Brian Shirley, Dustin Strand & Josh Cain Streak To Victory Friday In Wild West Shootout Action

Story By: AARON CLAY / ARIZONA SPEEDWAY – SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ – The FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway track surface was worked to perfection on Friday night. Both fourth-row starters finished first and second after the 30-lap Dirt Track Bank Super Late Models feature presented by Black Diamond Race Cars, with Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., earning his second career Wild West Shootout feature victory and second of the week.

Just like Wednesday, Friday’s night’s show started two hours later than the events held on the weekend days, resulting in slightly cooler temperatures and additional moisture in the track surface. Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba earned overall fast qualifier honors, laying down a 15.231 second lap around FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway and collecting $100, courtesy of SportTruck RV and Screven Motor Speedway. Weiss also cruised to win his heat race later in the evening, joining Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., Mike Spatola of Manhattan, Ill., and Chris Simpson of Oxford, Iowa as heat race winners on Friday night.

All four heat race winners drew for their starting positions, with Simpson claiming the $100 Gorsuch Performance Pole Award and Spatola starting alongside him on the front row. Simpson took advantage of his inside front row starting position and quickly jumped out to the lead on the initial start of the race. Simpson never enjoyed a large lead throughout the night and primarily stuck to the high line while being consistently challenged by Weiss, who was running the bottom groove, for nearly the entire 30-lap feature.

Simpson continued leading over Weiss, Shirley, Spatola and Ricky Thornton Jr of Chandler, Ariz., until the first Midwest Sheet Metal caution flag was displayed on lap eight, when Dillard spun on the exit of turn four, while avoiding contact with Thornton. By this time, eighth place starting Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., had already advanced two positions and was being scored in sixth.

Weiss continued to pressure Simpson for the lead on the ensuing restart, with Shirley in hot pursuit, while Sheppard advanced two additional positions and found himself in fourth, stalking the three leaders in front of him. The race remained green for 14 laps after the first caution and featured some of the best racing of the entire 2020 Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. Simpson was doing his best to keep Weiss pinched on the bottom, as they battled for the lead and began to hit lapped traffic. Meanwhile, Shirley was making excellent headway on the outside and worked around Weiss, when his momentum would get slowed. All the while, Sheppard was lurking in fourth position and licking his chops, waiting for his opportunity to pounce.

Simpson, Shirley and Weiss were three-wide for the lead at one point, just past the halfway mark of the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Models feature presented by Black Diamond Race Cars. Shirley was finally able to complete the pass on the bottom of Simpson and gained the race lead, just after completion of the 20th circuit, pulling Sheppard along with him and into the runner-up position. Shirley began to stretch his advantage until the second caution flag was displayed on lap 22, for a spin by McLain Beaudoin in turn two.

It was only a few laps after the ensuing restart when the race’s third and final Midwest Sheet Metal caution flag came out, after Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa tangled with Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., ending both of their chances for a good finish. Meanwhile, Brian Shirley had proven that he could beat Sheppard on a restart and extend his advantage. That’s exactly what “Squirrel” did again on the final restart of the night, as Shirley remained committed to the outside groove and stretched his lead over Sheppard, winning by a little over one second. After leading the first 20 laps of the race, Simpson was able to hold off Weiss in a highly-contested battle, to claim the third and final podium finishing position. Weiss and Thornton Jr completed the top-five finishers on Friday.

Shirley’s victory was his second visit to Hoker Trucking victory lane during the 2020 Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts and makes him eligible for some bonus money offered by Keyser Manufacturing, if he is able to win at least one additional feature. In fact, Shirley and Sheppard are both eligible for bonus money and either would be rewarded $10,000 for one additional win or $25,000 if either could sweep the last two races being held this weekend.

