January 15, 2024 | By Ben Shelton

Larson takes Wild West Shootout finale; Pierce crowned champion

VADO, N.M. — The 18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts drew to a dramatic close at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park on Sunday evening.

Almost all eyes were on Bobby Pierce as he pursued the $100,000 Penske Paydirt Jackpot Bonus in the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model division presented by Black Diamond Race Cars. The Illinois racer charged past Mike Marlar to the lead on the 14th circuit of the 50-lap finale and appeared to be on his way to both the $26,000 victory and the accompanying $100,000 bonus for five wins before disaster struck exiting turn four on the 43rd circuit.

Pierce’s right rear tire went flat, forcing him to draw Midwest Sheet Metal Caution in turn one. Surrendering the lead to Kyle Larson, the pilot of the No. 32 ducked into the pits before rejoining the tail of the field. He was able to rebound in the closing laps to a seventh-place finish, which left him short of the bonus but did secure Pierce the $3,000 miniseries championship.

Meanwhile, Larson led the final seven laps to collect the $26,000 victory in the Rio Grande Waste Services 50 presented by Shaw Trucking. The five-figure triumph marked his first ever in the miniseries. He was followed across the finish line by Marlar, Cade Dillard, Garrett Alberson, and Stormy Scott.

“I was just making tons of mistakes behind Bobby (Pierce) trying to run really hard, I was just pushing too hard,” Larson said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “I think our tire selection maybe was better than his, is all. I got up underneath (Pierce) a little bit and I just assumed it was my nose that cut his tire. I hate that for Bobby, either way, I wanted to race it out with him. He obviously had a lot of money on the line tonight, too and if I couldn’t win, it would’ve been cool to see him take home that bonus money. It’s always fun racing him, there’s not many guys that can hustle a Late Model like he can.”

In the Shocker Hitch X-Mod division presented by Border Tire, Jesse Haynie overtook Josh Cain, who led the first 11 laps, to claim the lead and ultimately the victory in the $1,000-to-win finale. Haynie’s second victory in the 2024 miniseries came ahead of Cain, J.C. Morton, Reece Solander, and Nick Rivera.

With his fifth-place finish Nick Rivera clinched the 2024 Shocker Hitch X-Mod Championship presented by Border Tire.

The Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified feature presented by Rancho Milagro saw Cade Dillard streak to his fourth win of the week, which led to him also being crowned the division’s point champion.

Gary Christian, Dan Ebert, Tyler Wolff, and Rodney Sanders completed the Top-5 finishers in the $2,000-to-win finale.

In total 181 different drivers entered at least one event during the six-race series.

www.WildWestShootout.net



SUNDAY 2 RESULTS


DIRT SUPER LATE MODELS - 37 entries

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 6-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 4. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[6]; 6. 1-Tyler Erb[12]; 7. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 8. E85-Jason Strand[11]; 9. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[9]; 11. 7-Ricky Weiss[7]; 12. 18-Chase Junghans[19]; 13. 18B-Shannon Babb[10]; 14. 86-Kyle Beard[18]; 15. 25-Mikey Kile[15]; 16. 28M-Sam Mars[23]; 17. 14M-Morgan Bagley[17]; 18. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[24]; 19. 7T-Drake Troutman[13]; 20. 14S-Collen Winebarger[16]; 21. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[20]; 22. 13-Bricen James[21]; 23. 49T-Jake Timm[14]; 24. 32B-Cody Laney[22]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14M-Morgan Bagley[3]; 2. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 3. 13-Bricen James[4]; 4. 28M-Sam Mars[7]; 5. 11-Jon Kirby[1]; 6. 42S-Don Shaw[2]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[6]; 8. 28W-Jim Whisler[8]; 9. 250-Walton Kyle Jr[11]; 10. 02-Kent Rosevear[9]; 11. 777-Pete Vargas[10]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 86-Kyle Beard[1]; 2. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[10]; 3. 32B-Cody Laney[2]; 4. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[3]; 5. 1R-BJ Robinson[4]; 6. 73-Rodney Sanders[6]; 7. 88-Chance Mann[5]; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[7]; 9. 3-Keko Perez[9]; 10. 82-Ian Whisler[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[1]; 4. 7T-Drake Troutman[5]; 5. 11-Jon Kirby[4]; 6. 14M-Morgan Bagley[7]; 7. 18-Chase Junghans[6]; 8. 28M-Sam Mars[8]; 9. 02-Kent Rosevear[9]; 10. 250-Walton Kyle Jr[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 7-Ricky Weiss[2]; 3. E85-Jason Strand[5]; 4. 25-Mikey Kile[4]; 5. 42S-Don Shaw[3]; 6. 13-Bricen James[7]; 7. 38-Thomas Hunziker[6]; 8. 28W-Jim Whisler[8]; 9. 777-Pete Vargas[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Kyle Larson[1]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 3. 18B-Shannon Babb[3]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 5. 86-Kyle Beard[9]; 6. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 7. 88-Chance Mann; 8. 6T-Terry Carter[5]; 9. 3-Keko Perez

