Bobby Pierce Pounces On Another Wild West Shootout Win Wednesday Night

Story By: LONNIE WHEATLEY / WILD WEST SHOOTOUT – SAN TAN VALLEY, AZ – Bobby Pierce moved one step closer to a potential Keyser’s Quarter-Million Challenge bonus payout by wiring Wednesday’s Super Late Model field at the 13th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts atop the 1/3-mile FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway clay oval.

While the Oakwood, IL, ace led all 30 non-stop rounds to collect the $5,000 victory, it wasn’t without strong challenges from Brandon Overton over the final dozen laps.

With Pierce adding his second win of the six-race miniseries, Ricky Thornton, Jr., bested the Modified ranks while Cole Searing made it two in a row in X Modified action.

Taking the green flag on the front row outside of the Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport feature event, Pierce gunned into the lead at the outset and set a torrid pace on the top side of the track.

In his wake, sixth-starter Overton worked his past Chase Junghans by the ninth round and chipped away at Pierce’s advantage over the ensuing circuits. Working through traffic, Overton closed to Pierce’s rear bumper by the 20th round and challenged for the point several times before a pair of last lap efforts fell just short at the line.

“I love this track,” Pierce said from Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “It’s just the perfect shape and it fits me really well.”

With the triumph, Pierce is still eligible for a $250,000 bonus courtesy of the Keyser’s Quarter-Million Challenge should he win all six events. One more win on the week assures a $10,000 bonus, two more is worth an extra $25,000 and three more to push his total to five would be worth $100,000.

“It’s a little more pressure, but I’m a lot more relaxed knowing that we’ve got a good car,” Pierce explained.

While Pierce took the checkered flag just ahead of Overton, the battle for third a half straightaway back waged on between a handful of cars with Scott Bloomquist utilizing traffic to his advantage to surge into the show position in the final handful of laps after running fifth much of the way.

Hudson O’Neal held fourth until mechanical problems slowed him on the final round with Cade Dillard capitalizing to snare fourth with Brandon Sheppard slipping by Junghans on the final lap to round out the top five.

Ricky Thornton, Jr., took full advantage of his front row outside starting position in the 25-lap Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border International Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential feature event by leading all the way for his first Wild West Shootout win of the year.

Thornton, Jr., jumped out front immediately and never looked back, ultimately taking the checkered flag ahead of tenth-starter Dustin Strand with Matt Gilbertson, 21st starter Tyler Wolff and Alex Guthmiller in the top five.

After topping three of six events last year to take the Wild West Shootout title, Huron, South Dakota’s Cole Searing continued his mastery of the RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson.

Starting the 20-lap feature event in fifth, Searing needed just three laps to make his way to the front and led the rest of the way to make it two-for-two thus far in this year’s rendition of the Wild West Shootout.

Searing was chased to the stripe by 11th-starter Josh Cain with Jason VandeKamp, Preston Carr and 17th-starter Calvin Iverson rounding out the top five.

The Wild West Shootout continues at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway on Friday, January 11, with racing action set to go green at 7:00 p.m. with ensuing rounds including a pair of events on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and the finale on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.

A $5,000 winner’s share is up for grabs for the Super Late Models through the opening five nights of competition before the stakes are upped to $14,000-to-win for the January 14 Shaw Trucking finale.

13th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Results from FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway – Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport:

Qualifying:

Group 1: 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist 14.552, 2. 2-Brandon Overton 14.570, 3. 7-Ricky Weiss 14.583, 4. 28m-Jimmy Mars 14.625, 5. 86-Kyle Beard 14.729, 6. 42s-Don Shaw 14.922, 7. 20v-Rece Vaught 15.244, 8. 37w-Scott Ward 15.419, 9. 37-Rob Mayea 15.434, 10. 7mm-Michael Maresca 15.522, 11. 83-Dennis Souza 17.207.

Group 2: 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal 14.495, 2. 11-Pat Doar 14.656, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard 14.668, 4. 2s-Stormy Scot 14.731, 5. 1g-Garrett Alberson 14.770, 6. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr. 14.890, 7. 15d-Justin Duty 15.102, 8. 14m-Dean Moore 15.410, 9. 44-Cole Schill 15.494, 10. 76-Blair Northdurft 15.660, 11. 942-Terry Casey 15.674, 12. 28c-John Cornell 15.826.

Group 3: 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce 14.820, 2. 32-Chris Simpson 14.820, 3. 97-Cade Dillard 14.838, 4. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr. 14.949, 5. 17-Billy Franklin 15.006, 6. 71rc-R.C. Whitwell 15.257, 7. G17-Jacob Gallardo 15.640, 8. 6T-Terry Carter 16.003, 9. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 10. 78s-Steve Stultz 16.272, 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker 16.408, 12. 7w-Richard Wallace NT.