For the fourth consecutive race in Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border Tire and Arizona Differential Modified competition, we had a different winner during the 2020 Wild West Shootout. Rodney Sanders of Happy, Texas jumped out to the early lead with Mitch Keeter of Webb City, Mo., and Dustin Strand of Grand Forks, N.D., in hot pursuit. The 25-lap Modified feature was slowed by only one Midwest Sheet Metal caution, which occurred on lap two, when Mark Dotson of Cameron, Mo., slammed the wall at the exit of turn four and slowed to a stop in turn one. Sanders couldn’t hold the lead for long after the ensuing restart, as Strand utilized the high line and charged to take the lead from him on the fifth circuit. The race remained green the rest of the way and Sanders remained in striking distance of Strand, as they began to hit heavy lapped traffic in the closing laps. Sanders ran the quickest lap of the entire race on lap 21, as he closed within a couple car lengths, but didn’t have enough speed to mount a charge. Dustin Strand held on to win his first feature victory of the 2020 Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts, beating Sanders to the line by less than half of a second. Tyler Peterson of Hickson, N.D., was also utilizing the upper groove and charged to finish third on Friday, just ahead of Keeter. Calvin Iverson of Eleva, Wisc., claimed fifth position in the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border Tire and Arizona Differential Modifieds feature.

The 20-lap RHRSwag.com Barnett Harley-Davidson X-Mod feature started with a bang on Friday, as Clint Johnson of Neosho, Mo., battled hard with Sunday’s feature winner, Josh Cain of Albuquerque, N.M. The two drivers traded the lead several times in the first few laps until Cain struck an infield tractor tire with the front of his car, thwarting his momentum and allowing Lance Schill of Langdon, N.D. to pass both of them and claim the top spot. However, Schill’s time out front did not last long, as his motor sounded flat and could be heard skipping, when he would let off the throttle. A restart near the halfway mark of the race spelled doom for Schill, as he was severely off the pace, allowing the entire field to speed by him. Cain took advantage of Schill’s misfortune, regaining the race lead and never looked back, cruising to his second feature victory of the 2020 Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts. Clint Johnson claimed the runner-up position and finished less than one second behind Cain, narrowly holding off a hard charging Troy Hovey of Decorah, Iowa, who took the third and final finish on the podium.

The 2020 Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts continues on Saturday, January 18th, with cars scheduled to hit the track for hot laps at 3:00pm local time (5:00pm eastern).

Dirt Track Bank Super Late Models presented by Black Diamond Race Cars
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[7]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 3. 32S-Chris Simpson[1]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss[3]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[5]; 6. 1ST-Johnny Scott[11]; 7. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[17]; 8. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[16]; 10. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 11. 19R-Ryan Gustin[20]; 12. 74-Mitch McGrath[19]; 13. 77M-Jay Morris[13]; 14. 42S-Don Shaw[9]; 15. 91P-Jason Papich[23]; 16. 32-Bobby Pierce[18]; 17. 2-Garrett Alberson[12]; 18. 17-Mclain Beaudoin[21]; 19. 99-Clay Fisher[24]; 20. 89-Mike Spatola[2]; 21. 15B-Brian Birkhofer[15]; 22. 75T-Terry Phillips[10]; 23. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[14]; 24. 55D-Nick Deal[22]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 2. 74-Mitch McGrath[1]; 3. 17-Mclain Beaudoin[9]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[5]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[3]; 6. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[6]; 7. 28W-Jim Whistler[8]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[7]; 9. 81X-Matt Sparby[10]; 10. 7W-Richard Wallace[11]; 11. 28-John Cornell[4]; 12. 75-Kenny Densman[12]; 13. 28M-Jimmy Mars[13]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 55D-Nick Deal[3]; 4. 99-Clay Fisher[5]; 5. 2M-Allen Murray[2]; 6. 6-Casey Skyberg[6]; 7. 91T-Tony Toste[9]; 8. 76-Blair Northdurft[7]; 9. 6T-Terry Carter[8]; 10. 15-Justin Duty[12]; 11. 74D-Dan Deibele[11]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[10]; 13. 32B-Cody Laney[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 3. 42S-Don Shaw[4]; 4. 77M-Jay Morris[3]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath[5]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard[6]; 7. 91P-Jason Papich[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 17-Mclain Beaudoin[10]; 10. 75-Kenny Densman[8]; 11. 28M-Jimmy Mars[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 7-Ricky Weiss[1]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[3]; 3. 75T-Terry Phillips[4]; 4. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[6]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 6. 55D-Nick Deal[7]; 7. 99-Clay Fisher[8]; 8. 76-Blair Northdurft[5]; 9. 91T-Tony Toste[10]; 10. 74D-Dan Deibele[11]; 11. 32B-Cody Laney[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 89-Mike Spatola[2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott[3]; 4. 15B-Brian Birkhofer[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 6. 28-John Cornell[6]; 7. 3X-Lyndon Bolt[8]; 8. 28W-Jim Whistler[7]; 9. 81X-Matt Sparby[10]; 10. 7W-Richard Wallace[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 32S-Chris Simpson[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 2-Garrett Alberson[3]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 5. 2M-Allen Murray[6]; 6. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 7. 6-Casey Skyberg[5]; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[9]; 9. 38-Thomas Hunziker[10]; 10. 15-Justin Duty[8]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.408[10]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:15.509[8]; 3. 77M-Jay Morris, 00:15.664[2]; 4. 42S-Don Shaw, 00:15.678[11]; 5. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:15.688[5]; 6. 86-Kyle Beard, 00:15.740[4]; 7. 91P-Jason Papich, 00:15.778[9]; 8. 75-Kenny Densman, 00:15.810[6]; 9. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:16.033[3]; 10. 17-Mclain Beaudoin, 00:16.346[7]; 11. 28M-Jimmy Mars, 00:16.346[1]

