WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — It cannot be denied any longer, Bobby Pierce is back in championship form.
The Oakwood, Ill., driver took command of the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models feature at Hamilton County Speedway to pick up his fourth win of the season.
Beginning the night with a win in heat two. Pierce had to immediately get to work at the drop of the green flag after drawing the sixth-place pill in the feature redraw.
Using his familiar line of riding next to the cushion, Pierce jumped to second by the fourth lap to challenge Brandon Sheppard for the feature lead.
With the two drivers crossing lanes to solidify their place at the top, Pierce cleared Sheppard on lap 10 as the two drivers distanced themselves from the rest of the field around the half-mile track.
A late caution for Cade Dillard’s mechanical failure required the “Smooth Operator” to perform a flawless restart behind a stout field of talented late models behind him.
Pierce did just that, driving away to a three-second lead as he took the 22nd World of Outlaws CASE Late Models checkered flag of his career.
“It was an awesome race track,” Pierce said. “Top to bottom, the place was racey. When we race on these big race tracks, and for it to be a big track and for it to be super racey was pretty incredible. When I drew that six pill, I really thought that took out our chance of winning. A lot of times, it’s single file and you can’t pass with air and all the other things. It was a good track, and I’m glad to get the win tonight.”
That final restart saw Sheppard and Max McLaughlin get mixed up through turns one and two, allowing Brian Shirley to drive down the bottom of the track to secure his first podium with the series in 2024.
“On that restart, I stayed on the right part of the race track,” Shirley said. “The (22*) and (Sheppard) got crossed up so it let me get by the both of them. We just had to get up on the wheel, hit our marks right, and bring it home.
“We’re excited though. We’re just trying to build on this new car and try to make the right moves each night because it’s not easy to make the right decisions every night. So, we’re gonna take some baby steps because it’s not easy to make the right decisions every night. We’ll take the time it requires to understand the car and keep trying to do the right things and hopefully, the wins will come.”
Sheppard rallied to finish third.
“I had a good car the whole race,” Sheppard said. “Even at the end, I had a good car, just chose the wrong line. I let the 22* get to the bottom and I had to slide to the top and Shirley got by me. So, that was my bonehead mistake by choosing the wrong line. But I had been taking off on the bottom so good all night that I didn’t think the top was gonna be the place to go. Bobby turned down and I had to turn down with him and didn’t get the start I wanted. It is what it is, we had a solid car again tonight and we just gotta keep it going and try to stay consistent.”
Tyler Bruening finished fourth and McLaughlin was fifth.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin[11]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[10]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[13]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[16]; 11. 32B-Cody Laney[9]; 12. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[22]; 13. 76-Blair Nothdurft[17]; 14. 25-Chad Simpson[8]; 15. 35-Parker Foster[19]; 16. 11-Jon Kirby[18]; 17. 97-Cade Dillard[7]; 18. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[14]; 19. 43-Derrick Stewart[24]; 20. 22-Charlie McKenna[20]; 21. B1-Brent Larson[12]; 22. 97JR-Cody Overton[15]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker[21]; 24. 53-Andrew Kosiski[23]