Group 4: 1. 51-Joey Moriarty 14.705, 2. 91-Tony Toste 14.817, 3. 18-Chase Junghans 14.877, 4. 75-Terry Phillips 15.010, 5. 91p-Jason Papich 15.165, 6. 32b-Cody Laney 15.182, 7. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh 15.550, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt 15.579, 9. 7w-Richard Wallace 16.199, 10. 46-Darren Coffell 16.222, 11. 24-Rick Ortega 16.306.

Heat Races – Top 4 advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 2. 11-Pat Doar, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 4. 2s-Stormy Scott, 5. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 6. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 7. 15d-Justin Duty, 8. 14m-Dean Moore, 9. 76-Blair Northdurft, 10. 44-Cole Schill, 11. 942-Steve Isenberg, 12. 28c-John Cornell.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 2. 2-Brandon Overton, 3. 7-Ricky Weiss, 4. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 5. 86-Kyle Beard, 6. 42s-Don Shaw, 7. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 8. 37w-Scott Ward, 9. 20v-Rece Vaught, 10. 37-Rob Mayea, 11. 83-Dennis Souza.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 32-Chris Simpson, 3. 97-Cade Dillard, 4. 71rc-R.C. Whitwell, 5. 17-Billy Franklin, 6. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 7. 78s-Steve Stultz, 8. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 9. 6T-Terry Carter, 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 11. G17-Jacob Gallardo (DNS).

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans, 2. 51-Joey Moriarty, 3. 32b-Cody Laney, 4. 91-Tony Toste, 5. 75-Terry Phillips, 6. 91p-Jason Papich, 7. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 9. 46-Darrenn Coffell, 10. 24-Rick Ortega, 11. 7w-Richard Wallace.

“B” Mains – Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main

First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 75-Terry Phillips, 2. 86-Kyle Beard, 3. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 4. 37w-Scott Ward, 5. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh, 6. 91p-Jason Papich, 7. 37-Rob Mayea, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 9. 20v-Rece Vaught, 10. 46-Darren Coffell, 11. 24-Rick Ortega, 12. 7w-Richard Wallace, 13. 42s-Don Shaw. DNS: g17-Jacob Gallardo, 28c-John Cornell.

Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 2. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 4. 15d-Justin Duty, 5. 44-Cole Schill, 6. 76-Blair Northdurft, 7. 28c-John Cornell, 8. 78s-Steve Stultz, 9. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 10. 14m-Dean Moore, 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 12. 6T-Terry Carter, 13. 17-Bill Franklin. DNS: 83-Dennis Souza.

“A” Main

“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 2-Brandon Overton, 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 4. 97-Cade Dillard, 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 6. 18-Chase Junghans, 7. 32-Chris Simpson, 8. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 9. 7-Ricky Weiss, 10. 71c-R.C. Whitwell, 11. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 12. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 13. 2s-Stormy Scott, 14. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 15. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 16. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 17. 86-Kyle Beard, 18. 75-Terry Phillips, 19. 91-Tony Toste, 20. 11-Pat Doar, 21. 15d-Justin Duty, 22. 32b-Cody Laney, 23. 37w-Scott Ward, 24. 51-Joey Moriarty.

Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border International Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential:

Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to “B” Main

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 442-Darrell Nelson, 2. 51-Alex Guthmiller, 3. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, 4. 27g-Scott Greer, 5. 36-Ryan Cousins, 6. 196-Joey Olsvhowka, 7. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 8. 23-Adam Cates, 9. 86-Kyle Beard, 10. US-Jonathan Almscheid (DNS).

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 91-Joe Duvall, 2. 4R-Dereck Ramirez, 3. 17-Matt Gilbertson, 4. 71-Jessie Hoskins, 5. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 6. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 7. 33-Stephen Muilenberg, 8. 4-Blake Higginbotham, 9. 2a-Casey Arneson, 10. 22-Davey Mills.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 2. 71s-Dustin Strand, 3. 20-Rodney Sanders, 4. 6-Casey Skyberg, 5. 111-Bumper Jones, 6. 18k-Jacob Pace, 7. 54-Carlos Ahumada, Sr., 8. 02-Kody Scholpp, 9. 8-Al Giesbrecht, 10. 7-Ken McCleskey.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 75-Cody Skytland, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 32-D.J. Shannon, 4. 131-Royal Jones, 5. 30-Matt Leer, 6. 19sb-Lance Mari, 7. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 8. 2-Don Gumke, 9. 57-Duke Erickson, 10. D25-David Tanner.