Qualifying 2 (2 Laps): 1. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:15.231[5]; 2. 32B-Cody Laney, 00:15.297[4]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:15.304[7]; 4. 75T-Terry Phillips, 00:15.331[11]; 5. 76-Blair Northdurft, 00:15.549[6]; 6. 1-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:15.561[3]; 7. 55D-Nick Deal, 00:15.724[1]; 8. 99-Clay Fisher, 00:15.752[8]; 9. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:16.022[9]; 10. 91T-Tony Toste, 00:16.029[10]; 11. 74D-Dan Deibele, 00:16.173[2]

Qualifying 3 (2 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.259[3]; 2. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:15.332[4]; 3. 1ST-Johnny Scott, 00:15.399[6]; 4. 15B-Brian Birkhofer, 00:15.489[7]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr, 00:15.491[5]; 6. 28-John Cornell, 00:15.831[9]; 7. 28W-Jim Whistler, 00:16.184[2]; 8. 3X-Lyndon Bolt, 00:16.754[8]; 9. 7W-Richard Wallace, 00:16.974[1]; 10. 81X-Matt Sparby, 00:17.019[10]

Qualifying 4 (2 Laps): 1. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:15.390[4]; 2. 32S-Chris Simpson, 00:15.443[3]; 3. 2-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.447[5]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.497[10]; 5. 6-Casey Skyberg, 00:15.592[7]; 6. 2M-Allen Murray, 00:15.627[1]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.657[9]; 8. 15-Justin Duty, 00:15.996[6]; 9. 6T-Terry Carter, 00:16.254[2]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:16.293[8]

