VADO, N.M. — The 19th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park presented by Low Voltage Solutions resumed action on Friday evening, and fans were rewarded with 130 competitors in the pit area and three great features.
Garrett Alberson, Christy Barnett, and Kyle Strickler all enjoyed the spoils of Hoker Trucking Victory Lane.
Alberson, who is a Las Cruces native, turned back late-race challenges from Bobby Pierce to emerge victorious in the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model feature presented by Black Diamond Race Cars.
“We’ve been working on our package for this kind of grippy track right here, really all year last year,” Alberson said. “The car just rotates, does what it needs to do and them restarts, I hate them restarts. I just had to think it through a little bit, make sure I had my speed going into turn one, so I didn’t leave myself vulnerable. It all worked out this time.”
Alberson used a fourth-to-first move on the opening lap and fended off Bobby Pierce on a late-race restart to win Friday’s $10,000 fourth round. Alberson led all 30 laps for his first victory of the 2025 season and his second-career miniseries triumph (his second at Vado Speedway Park) after winning $5,000 there on Jan. 12, 2022.
The eighth-starting Pierce finished .662 seconds behind Alberson in the second position with seventh-starting Tyler Erb finishing third, Dustin Sorensen fourth, and 21st-starting Brandon Sheppard in fifth.
In the Shocker Hitch X-Mod division presented by Border Tire, Christy Barnett raced away from the field to snare the victory. Greg Gorham, sixth-starting Scott Bintz, 18th-starting Shayne Bailey, and 11th-starting Josh Cain completed the Top-5 finishers in the 20-lap feature.
The Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified feature presented by Rancho Milagro rounded out the night’s action. Kyle Strickler wired the field from the pole position to record his first-career Wild West Shootout triumph. Rodney Sanders, Gary Christian, 16th-starting Dustin Sorensen and Paden Phillips rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 58-Garrett Alberson[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[21]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard[1]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[3]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 9. 13-Bricen James[22]; 10. 28B-Carson Brown[19]; 11. 18-Chase Junghans[17]; 12. 28-Jimmy Whisler[23]; 13. S21-Seth Daniels[20]; 14. 78S-Steve Stultz[15]; 15. 69-Ross Bailes[2]; 16. 74X-Ethan Dotson[5]; 17. 42S-Don Shaw[13]; 18. 11-Jon Kirby[10]; 19. 157-Mike Marlar[16]; 20. 28M-Sam Mars[12]; 21. 97-Cade Dillard[11]; 22. 6-Jake Neal[18]; 23. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[14]; 24. 3K-Keko Perez[24]