“B” Main – Top 8 advance to “A” Main

“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 19sb-Lance Mari, 2. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 3. 2a-Casey Arneson, 4. 6-Casey Skyberg, 5. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 6. 57-Duke Erickson, 7. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 8. 22-Davey Mills, 9. 2-Don Gumke, 10. US-Jonathan Omscheid, 11. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 12. 23-Adam Cates, 13. D25-David Tanner, 14. 54-Carlos Ahumada, Sr., 15. 18k-Jacob Pace, 16. 71-Jessie Hoskins, 17. 33-Stephen Muilenberg, 18. 131-Royal Jones, 19. 196-Joey Olsvhowka, 20. 02-Cody Scholpp, 21. 8-Al Giesbrecht, 22. 86-Kyle Beard. DNS: 4-Blake Higginbotham, 7-Ken McCleskey.

“A” Main

“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 71s-Dustin Strand, 3. 17-Matt Gilbertson, 4. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 5. 51-Alex Guthmiller, 6. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 7. 19sb-Lance Mari, 8. 30-Matt Leer, 9. 6-Casey Skyberg, 10. 22-Davey Mills, 11. 57-Duke Erickson, 12. 36-Ryan Cousins, 13. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 14. 111-Bumper Jones, 15. 27-Scott Greer, 16. 442-Darrell Nelson, 17. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, 18. 2a-Casey Arneson, 19. 75-Cody Skytland, 20. 20-Rodney Sanders, 21. 32-D.J. Shannon, 22. 4R-Dereck Ramirez, 23. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 24. 91-Joe Duvall.

RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson:

Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to “B” Main

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 17-Lance Schill, 2. 10-Cole Searing, 3. 5c-Preston Carr, 4. 37x-Skeeter Estey, 5. 18g-Cooper Guffey, 6. 39-Stephen Muilenberg, 7. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 8. 19d-Dane Durbin, 9. 0-Brandon George, 10. 97x-Don Schaeffer.

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 1s-Scott Bintz, 2. 81x-Matt Sparby, 3. 41J-Josh Jensen, 4. 44-Austin Hunter, 5. 141-Clint Jensen, 6. 32-Eric Haugland, 7. 171-Jed Smith, 8. 99-Jamie Thorstad, 9. 57-Nahan Higginbotham, 10. 65-Ron Reed.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 2g-Brockton Grunwold, 2. 13b-Jess Brekke, 3. 44JT-Pablo Torres, 4. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 5. 413-Tate Johnson, 6. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 7. 56-Terry Bahr, 8. 97-Coleman Anderson, 9. 3-Adam Unreu 10. 10c-Cole Haugland.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 20-Austin Ellis, 2. 3J-Josh Cain, 3. 19-Lucas Rodin, 4. 34-Troy Randall, 5. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 6. 80-Gerald Vesel, 7. 7b-Bailey Cousins, 8. 88-Nathan Smith, 9. 17e-Neil Eckert.

“B” Main – Top 8 advance to “A” Main

“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 2. 141-Clint Jensen, 3. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 4. 34-Troy Randall, 5. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 6. 10c-Cole Haugland, 7. 19d-Dane Durbin, 8. 97x-Don Schaefer, 9. 32-Eric Haugland, 10. 57-Nathan Higginbotham, 11. 7b-Bailey Cousins, 12. 80-Gerald Vesel, 13. 171-Jed Smith, 14. 65-Ron Reed, 15. 56-Terry Bahr, 16. 413-Tate Johnson, 17. 3-Adam Unreu. DNS: 18g-Cooper Guffey, 88-Nathan Smith, 97-Coleman Anderson, 99-Jamie Thorstad, 17e-Neil Eckert, 0-Brandon George.

“A” Main

“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing, 2. 3J-Josh Cain, 3. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 4. 5c-Preston Carr, 5. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 6. 19-Lucas Rodin, 7. 37x-Skeeter Estey, 8. 97x-Don Schaefer, 9. 13b-Jess Brekke, 10. 41j-Josh Jensen, 11. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 12. 141-Clint Jensen, 13. 44JT-Pablo Torres, 14. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 15. 81x-Matt Sparby, 16. 1s-Scott Bintz, 17. 44-Austin Hunter, 18. 34-Troy Randall, 19. 20-Austin Ellis, 20. 10c-Cole Haugland, 21. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 22. 17-Lance Schill, 23. 19d-Dan Durbin, 24. 2g-Brockton Gronwold