HARLAN, Iowa (July 17) — Bobby Pierce was back in his office — his race car seat — Friday at Shelby County Speedway. It wasn’t just like old times, though, because his father Bob wasn’t there by his side. | RaceWire
As the 29-year-old superstar from Oakwood, Ill., readied for the dual-heat qualifying program for the Al Belt Custom Homes Silver Dollar Nationals, his father was over an hour away resting in a bed at Omaha’s University of Nebraska Medical Center. The elder Pierce, 74, was recovering from emergency surgery after a Wednesday medical episode doctors termed a “borderline major stroke.”
This was a rare situation for Bobby, who has gone racing without his father in the pits just a handful of times since starting his racing career some two decades ago. But after a whirlwind 48 hours of unease surrounding his father’s health, he felt a sense of relief to be back at the track with the knowledge that his biggest fan and supporter was seemingly going to be OK…