Part Failure Ends Pierce’s Top Five Streak
GRAND FORKS, N.D. (August 30, 2017) – Nineteen. That’s how many consecutive races Austin Pierce had finished in the top five with the Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints. Unfortunately, that impressive streak came to an end Friday night at River Cities Speedway.
Austin was running in the second position behind Mark Dobmeier with five laps to go when a driveline component failed on his Opp Construction / Lithia Ford machine, coasting him to a stop.
“We were idling around under caution and I was just going to spin the tires before we went green. When I did that something in the driveline went out,” Austin said. “I tried taking it out of gear and putting it back into gear and it still rolled freely as if it was in neutral.”
Up until then, Austin was one of the fastest cars on the track. He started seventh on the field after finishing third in his heat earlier in the night and cruised to the runner-up position by lap 14.
Just before the caution with five to go, Austin was closing in on Dobmeier for the lead in heavy lapped traffic.
“In lapped traffic I got pretty close to him, but after that last caution I knew we probably weren’t going to hit lapped traffic before the end of the race. He really pulled away in the open [track]” Austin continued. “I would have been happy with second to keep our top five streak going, but there’s not much you can do when a part failure ends your night.”
The Austin Pierce Racing crew is looking to rebound with a win on Friday night as they return to River Cities.
Despite the 20th place finish last Friday, Austin still holds a somewhat comfortable 61 point lead over Jordan Adams atop the River Cities Speedway standings.
The entire APR crew would like to thank their sponsors for their continued support!
Lithia Ford Lincoln of Grand Forks
Invision Ag
AJ’s Sandblasting & Painting
Solem Farms
Vollrath Farms
Hillesland Farms
Grand Forks Abstract & Title (GFabstract.com)
Adams Marketing Promotions
1st Realty
EMi – Eagle Motorsports, Schnee, Henchcraft, Stallard
Up Next:
Sept. 1st: River Cities Speedway – Buffalo Wild Wings NOSA Sprints
Season Stats:
Races: 28
Wins: 5
Top Fives: 21
Top Tens: 22
Heat Wins: 11
