VADO, N.M. — Despite a wind and sandstorm, the 18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts was contested on Sunday afternoon at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park.
In the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model division presented by Black Diamond Race Cars Bobby Pierce charged past Mike Marlar in turn three with three laps remaining to claim the $11,000 feature win.
From the outside-front-row starting spot Marlar paced the first 37 circuits before polesitter Pierce utilized a late-race restart to get to the lead and ultimately the win.
“That was an awesome race,” Pierce said in victory lane. “I knew it had to be that time (to complete the slide-job pass on Marlar). I knew Mikey was probably gonna come down, but I had to stick my nose in there and go for it. I figured it was only a matter of time before he probably moved up in turn one, and if he would’ve moved up he probably would’ve gotten me so I had to go for it.
“I don’t know how much room I gave him, but I was going for the win. We have a lot of sponsors here, and it’s cool to be in victory lane with them.”
Tyler Erb followed Pierce and Marlar across the finish line with Kyle Larson and Cade Dillard completing the top-five finishers.
In Shocker Hitch X-Mod competition presented by Border Tire, fourth-starting J.C. Morton overtook Saturday night’s winner, Nick Rivera on the fourth circuit and went on to claim the $1,000 triumph. Rivera, 14th-starting Lucas Rodin, Christy Barnett, and 18th-starting Josh Cain completed the top-five finishers.
Rounding out the night was the Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified feature presented by Rancho Milagro, and Cade Dillard picked up where he left off Saturday night. The Louisiana driver wired the caution-free feature from the second-starting spot to snare the $2,000 triumph for the second-straight night. Eighth-starting Rodney Sanders finishes second with Gary Christian, Dereck Ramirez, and 12th-starting Dan Ebert rounding out the top five.
Feature Finish (40 Laps)
1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 6-Kyle Larson[4]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[15]; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb[8]; 8. 7-Ricky Weiss[12]; 9. 2-Tyler Stevens[10]; 10. 42S-Don Shaw[3]; 11. 86-Kyle Beard[9]; 12. 7T-Drake Troutman[22]; 13. 15-Justin Duty[25]; 14. 51C-Jake O’Neil[16]; 15. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[19]; 16. 18-Chase Junghans[11]; 17. 73-Rodney Sanders[17]; 18. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 19. 25-Mikey Kile[23]; 20. 101-Forrest Trent[24]; 21. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[21]; 22. 13-Bricen James[14]; 23. 28M-Sam Mars[13]; 24. 14S-Collen Winebarger[20]; 25. 77-Preston Luckman[18]