Bobby Pierce poses for a photo before a race. Pierce arrived Friday at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells after winning his first Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway. (Photo provided)

MINERAL WELLS — Bobby Pierce arrived at West Virginia Motor Speedway on Friday with another major victory checked off his list.

Pierce, a two-time World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion, is competing this weekend in the RACEFEST Summer Championship, which opened Friday and continues through Saturday at the Mineral Wells track.

He enters the weekend after winning his first Dirt Late Model Dream at Eldora Speedway, a victory that had eluded him for more than a decade. Pierce won the Dream after starting 13th and taking the lead from Brandon Sheppard with 42 laps remaining.

“It feels probably about the same as those experiences,” Pierce said in a release. “Obviously, winning my first World, I was so young, I didn’t even know what was going on, to be honest. The second one was really cool because it had been so long. It was like, ‘OK, we got a second one, the first one wasn’t a fluke or something.'”

Pierce has collected several of the sport’s crown jewel wins since first gaining national attention as a teenager. He won the North-South 100 and World 100 in 2016 at age 19, followed by the Show-Me 100 in 2017, the Silver Dollar Nationals in 2019 and the USA Nationals in 2023.

In 2024, Pierce added the Prairie Dirt Classic, the Late Model Knoxville Nationals and the Dirt Track World Championship. He also won the World 100 that year and added another Dirt Track World Championship in 2025.

Still, Pierce said the Dream had been a difficult event for him.

“The Dream has been a race that, for several, several years, I’ve struggled at the Dream,” Pierce said. “I would always do really well at the World, even back in the Pierce car days. I would do well at the World, struggle at the Dream.”

Pierce said his outlook changed after winning a preliminary race at Eldora.

“I’ll be honest, I wasn’t feeling the most confidence heading into this weekend, but it quickly turned around when we won our prelim race,” he said. “From then on, it was just make the right calls and hope it happens.”

The victory also carried family significance. Pierce’s father and crew chief, Bob Pierce, came close to winning the Dream during his own driving career in the 1990s before stepping away from competition to help guide his son’s career.

Bobby Pierce said sharing the win with his father and longtime family team made the achievement more meaningful.

“For him, to see me win, that feels like a win for him, I know it does,” Pierce said. “He can kind of puff out his chest and be like, ‘Yeah, I helped set up that car.’ It’s a really good feeling for all of us, my whole family.”

Pierce has now won four of his last six Eldora crown jewel starts, including the 2024 World 100, back-to-back Dirt Track World Championships and the 2026 Dream.

This weekend marks Pierce’s first visit to the reconfigured West Virginia Motor Speedway. He arrived Friday with a nine-point lead in the World of Outlaws standings as he continues his bid for a third series championship.

Pierce is also part of a tight battle with Nick Hoffman, who has challenged him near the top of the standings throughout the season. Hoffman, who finished third in the Dream, said racing against Pierce regularly has helped raise the level of his own program.

“I grew up with the mentality of you’re only as good as the guys you race against, and I have to race against him every single night,” Hoffman said in the release. “He’s been on top of his game for how many years now. So, it’s cool that our points battle is close, and we’re able to come to races and still fight for wins. It ups my program and makes me better as a race car driver.”

Saturday’s schedule begins with pit gates opening at 11 a.m., followed by grandstand gates at 1 p.m. A chapel service is scheduled for 4 p.m., with an autograph session at 4:30 p.m. Hot laps are set to begin at 6:30 p.m.

The World of Outlaws Late Model Series season continues through Saturday at West Virginia Motor Speedway with the RACEFEST Summer Championship. Tickets are available at the gate.