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 4. 14S-Collen Winebarger[5]; 5. 32B-Cody Laney[6]; 6. 1R-BJ Robinson[4]; 7. 73-Rodney Sanders; 8. 82-Ian Whisler; 9. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[9]

Qualifying 1: 1. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:14.811[5]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:14.819[17]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.869[18]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:14.882[9]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:14.901[6]; 6. 42S-Don Shaw, 00:14.919[10]; 7. 11-Jon Kirby, 00:14.993[3]; 8. 25-Mikey Kile, 00:15.027[4]; 9. 7T-Drake Troutman, 00:15.126[8]; 10. E85-Jason Strand, 00:15.143[12]; 11. 18-Chase Junghans, 00:15.217[15]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:15.265[7]; 13. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 00:15.312[1]; 14. 13-Bricen James, 00:15.326[16]; 15. 28M-Sam Mars, 00:15.346[19]; 16. 28W-Jim Whisler, 00:15.559[14]; 17. 02-Kent Rosevear, 00:15.678[13]; 18. 777-Pete Vargas, 00:16.580[11]; 19. 250-Walton Kyle Jr, 00:16.663[2]

Qualifying 2: 1. 6-Kyle Larson, 00:14.765[17]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:14.832[15]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:14.854[13]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb, 00:14.900[10]; 5. 18B-Shannon Babb, 00:14.999[11]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson, 00:15.015[7]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm, 00:15.120[12]; 8. 1R-BJ Robinson, 00:15.158[1]; 9. 6T-Terry Carter, 00:15.160[6]; 10. 14S-Collen Winebarger, 00:15.172[16]; 11. 15S-Clayton Stuckey, 00:15.182[3]; 12. 32B-Cody Laney, 00:15.214[4]; 13. 86-Kyle Beard, 00:15.441[5]; 14. 73-Rodney Sanders, 00:15.457[2]; 15. 3-Keko Perez, 00:15.583[14]; 16. 82-Ian Whisler, 00:15.782[8]; 17. 88-Chance Mann, 00:15.787[18]; 18. 10-Kaden Honeycutt, 00:15.952[9]



A MODIFIEDS- 44 entries

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 58X-Gary Christian[3]; 3. 60-Dan Ebert[10]; 4. 4W-Tyler Wolff[5]; 5. 20-Rodney Sanders[6]; 6. J17-Jake Gallardo[9]; 7. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[7]; 8. 88-Chad Wheeler[2]; 9. 32-DJ Shannon[15]; 10. 2SS-Mark Smith[22]; 11. T75-Terry Phillips[17]; 12. 65-Tyler Davis[11]; 13. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[19]; 14. 27X-Calvin Iverson[8]; 15. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[24]; 16. 88S-Nathan Smith[21]; 17. 69-Lucas Schott[20]; 18. 111-Logan Drake[4]; 19. 33-Jaren Martin[23]; 20. 0-Jake O'Neil[16]; 21. 9R-Jimmy Ray[14]; 22. 131J-Johnny Scott[18]; 23. G17-Fito Gallardo[12]; 24. 19SB-Lance Mari[13]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. T75-Terry Phillips[2]; 2. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[3]; 3. 88S-Nathan Smith[5]; 4. 33-Jaren Martin[1]; 5. 11W-Lucas Ward[9]; 6. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[4]; 7. 57-Duke Erickson[7]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[8]; 9. 71T-Billy Wilker[12]; 10. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[6]; 11. 12-Paul Miles[10]; 12. 30-James Newton[11]; 13. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[13]; 14. 71-Philip Houston[14]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 131J-Johnny Scott[1]; 2. 69-Lucas Schott[7]; 3. 2SS-Mark Smith[4]; 4. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[2]; 5. 37-John Neal Reid[11]; 6. 131-Royal Jones[5]; 7. 89-AJ Diemel[8]; 8. D25-David Tanner[9]; 9. 24-Xavier Ortega[6]; 10. 64S-Jay Sale[13]; 11. 28-Tom Georges[10]; 12. 77-CJ Hulsey[3]; 13. 7G-Gabe Hodges[12]; 14. 02-Tanner Mullens[14]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[9]; 2. 65-Tyler Davis[1]; 3. 32-DJ Shannon[2]; 4. T75-Terry Phillips[3]; 5. 33-Jaren Martin[7]; 6. 131-Royal Jones[6]; 7. 57-Duke Erickson[4]; 8. 88S-Nathan Smith[11]; 9. 11W-Lucas Ward[5]; 10. 30-James Newton[8]; 11. 7G-Gabe Hodges[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[1]; 2. 4W-Tyler Wolff[4]; 3. 0-Jake O'Neil[2]; 4. J17-Jake Gallardo[8]; 5. 77-CJ Hulsey[5]; 6. 19SB-Lance Mari[11]; 7. 2SS-Mark Smith[9]; 8. 69-Lucas Schott[7]; 9. 12-Paul Miles[3]; 10. 71T-Billy Wilker[6]; 11. 75-Alan Sharpensteen[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[3]; 2. G17-Fito Gallardo[1]; 3. 20-Rodney Sanders[6]; 4. 01-Jacob Hobscheidt[2]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[9]; 6. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[8]; 7. 131J-Johnny Scott[11]; 8. 89-AJ Diemel[4]; 9. D25-David Tanner[5]; 10. 37-John Neal Reid[7]; 11. 64S-Jay Sale[10]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 27X-Calvin Iverson[1]; 2. 88-Chad Wheeler[8]; 3. 9R-Jimmy Ray[11]; 4. 111-Logan Drake[9]; 5. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[5]; 6. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[2]; 7. 24-Xavier Ortega[7]; 8. 11N-Gene Nicholas[6]; 9. 28-Tom Georges[3]; 10. 02-Tanner Mullens[4]; 11. 71-Philip Houston[10]



