Pierce Makes It Three-In-A-Row At Wild West Shootout
Story By: LONNIE WHEATLEY / WILD WEST SHOOTOUT – QUEEN CITY, AZ – Oakwood, Illinois’ Bobby Pierce continues to find Arizona’s desert setting to his liking as he raced to his third Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts feature win in as many events at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway by racing to victory lane in Friday night’s 30-lap feature.
Pierce railed the topside around Kyle Beard on the 20th round en route to Hoker Trucking Victory Lane and another $5,000 payday with Rodney Sanders and Josh Cain both picking off their first wins of the 13th Annual Wild West Shootout in Modified and X Modified action, respectively.
With his third win the six-race mini-series, Pierce has already secured a minimum $10,000 bonus courtesy of the Keyser’s Quarter-Million Challenge and is still in contention to add more with three events over the next two days.
Another triumph by Pierce will push his bonus to $25,000 while two more wins in the remaining events bumps it to $100,000. A complete sweep of all six feature events would net Pierce a $250,000 bonus.
While Pierce started Friday’s Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport feature from the pole position, he spent a majority of the race in “chaser” mode rather than “chasee” after fellow front row starter Kyle Beard took advantage of the outside line to gun into the initial lead. Pierce fought off Hudson O’Neal for second in the ensuing laps until the race’s first caution flew after seven circuits when Scott Bloomquist rolled to a stop on the backstretch.
Pierce fell back another position behind Jimmy Mars in the scramble behind Beard on the restart, only to start working his way back towards the front after the final caution flew three laps later for Chase Junghans’ turn two spin while running sixth.
“The Smooth Operator” worked his way back around O’Neal for second by the 14th round and then set his sights on Beard, taking advantage of traffic on the 20th lap. With Beard forced low by a lapped car, Pierce stuck to the high side of turns three and four and used his momentum to edge ahead of Beard at the line.
Keeping Beard at bay, Pierce survived several dicey moments through traffic over the final rounds to secure the win with Beard settling for second. O’Neal rounded out the podium in third with Brandon Sheppard and Mars rounding out the top five.
13th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Late Model Results from FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway – Friday, January 11, 2019
Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport:
Qualifying:
Group 1: 1. 51-Joey Moriarty 14.722, 2. 32p-Bobby Pierce 14.808, 3. 75-Terry Phillips 14.912, 4. 91p-Jason Papich 15.043, 5. 7mm-Michael Maresca 15.055, 6. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr. 15.202, 7. 44-Cole Schill 15.411, 8. 32b-Cody Laney 15.458, 9. 28c-John Cornell 15.607, 10. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh 15.689, 11. 83-Dennis Souza 16.918.
Group 2: 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard 14.740, 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal 14.757, 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist 14.935, 4. 18-Chase Junghans 15.232, 5. 17-Billy Franklin 15.389, 6. 38-Thomas Hunziker 15.551, 7. 3x-Lyndon Bolt 15.754, 8. 942-Steve Isenberg, 9. 7w-Richard Wallace 16.492, 10. 24-Rick Ortega 26.011, 11. 42s-Don Shaw NT.
Group 3: 1. 86-Kyle Beard 14.641, 2. 91-Tony Toste 14.712, 3. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr. 14.721, 4. 7-Ricky Weiss 14.817, 5. 71rc-R.C. Whitwell 15.193, 6. 76-Blair Northdurft 15.297, 7. 15d-Justin Duty 15.539, 8. 37-Rob Mayea 15.565 9. 6T-Terry Carter 15.661, 10. 44L-Brandon Lewis NT, 11. 32-Chris Simpson NT.
Group 4: 1. 28m-Jimmy Mars 14.775, 2. 11-Pat Doar 14.797, 3. 1g-Garrett Alberson 14.888, 4. 2s-Stormy Scott 14.901, 5. 2-Brandon Overton 15.001, 6. 97-Cade Dillard 15.010, 7. 46-Darren Coffell 15.431, 8. 20v-Rece Vaught 15.448, 9. 37w-Scott Ward 15.477, 10. G17-Jacob Gallardo 15.487, 11. 14m-Dean Moore 15.658, 12. 10n-Rob Sanders 15.727, 13. 78s-Steve Stultz 16.609.
Heat Races – Top 4 advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains
Heat 1 (8 Laps)- Bobby Pierce, Joey Moriarty, Jason Papich, Ricky Thornton Jr, Terry Phillips, Mike Maresca, Kolby Vandenbergh, Cody Laney, Cole Schill, John Cornell, Dennis Souza
Heat 2 (8 Laps)- Hudson O’Neal, Brandon Sheppard, Chase Junghans, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Franklin, Don Shaw, Thomas Hunziker, Steve Isenburg, Rick Ortega, Rick Wallace, Lyndon Bolt
Heat 3 (8 Laps)- Kyle Beard, Ricky Weiss, Earl Pearson Jr, RC Whitwell, Justin Duty, Blair Nothdurft, Rob Mayea, Terry Carter, Brandon Lewis, Chris Simpson
Heat 4 (8 Laps)- Jimmy Mars, Pat Doar, Garrett Alberson, Cade Dillard, Brandon Overton, Stormy Scott, Rece Vought, Jacob Gallardo, Scott Ward, Rob Sanders, Darren Coffell
BMains – Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main
BMain 1 (12 Laps)- Terry Phillips, Mike Maresca, Justin Duty, Cody Laney, Kolby Vandenbergh, Cole Schill, Blair Nothdurft, Terry Carter, John Cornell, Rob Mayea, Brandon Lewis, RC Whitwell, Dennis Souza, Chris Simpson (DNS)
BMain 2 (12 laps)- Brandon Overton, Don Shaw, Stormy Scott, Billy Franklin, Rece Vought, Scott Ward, Jacob Gallardo, Lyndon Bolt, Rob Sanders, Thomas Hunziker, Rick Ortega, Steve Stultz, Dean Moore, Richard Wallace, Darren Coffell (DNS)
Pro Power Dash:
Dash (10 Laps): 1. 37w-Scott Ward, 2. 15k-Kolby Vandenbergh, 3. 44-Cole Schill, 4. G17-Jacob Gallardo, 5. 76-Blair Northdurft, 6. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 7. 6T-Terry Carter, 8. 10n-Rob Sanders, 9. 28c-John Cornell, 10. 20v-Rece Vaught.
AMain (30 Laps)- 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 86-Kyle Beard, 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 5. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 6. 7-Ricky Weiss, 7. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 8. 75-Terry Phillips, 9. 91-Tony Toste, 10. 2-Brandon Overton, 11. 97-Cade Dillard, 12. 91p-Jason Papich, 13. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 14. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 15. 18-Chase Junghans, 16. 51-Joey Moriarty, 17. 42s-Don Shaw, 18. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 19. 15d-Justin Duty, 20. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 21. 2s-Stormy Scott, 22. 32b-Cody Laney, 23. 17-Billy Franklin, 24. 11-Pat Doar.
