FOUNTAIN CITY, Wis. — Two days ago, Bobby Pierce left victory lane at Independence Motor Speedway with a few final words: “Let’s go get another one Thursday.”
He stayed true to his word. In Thursday’s opening night of the Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Pierce rallied to the front and never looked back for win number seven of 2026 with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision and his third in a row.
“It was challenging,” Pierce said. “I feel like that race, I could have ended up first, I could have ended up fifth or worse. I think with about 10 to go, I really stalled out, I was the same speed as the lap traffic. We had just enough to get the job done, luckily no cautions came out at the end.”
Mississippi Thunder has developed a reputation for producing some of the best racing on the World of Outlaws schedule. Pole starter Drake Troutman pulled away early, but the race was on behind him among Tim McCreadie, Ryan Gustin and Pierce. The three drivers used every inch of the racing surface to throw sliders and swap spots while Nick Hoffman loomed behind. By the halfway point of the 30-lap contest, Pierce had gotten clear of all of them and had his sights locked on Troutman.
It was around that time that Troutman began exploring the middle groove as he caught traffic, leaving the cushion open for Pierce to hammer his signature line. With 12 to go, Pierce was on Troutman’s tail when he tried a short slider to get to the front off Turn 4. Troutman repaid the favor in Turn 1, but Pierce had enough momentum to pull the crossover and get to the lead for good.
“Started with Gustin, getting by him, I had to shoot it in there and get going,” Pierce said. “When I caught Troutman for the lead, I think he was starting to maybe try to switch around. I knew I had to get the lead before he changed his line too much and found that top side. Honestly, I don’t even remember how I passed him. Bottom, top, I don’t remember. Lot of stuff going on in that race.”
Troutman settled for second after leading the first 18 laps, bringing him to 65 laps led on the season, the most of any driver who has yet to win a race. Rounding out the podium was Gustin with his best result since Hendry County Motorsports Park in February. Hoffman and McCreadie completed the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 2. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[7]; 5. 9M-Tim McCreadie[2]; 6. 14-Trey Mills[5]; 7. 1-Tyler Erb[11]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[8]; 9. 97-Cade Dillard[14]; 10. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 11. 09-Michael Leach[6]; 12. 49-Jake Timm[12]; 13. 16-Tyler Bruening[19]; 14. 28M-Sam Mars[9]; 15. 15D-Justin Duty[13]; 16. 43-Derrick Stewart[17]; 17. 38T-Dylan Thornton[16]; 18. 25-Chad Simpson[18]; 19. 11-Gordy Gundaker[20]; 20. B1-Brent Larson[26]; 21. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[24]; 22. 58V-Daulton Wilson[21]; 23. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[23]; 24. 1Z-Logan Zarin[25]; 25. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[22]; 26. 32S-Chris Simpson[15]
