Pierce chased Babb with renewed vigor over the ensuing and finally, with the finish nearing, he threw a powerful slide-job on Babb through turns one and two and came out of the second corner ahead to grab the lead as lap 36 was scored.

“When you’re leading the race and then you end up losing it, no matter what you have to do, you wanna get that lead back,” said Pierce, who recorded his 12th overall win of 2014 but first since May 18 at Quincy (Ill.) Raceway. “I had a couple of good corners right in a row there, I caught Babb, and I knew that (a slider) was the only chance I had.

“I had to make it work — once you sneak your nose in there, if you’re not gonna make it and you back out of it, they see you there and they’re expecting you next time. I knew that was my chance. I had to go for it no matter what. When I did, I had to commit to it.

“I dove in there and tried to get up out of his way the best I could,” he continued, “but the thing just kept sliding and sliding and sliding. I was hoping I wasn’t gonna hit the wall.”

Pierce did bounce off the second-turn guardrail — damaging his already mangled right-rear bodywork even more — but powered ahead of the 40-year-old Babb. He hung on under pressure from Babb for the remaining circuits, giving him a badly-needed win that shook him from his Summernationals doldrums and gave him a memorable victory over his childhood hero.

“I always did idolize Babb,” Pierce said. “He was my favorite driver growing up. To pull a slide job on him for the win, that’s really cool.”

Babb, of course, wasn’t happy about losing to the standout teenager, but he didn’t call out Pierce’s aggressive move to take the lead.

“To me it was just short-track racing,” said Babb, who has two wins on this year’s Summernationals. “You gotta be expecting that here at Belleville, Macon, them kind of (small) places. There’s more of that to come.”

But would Babb have tried a similar pass attempt if he had been in Pierce’s position?

“I don’t like to work on my ---- that much anymore so I don’t do that that bad,” Babb commented. “But the way I look at it, he had a helluva run on me from somewhere and got by me. I guess we left the door open for him.

“The kid’s got a lot of drive in him. That’s the thing — as long as it’s OK for him, it’s gonna be OK for me. I could’ve thrown one (slider) right back at him and I left his left-front wheel on the ground for him. I’ll get him one time or another.”

Sheppard, 21, watched all the excitement between Piece and Babb from close behind in third place, the position he reached on lap 26 after he followed Babb to the outside lane and picked up two spots. He just looked back at his inability to recognize that the top lane was best at the start as being his downfall.

“I had a really good car,” said Sheppard, who drove his 2007-vintage Rocket Chassis after his primary machine was sidelined temporarily by body damage it suffered when he rolled over easily with two laps to go in Sunday’s feature at Lincoln. “I don’t know if it was the fastest or not, but we definitely should’ve went to the top the first lap. The top won the race, and I should’ve known because I’ve won here enough to know that.”

Just two caution flags slowed the feature despite the close-quarters racing that prevails at Belle-Clair. The first came on lap 22 when Steve Lance Jr. of Cuba, Ill., stopped on the homestretch, and on lap 26 another yellow flag was needed after Rusty Schlenk of McClure, Ohio, needed wrecked service on the backstretch after his car sustained rearend damage.

The UMP DIRTcar Summernationals moves on to Jacksonville (Ill.) Speedway on Wed., July 2. A 40-lap feature paying $5,000 to win tops the program.

Preliminary results:

Pre-feature notes

The results of the redraw among heat winners might have been bad news for the field: Brandon Sheppard picked the pole. B-Shepp, of course, has shown a mastery of Belle-Clair over the past two years, winning not only the track’s 2013 Summernationals show but also the ’12 and ’13 World of Outlaws events. … Randy Korte will share the front row with Sheppard, with Bobby Pierce and Shannon Babb in the second row. … Korte, who is in his last season behind the wheel, has 13 career Summernationals victories. His last win came on July 9, 2009, at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway — the last of his three triumphs that year en route to a second-place finish in the Hell Tour points standings. … Provisional starting spots for the feature go to Steve Lance Jr., Mike Hammerle, Vince Grondzki and Alan Westling. … At 10:05 p.m. CT, the track crew is in the midst of some surface reconditioning. The 40-lap feature will begin staging shortly.

B-Main

Ryan Unzicker outdueled Rusty Schlenk in a battle that raged for virtually the entire distance. Schlenk was able to nose ahead to lead lap five, but Unzicker regained command the following circuit and marched on to the victory.

Finish (top two transfer): Ryan Unzicker, Rusty Schlenk, Richard Frost, Brent Kreke, Adam Tischhauser, Clay Baumann, Alan Westling, Steve Lach, Frankie Martin, Jason Zobrist, Trace Westling, Billy Hough, Steve Lance Jr., Jim Gibson, C.J. Simpson, Mike Hammerle (DNS) Ryan Little, Jake Little, Vince Grondzki.