X-MODS - 39 entries

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. X15-Jesse Haynie[4]; 2. 3J-Josh Cain[2]; 3. 18-JC Morton[3]; 4. 5-Reece Solander[10]; 5. A0S-Nick Rivera[9]; 6. 23H-Hector Barraza[6]; 7. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 8. 24-Shane McNutt[8]; 9. 71-Nate Reinke[16]; 10. 7CC-Colby Williams[7]; 11. 15-Tracy Denby[12]; 12. 24X-Jonathon Ortega[18]; 13. 47CC-Conner Williams[11]; 14. 14J-Jacob Hodges[17]; 15. 19-Lucas Rodin[19]; 16. 07-Donavon Flores[20]; 17. 12-Mike Rosales[21]; 18. 1J-Jaden Christ[14]; 19. 7-Willie Gammill[24]; 20. 44-Christy Barnett[22]; 21. 23B-Israel Ortega[23]; 22. 58-Chad Reid[13]; 23. 21X-Tanner Kade[5]; 24. 17-Peyton Gallardo[15]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 14J-Jacob Hodges[3]; 2. 19-Lucas Rodin[2]; 3. 12-Mike Rosales[11]; 4. 23B-Israel Ortega[1]; 5. 05-Aasa Flores[8]; 6. 44JT-Jaime Torres[5]; 7. 28A-Aiden Frazier[10]; 8. M77-Cameron Martin[7]; 9. 02-Deuce Teague[4]; 10. 27N-Colton Polen[9]; 11. 28T-Brian Barrett[12]; 12. 40-Ruben Ortega[6]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 24X-Jonathon Ortega[6]; 2. 07-Donavon Flores[1]; 3. 44-Christy Barnett[3]; 4. 7-Willie Gammill[5]; 5. 21K-Brian Kleine[7]; 6. 96-Dusty Riggs[8]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[2]; 8. 94-Justin Garrett[11]; 9. 24S-Scott Morlang[9]; 10. 102-Leonidas Tanner[10]; 11. 5M-Eric McNutt[4]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[5]; 2. 58-Chad Reid[1]; 3. X15-Jesse Haynie[7]; 4. 18-JC Morton[10]; 5. 1S-Scott Bintz[3]; 6. 44-Christy Barnett[6]; 7. 14J-Jacob Hodges[9]; 8. 27N-Colton Polen[4]; 9. 28A-Aiden Frazier[8]; 10. 28T-Brian Barrett[2]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 24-Shane McNutt[1]; 2. 23H-Hector Barraza[4]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[8]; 4. 21X-Tanner Kade[9]; 5. 23B-Israel Ortega[6]; 6. 7-Willie Gammill[3]; 7. M77-Cameron Martin[2]; 8. 21K-Brian Kleine[7]; 9. 96-Dusty Riggs[10]; 10. 94-Justin Garrett[5]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. A0S-Nick Rivera[1]; 2. 15-Tracy Denby[2]; 3. 1J-Jaden Christ[4]; 4. 71-Nate Reinke[5]; 5. 17-Peyton Gallardo[8]; 6. 02-Deuce Teague[6]; 7. 24X-Jonathon Ortega[3]; 8. 05-Aasa Flores[7]; 9. 24S-Scott Morlang[10]; 10. 12-Mike Rosales[9]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 5-Reece Solander[1]; 2. 47CC-Conner Williams[3]; 3. 7CC-Colby Williams[6]; 4. 07-Donavon Flores[2]; 5. 19-Lucas Rodin[4]; 6. 5M-Eric McNutt[5]; 7. 44JT-Jaime Torres[8]; 8. 40-Ruben Ortega[9]; 9. 102-Leonidas Tanner[7]