08/15/2026
🏁 RACE RECAP 🏁
Last night was definitely a night of highs, lows, and a whole lot of determination for Danica and Pierce.
Pierce started P5 in his heat and finished P6.
Danica started P6 in her heat and finished P5.
That put Danica P13 and Pierce P14 for the 19 car feature.
As the cars were pulling onto the track, we quickly realized Pierce wasn’t coming out. CJ ran down the back access road and found Pierce being hooked onto a tow.
Apparently, while Pierce was driving straight toward the access road, a car from another class was pulling off their heat and turned left directly into Pierce’s right front, clipping his tire. The contact bent the front axle, steering rod, spindle, and radius rod. (Video from the GoPro included)
Pierce said he didn’t even think it was that hard of a hit and was getting ready to head onto the track when a track official stopped him and wouldn’t allow him on due to the damage. From what we were able to quickly assess, that’s the damage we know about so far.
To say Pierce was upset would be an understatement. He was more mad than anything, especially knowing he was ready to race and never even got the chance.
With Pierce unable to take the green and another car choosing to start at the back, the field got shuffled around quite a bit. Somehow, in all the confusion, Danica didn’t start where she was supposed to either and ended up behind cars she shouldn’t have been behind.
Once the green dropped, Danica charged hard, but a car from behind literally drove through her, nearly sending her flipping. (GoPro posted) Unfortunately, Danica was the only one sent to the back of the field. With 18 cars on the track, she suddenly had a LOT of work to do.
The race then went 11 of 15 laps under green, and Danica did exactly what she knows how to do. She worked her way through the field, lap by lap, while also dealing with plenty of pressure from the cars behind her.
On the restart, Danica was sitting 10th. With fewer than five laps remaining, the field went single file, making it much harder to pass. But Danica kept pushing and worked her way up to 8th.
When the checkered flag fell, Danica had managed to avoid a lot of the chaos and crossed the finish line in P7! 🏁💪
A well-deserved finish that she absolutely had to work for tonight. We couldn’t be more proud of the fight she showed from the moment she got sent to the back.
Now it’s time for some nonracing relaxation! 🚢☀️
We are so incredibly thankful for the amazing friends who have already stepped up to help make sure Pierce’s car gets put back together while we’re away, so we can hopefully be back at the track next Friday when we get home from our cruise!
That’s what this racing family is all about. ❤️🏁
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Family Ties Racing!