B-Main lineup

(12 laps; top two transfer)
Row 1: Ryan Unzicker, Rusty Schlenk
Row 2: Steve Lach, Richard Frost
Row 3: Brent Kreke, C.J. Simpson
Row 4: Clay Baumann, Adam Tischhauser
Row 5: Billy Hough, Jason Zobrist
Row 6: Alan Westling, Steve Lance Jr.
Row 7: Jim Gibson, Frankie Martin
Row 8: Trace Westling, Vince Grondzki
Row 9: Ryan Little, Jake Little
Row 10: Mike Hammerle

Fourth heat

Brandon Sheppard controlled the race from start-to-finish, beating Michael Kloos to the finish line by 2.248 seconds. John Beck and Jim Moon complete the top four to move on to the A-Main.

Finish (top four transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Michael Kloos, John Beck, Jim Moon, Richard Frost, Adam Tischhauser, Steve Lance Jr., Vince Grondzki.

Third heat

Randy Korte outdueled Daryn Klein for the lead in the early laps and held strong the rest of the way to take the win. Klein ran hard in a bid to stay with Korte — so hard, in fact, that he bounced off the homestretch wall twice on lap eight, nearly costing him second place to Brian Shirley, who ran side-by-side with Klein for the final two circuits but settled for third place. Rick Salter grabbed the final transfer spot. The race was slowed once, on lap seven for a tangle in turn four involving Mike Hammerle and Trace Westling.

Finish (top four transfer): Randy Korte, Daryn Klein, Brian Shirley, Rick Salter, Steve Lach, Clay Baumann, Alan Westling, Trace Westling, Mike Hammerle.

Second heat

Shannon Babb was on the gas in the second prelim, diving underneath Matt Taylor in turns one and two to assume command on lap seven and then holding off Taylor over the final circuits while scraping the outside wall on the homestretch at least once. Mark Voigt finished third and Mike Schulte placed fourth.

Finish (top four transfer): Shannon Babb, Matt Taylor, Mark Voigt, Mike Schulte, Rusty Schlenk, C.J. Simpson, Jason Zobrist, Frankie Martin, Jake Little.

First heat

Bobby Pierce dominated the action racing unchallenged to win by nearly a straightaway. Billy Moyer Jr. spent most of the distance racing side-by-side for second with Brian Diveley before finally pulling ahead off turn two on the final lap to secure the runner-up spot. Diveley settled for third and Jason Riggs grabbed the final transfer spot, rallying from his involvement in an opening-lap tangle between turns three and four that also swept up Hough, Brent Kreke and Jim Gibson. Summernationals points leader Ryan Unzicker failed to qualify, missing by one spot after a subpar time-trial performance.

Finish (top four transfer): Bobby Pierce, Billy Moyer Jr., Brian Diveley, Jason Riggs, Ryan Unzicker, Brent Kreke, Billy Hough, Jim Gibson (DNS) Ryan Little.

Qualifying

Bobby Pierce 's first start since his Sunday-night flip at Lincoln Speedway began on a strong note as he registered the overall fastest lap in time trials, turning a circuit of 11.665 seconds in Group 1. He will start from the pole position in Heat 1 as a result.

Shannon Babb, whose Group 1 lap of 11.978 seconds made him the only other driver to time under 12 seconds, will start from the pole in Heat 2.

Other heat polesitters are Group 2 fast-timer Randy Korte (12.182 seconds) and Brandon Sheppard (12.244). Sheppard captured last year's Summer Nationals feature and won a World of Outlaws Late Model Series event in each of the last two years at Belle-Clair.

Pre-race notes

Dark clouds carrying strong thunderstorms skirted just south of Belle-Clair Speedway late Tuesday afternoon. Just a brief, relatively light shower hit the track around 4:30 p.m. CT; the rain moved out, blue sky began to appear and the pit area quickly dried. A thunderstorm watch that had been posted for the area has been taken down and it appears that the threat of rain has passed. … Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., is right back out on the Hell Tour after using Monday’s scheduled off-day to regroup following the vicious serious of flips he rode out in a heat race Sunday night at Lincoln (Ill.) Speedway. He’s running one of his team’s two other cars — the machine he crashed will need a new rear clip before it sees competition again — and said he feels not a bit of residual soreness from the accident. … Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., also is coming back from a flip at Lincoln, though his rollover late in the feature was far less violent than Pierce’s. While the car B-Shepp wrecked sustained almost entirely sheet-metal damage, he still has work to do on it to make it race-ready. He’s running a 2007-vintage Rocket car from his stable at Belle-Clair — a mount that Sheppard obtained in 2012 from fellow racer Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., in a straight-up trade of a new Pierce Chassis. Sheppard hasn’t driven the car since January’s NDRL events in Arizona, but his father, Steve Sheppard Jr., steered the car to three feature wins earlier this season.