Mesilla Valley Transportation/ Border Tire Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand[4]; 2. 20-Rodney Sanders[1]; 3. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[11]; 4. 52-Mitch Keeter[2]; 5. 27X-Calvin Iverson[6]; 6. 11X-Matt Gilbertson[3]; 7. 91-Joe Duvall[15]; 8. 02-Tanner Mullens[18]; 9. 21X-Travis Saurer[5]; 10. J17-Jake Gallardo[16]; 11. 69-Lucas Schott[19]; 12. 4W-Tyler Wolff[17]; 13. 37-Kelly Estey[7]; 14. 20T-Trevor Anderson[22]; 15. 5G-Scott Greer[10]; 16. 111X-Bumper Jones[23]; 17. 51T-Tim Thomas[8]; 18. 30T-Travis Tipton[12]; 19. 111-Logan Drake[20]; 20. 2C-Dave Cain[21]; 21. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[13]; 22. 22-Jonathon Ortega[24]; 23. 30-Matt Leer[9]; 24. 85D-Mark Dotson[14]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff[1]; 2. 69-Lucas Schott[3]; 3. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 4. 111X-Bumper Jones[10]; 5. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[8]; 6. 57-Duke Erickson[11]; 7. 8C-Chris Clark[6]; 8. 23-Justin Rexwinkle[9]; 9. 72-Dustin Grabowski[4]; 10. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[7]; 11. 24-Xavier Ortega[12]; 12. 8N-Nick Rivera[5]; 13. 5M-Zachary Madrid[13]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[1]; 2. 111-Logan Drake[3]; 3. 20T-Trevor Anderson[2]; 4. 22-Jonathon Ortega[4]; 5. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[5]; 6. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 7. 9-Jimmy Ray[6]; 8. 5K-Mike Kirby[12]; 9. 8-Joe Dietrich[8]; 10. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[10]; 11. 3-Tim Tharp[11]; 12. 196-Joey Olschowka Jr[9]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Rodney Sanders[9]; 2. 27X-Calvin Iverson[4]; 3. 2C-Dave Cain[2]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[7]; 5. 91-Joe Duvall[8]; 6. 02-Tanner Mullens[10]; 7. 8C-Chris Clark[6]; 8. 00AZ-TJ Wyman[5]; 9. 3-Tim Tharp[1]; 10. 24-Xavier Ortega[3]; 11. 5M-Zachary Madrid[11]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 51T-Tim Thomas[1]; 2. 52-Mitch Keeter[10]; 3. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[4]; 4. 71-Dustin Strand[9]; 5. 20T-Trevor Anderson[6]; 6. 72-Dustin Grabowski[5]; 7. 8N-Nick Rivera[8]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[3]; 9. 23-Justin Rexwinkle[7]; 10. 5K-Mike Kirby[2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 30-Matt Leer[1]; 2. 37-Kelly Estey[4]; 3. 4W-Tyler Wolff[3]; 4. 21X-Travis Saurer[9]; 5. 69-Lucas Schott[6]; 6. 22-Jonathon Ortega[5]; 7. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[8]; 8. 8-Joe Dietrich[2]; 9. 196-Joey Olschowka Jr[7]; 10. 111X-Bumper Jones[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5G-Scott Greer[1]; 2. 30T-Travis Tipton[2]; 3. 11X-Matt Gilbertson[10]; 4. 85D-Mark Dotson[6]; 5. J17-Jake Gallardo[8]; 6. 111-Logan Drake[7]; 7. 9-Jimmy Ray[5]; 8. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[3]; 9. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[4]; 10. 57-Duke Erickson[9]

Hotlaps 1: 1. 02-Tanner Mullens[41]; 2. 5M-Zachary Madrid[21]; 3. 85D-Mark Dotson[24]; 4. 1TPO-Tyler Peterson[29]; 5. 57-Duke Erickson[36]; 6. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[12]; 7. 23-Justin Rexwinkle[26]; 8. 24-Xavier Ortega[9]; 9. 9-Jimmy Ray[20]; 10. 8N-Nick Rivera[30]; 11. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[14]; 12. 27X-Calvin Iverson[13]; 13. 51T-Tim Thomas[2]; 14. 20T-Trevor Anderson[22]; 15. 91-Joe Duvall[33]; 16. 30T-Travis Tipton[8]; 17. 111-Logan Drake[28]; 18. 21X-Travis Saurer[35]; 19. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[31]; 20. 22-Jonathon Ortega[19]; 21. 55-Chris Kratzer[10]; 22. 30-Matt Leer[3]; 23. 3-Tim Tharp[1]; 24. 196-Joey Olschowka Jr[27]; 25. 4W-Tyler Wolff[11]; 26. 5G-Scott Greer[4]; 27. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[16]; 28. 52-Mitch Keeter[38]

RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley Davidson
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 3J-Josh Cain[1]; 2. 37-Clint Johnson[2]; 3. 476X-Troy Hovey[5]; 4. 112X-Brennan Gave[3]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[7]; 6. 19-Lucas Rodin[8]; 7. 27X-Andy Miskowic[9]; 8. 37X-Skeeter Estey[11]; 9. 2G-Brock Gronwold[6]; 10. 4H-Grant Hall[12]; 11. 65-Kris Jackson[10]; 12. 10-Cole Searing[15]; 13. 2SS-Mark Smith[19]; 14. 71AZ-Tyler Mecl[14]; 15. 16-Brock Hess[16]; 16. 10C-Cole Haugland[17]; 17. 13B-Jess Brekke[23]; 18. 33S-Ben Stockton[22]; 19. 8-Dillon McCowan[13]; 20. 17-Lance Schill[4]; 21. 17X-Mike Striegel[21]; 22. 39-Stephen Muilenburg[20]; 23. 11-Bryan Kakela[18]; 24. 6-Chris Theodore[24]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 10C-Cole Haugland[1]; 2. 2SS-Mark Smith[12]; 3. 17X-Mike Striegel[6]; 4. 13B-Jess Brekke[4]; 5. 15X-Blake Davis[3]; 6. 32H-Eric Haugland[11]; 7. 96F-Eric Folstad[5]; 8. 7B-Bailey Cousins[10]; 9. 22-Matt Heinzerling[9]; 10. 25-Kenneth McDonald[13]; 11. 97X-Don Schaefer[2]; 12. 11X-Tyler Griggs[7]; 13. 44JT-Jaime Torres[8]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 11-Bryan Kakela[4]; 2. 39-Stephen Muilenburg[3]; 3. 33S-Ben Stockton[1]; 4. 6-Chris Theodore[5]; 5. 20-Al Ferguson[9]; 6. 08-Glen Maga[7]; 7. 14M-Blake Meyer[6]; 8. X44-Mark Maga[8]; 9. 777-Justin Allen[12]; 10. 12S-Chad Switzenberg[2]; 11. 32-Robbe Ewing[11]; 12. 79-Allen Owen Jr[10]; 13. 11G-Josh Griggs[13]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 112X-Brennan Gave[2]; 2. 2G-Brock Gronwold[4]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin[6]; 4. 97X-Don Schaefer[1]; 5. 71AZ-Tyler Mecl[9]; 6. 96F-Eric Folstad[3]; 7. 17X-Mike Striegel[7]; 8. 39-Stephen Muilenburg[11]; 9. 20-Al Ferguson[5]; 10. 32H-Eric Haugland[10]; 11. 25-Kenneth McDonald[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 65-Kris Jackson[1]; 2. 8-Dillon McCowan[2]; 3. 27X-Andy Miskowic[6]; 4. 10C-Cole Haugland[5]; 5. 17B-Zach Benson[11]; 6. 33S-Ben Stockton[9]; 7. 11X-Tyler Griggs[3]; 8. 08-Glen Maga[8]; 9. 22-Matt Heinzerling[7]; 10. 32-Robbe Ewing[10]; 11. 11G-Josh Griggs[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3J-Josh Cain[6]; 2. 37X-Skeeter Estey[3]; 3. 37-Clint Johnson[8]; 4. 4H-Grant Hall[7]; 5. 12S-Chad Switzenberg[4]; 6. 6-Chris Theodore[2]; 7. X44-Mark Maga[1]; 8. 11-Bryan Kakela[10]; 9. 7B-Bailey Cousins[5]; 10. 777-Justin Allen[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Lance Schill[2]; 2. 10-Cole Searing[1]; 3. 16-Brock Hess[3]; 4. 476X-Troy Hovey[9]; 5. 15X-Blake Davis[4]; 6. 13B-Jess Brekke[6]; 7. 14M-Blake Meyer[7]; 8. 44JT-Jaime Torres[8]; 9. 79-Allen Owen Jr[5]; 10. 2SS-Mark Smith[10]

Hotlaps 1: 1. 4H-Grant Hall[27]; 2. 6-Chris Theodore[7]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[6]; 4. 44JT-Jaime Torres[32]; 5. 39-Stephen Muilenburg[41]; 6. 7B-Bailey Cousins[19]; 7. 11X-Tyler Griggs[10]; 8. X44-Mark Maga[3]; 9. 08-Glen Maga[30]; 10. 96F-Eric Folstad[9]; 11. 11G-Josh Griggs[14]; 12. 65-Kris Jackson[2]; 13. 37-Clint Johnson[31]; 14. 19-Lucas Rodin[21]; 15. 12S-Chad Switzenberg[15]; 16. 15X-Blake Davis[16]; 17. 3J-Josh Cain[23]; 18. 32-Robbe Ewing[38]; 19. 97X-Don Schaefer[1]; 20. 2SS-Mark Smith[40]; 21. 777-Justin Allen[35]; 22. 79-Allen Owen Jr[20]