MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Brian Shirley brought out the broom after performing a clean sweep of this week’s races with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models.
Ahirley had to work through 60 laps of racing at Maquoketa Speedway to score his 11th series victory in the Hawkeye 100.
Rolling off from third place at the drop of the green flag, Shirley had to battle fellow Illinois drivers Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce for second place while Cody Overton led the early circuits around the three-eighths-mile race track.
Shirley made the bottom lane work while Sheppard could roll around the high line to match Shirley’s speed down the straightaways. Pierce made both lanes of the track work to his liking as the three drivers hounded Overton.
The Evans, Ga., native tried everything he could to fend off the leaders, but Shirley struck first as he got to the bottom of Overton to muscle his way to the lead with traffic in clear view of the leaders.
Shirley continued to make the bottom lane work while Pierce got by Sheppard and Overton around the high side to challenge the Bob Cullen Racing No. 3s.
Pierce mounted a charge towards the lead with Shirley stuck with lap traffic in his racing line. When the two drivers found clean air, the “Smooth Operator” and “Squirrel” raced side-by-side for multiple laps for the lead in the Feature.
Pierce cleared Shirley for the lead with 27 laps to go with a run down the back straightaway. From there, Pierce had to manage his gaps and keep the competition behind him with the laps ticking down.
Suddenly, disaster struck Pierce as a flat right rear tire sent him over the cushion in turn twoand shattered his hopes of winning his 12th feature win of 2024.
Shirley inherited the lead once more on the final restart of the Feature, with Sheppard restarting in second place and Nick Hoffman making his way to the last podium position to race against his season-long adversary in the World of Outlaws championship fight.
Hoffman and Sheppard racing against each other side-by-side gave Shirley an open window to create space between the two drivers to win his fourth World of Outlaws CASE Late Models win of the season.
“I feel like we’re making better decisions throughout the night,” Shirley said. “I also do feel like we can do a better job. Bobby’s the man. You can put a stamp on it, he’s the best driver in the country. Are we taking a step forward and competing with him is pretty cool. We had a really good car tonight, things fell our way and we got the win.
“We had a really good balance on the car. Bobby and I were on different tire compounds so that allowed him to get more wheelspin. I had to be easy and not overspin the wheels while he could race harder. But it was going to come down to the lapped cars and cautions that worked in our favor, so I could definitely keep up with him.”
Hoffman got clear of Sheppard with two laps remaining to finish in second place.
“Today was a long and grueling day for me,” Hoffman said. “I only have one crew guy and Adam worked his tail off. I have to give a lot of credit to Dennis Erb Jr and Heather Lyne for how they’ve done it over the years, so it’s been like a one-man band over here. It was what we needed. I haven’t been this good since Fairbury and I’ve been a little down in dumps. I felt like the car was pretty good. For tonight to go our way for once and end up with P2 is pretty good.
“At the beginning, I felt pretty worried because I was down to 11th. It was a long race, so I started picking off guys through the middle of the racetrack and make speed, then Bobby had the flat tire so I had to race with Sheppard pretty hard. It was fun, ‘Sheppy’ is as clean as they come, always leaving me a lane and he never runs over you, so I really appreciate that.”
Sheppard finished third to cap off an important points night for the No.B5 Longhorn Factory Team late model to hold Hoffman and Pierce at bay with nine races remaining.
“It was tough racing out there when you’re running for points,” Sheppard said. “I think we had a solid car, we could up front, but we definitely have some work to improve. We’re a night and day better than what we were on Friday, we just still gotta get better. We’re missing that little bit and I’m sure it’s me trying to figure it out and find that balance that fits me. This place was a lot different than most tracks we go to. I’m super proud of my guys, but we’re working on where we need to be.”
Ryan Gustin finished fourth after working up the field from a flat tire he suffered at the halfway mark and Chris Simpson completed the night’s top-five finishers.
The finish:
Feature (60 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[7]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 5. 32S-Chris Simpson[9]; 6. 97JR-Cody Overton[1]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening[14]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 9. 97-Cade Dillard[12]; 10. 25-Jason Feger[17]; 11. 25S-Chad Simpson[11]; 12. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 13. 32B-Cody Laney[10]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[18]; 15. 8-Dillon McCowan[16]; 16. B1-Brent Larson[23]; 17. 19-Dustin Sorensen[21]; 18. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[13]; 19. 31-Kye Blight[20]; 20. 14W-Dustin Walker[24]; 21. 22*-Max McLaughlin[6]; 22. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[22]; 23. 18-Shannon Babb[15]; 24. 11-Trevor Gundaker[19]