Pre-race setup

After an off-day the UMP DIRTcar Summernationals visits Belle-Clair Speedway, a one-fifth-mile bullring outside St. Louis. A 40-lap feature paying $5,000 to win is on tap.

The fairgrounds track known as Belle-Vegas hosts Race No. 13 of a series that has 15 points races remaining. It is the second of six straight Hell Tour events in the state of Illinois.

Belle-Clair is a relatively new addition to the Summernationals. It has hosted the series annually since 2008, with victories going to Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville (2009, ’10), Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill. (’13), Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill. (’12), Ryan Unzicker of El Paso, Ill. (’11) and Will Vaught of Crane, Mo. (’08).

Tuesday’s program, which also includes UMP Modifieds, is scheduled to kick off with hot laps at 6:45 p.m. CT.

With 35 cars on hand, the field will be split into two groups for time trials. Drivers in Group 1 will compete for starting spots in heats 1-2, while racers in Group 2 will battle for spots in heats 3-4.

Heat lineups

(10 laps; top four transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Brian Diveley
Row 2: Billy Moyer Jr., Jason Riggs
Row 3: Jim Gibson, Brent Kreke
Row 4: Billy Hough, Ryan Unzicker
Row 5: Ryan Little
Second heat
Row 1: Shannon Babb, Matt Taylor
Row 2: Mark Voigt, Mike Schulte
Row 3: C.J. Simpson, Jason Zobrist
Row 4: Frankie Martin, Rusty Schlenk
Row 5: Jake Little
Third heat
Row 1: Randy Korte, Daryn Klein
Row 2: Brian Shirley, Rick Salter
Row 3: Steve Lach, Clay Baumann
Rw 4: Mike Hammerle, Trace Westling
Row 5: Alan Westling
Fourth heat
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Michael Kloos
Row 2: Richard Frost, John Beck
Row 3: Steve Lance Jr., Adam Tischhauser
Row 4: Jim Moon, Vince Grondzki

Time trials results

First group
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 11.655
Shannon Babb (18), Moweaqua, Ill., 11.978
Brian Diveley (29W), Springfield, Ill., 12.037
Matt Taylor (24T), Springfield, Ill., 12.061
Billy Moyer Jr. (21Jr), Batesville, Ark., 12.108
Mark Voigt (30V), Marine, Ill., 12.14
Jason Riggs (81Jr), Harrisburg, Ill., 12.268
Mike Schulte (27s), Summerfield, Ill., 12.274
Jim Gibson (66), O'Fallon, Ill., 12.362
C.J. Simpson (45), O'Fallon, Ill., 12.43
Brent Kreke (13), Lebanon, Ill., 12.447
Jason Zobrist (87), Highland, Ill., 12.463
Billy Hough (33H), Thomasboro, Ill., 12.518
Frankie Martin (25M), DuQuoin, Ill., 12.521
Ryan Unzicker (24), El Paso, Ill., 12.532
Rusty Schlenk (91), McClure, Ohio, 12.555
Ryan Little (38L), Springfield, Ill., 12.59
Jake Little (38J), Springfield, Ill., 12.625
Second group
Randy Korte (00), Highland, Ill., 12.182
Brandon Sheppard (b5), New Berlin, Ill., 12.244
Daryn Klein (10), Fairview Heights, Ill., 12.251
Michael Kloos (6K), Trenton, Ill., 12.317
Brian Shirley (81), Chatham, Ill., 12.408
Richard Frost (15), Clarksville, Tenn., 12.424
Rick Salter (1s), Avistin, Ill., 12.442
John Beck (28B), Springfield, Ill., 12.521
Steve Lach (42L), Brownstown, Ill., 12.529
Steve Lance Jr. (25L), Cuba, Ill., 12.536
Clay Baumann (77), Highland, Ill., 12.606
Adam Tischhauser (T4), Greenville, Ill., 12.72
Mike Hammerle (16H), St. Charles, Mo., 12.775
Jim Moon (1M), New Florence, Mo., 12.948
Trace Westling (71), Fulton, Mo., 12.99
Vince Grondzki (32G), Belleville, Ill., 13.009
Alan Westling (20), Fulton, Mo., 13.049