Dale McDowell had everyone watching, holding their breath believing he would put the No. 17m Team Zero dirt late model in victory lane for the World 100 at Eldora. However, it was not meant to be.
Dale McDowell leads Bobby Pierce with 6 laps to go in the World 100 at Eldora Speedway
Bobby Pierce was able to work his way around him on the high side while McDowell got caught in the middle behind Tanner English with five laps to go. McDowell would eventually work his way around English and began to close the gap to Pierce, but it was too little too late and Pierce would take home the win while McDowell settled for second.
🌎 @BobbyPierce32 wins the 54th #World100 at @EldoraSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/0EMF5ka9mA
— FloRacing (@FloRacing) September 8, 2024
Following the race, McDowell spoke to FloRacing and was asked if there was anything he could have done to best Pierce to claim the win.
He responded, “No. I did everything I could do. And I couldn’t run up there where he and Jonathan [Davenport] were running. I was just too tight and I shoved right front tire off. So I had to run middle.”
Dale McDowell via FloRacing.com
“And just wasn’t meant to be,” he continued. “I got up there to those lap cars and the air got off of me and I slowed down a little bit. But even when I would try to go around them I’d shove pretty hard. And I shoved pretty hard down there one time and had it shut down in turn 2. So it just wasn’t meant to be. Just one of those deals. Thank the good Lord for a good, safe race. We’ve had an awesome weekend with all the Bloomquist family here.”
McDowell later added, “Congratulations to Bobby. We got up there and raced and it’s fun to race with those guys. Jonathan and I raced hard. Timmy and I raced hard. And so it’s fun racing with those guys. I’m just glad I could still do it a little bit.”
Dale McDowell takes the green flag at the World 100 at Eldora Speedway
During the post-race press conference that featured race winner Bobby Pierce, McDowell, and third place Jonathan Davenport, McDowell reiterated his earlier comments.
When asked if he felt that there was magic in the air given he was racing in a Bloomquist Team Zero car, McDowell responded, “No, not really. It would be neat. Obviously, all weekend we’ve thought with everything going on it would be great, great for us, but even more great for the family. For the Bloomquist family, for Ron and Georgie, Ariel, just everything they’re going through it’s much more than what we’re trying to do here.”
He continued, “But it was. We had good race car, pretty good race car all week and, you know, Shane’s been working his tail off on it. Jonathan come over before the race and asked me how long it had been that I started that far to the front and I told him, ‘A long time.’ But when Bobby went around me and when Jonathan went around me I figured it was done with those two up there.”
Jonathan Davenport, Bobby Pierce, and Dale McDowell via FloRacing.com
“It’s strange because I’ve watched these two over the years that they used to race and they didn’t have much finesse,” he observed. “Bobby was aggressive and Jonathan, you know, and now they do such a good job at maneuvering and stuff. It was fun to race with them. We had a fun race. Nobody run over anybody or anything.”
“I told people earlier that I’ll feel different when I get in the car because I appreciate what Scott’s done. That’s a self-designed piece of his. Now, my brother Shane has went through that thing from one end to the other and they worked together for the last 7 to 8 years. But it would have been special. But it just wasn’t meant to be,” he reiterated.
Bobby Pierce passes Dale McDowell with 5 laps to go in the World 100 at Eldora Speedway
When questioned about whether or not he blames the lap cars for costing him the win, McDowell responded, “No, they’re racing. They’re racing. They don’t know. They don’t know where you’re at. They’re running their own race. Bobby picked a lane around the top. I tried that lane up there and our cars just when you get up there they’re a little tight to run. I mean Scott’s run around the middle for years and years so that’s kind of where they’re happy.
He then recalled, “I moved up and pushed really, really bad. And so I knew I had to kind of get back down and try to keep my right front in it or my left front especially in it to turn. But there was two lanes of it. That was what was strange. There was two lanes of it. Those guys could run a complete different lane than I could. So it wasn’t anybody’s fault. It was just a matter of circumstances. It is just is what it is.”
Bobby Pierce leads Dale McDowell on the last lap of the World 100 at Eldora Speedway
What do you make of McDowell’s comments following a hard-fought second place finish in the World 100?