June 26, 2024 | By Matt Skipper, WOO Late Model PR

Pierce soars at Hamilton County Speedway

WEBSTER CITY, Ia. — It cannot be denied any longer, Bobby Pierce is back in championship form.

The Oakwood, IL driver took full command of the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models Feature race at Hamilton County Speedway to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Beginning the night with a win in Heat 2. Pierce had to immediately get to work at the drop of the Gorsuch Performance green flag after drawing the sixth-place pill in the Feature Redraw.

Using his familiar line of riding next to the cushion, Pierce jumped to second by the fourth lap to challenge New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard for the Feature lead.

With the two drivers crossing lanes to solidify their place at the top, Pierce cleared Sheppard on lap 10 as the two drivers distanced themselves from the rest of the field around the half-mile track.

A late caution for Robeline, LA driver Cade Dillard’s mechanical failure required the “Smooth Operator” to perform a flawless restart behind a stout field of talented dirt Late Models behind him.

Pierce did just that, driving away to a three-second lead as he took the 22nd World of Outlaws CASE Late Models checkered flag of his career - passing Newport, TN driver Jimmy Owens in all-time wins with the Series at the Webster City, IA track.

"It was an awesome race track," Pierce said. "Top to bottom, the place was racey. When we race on these big race tracks, and for it to be a big track and for it to be super racey was pretty incredible. When I drew that six pill, I really thought that took out our chance of winning. A lot of times, it’s single file and you can’t pass with air and all the other things. It was a good track, and I’m glad to get the win tonight.”

That final restart saw Sheppard and Mooresville, NC driver Max McLaughlin get mixed up through Turns 1 and 2, allowing Chatham, IL driver Brian Shirley to drive down the bottom of the track to secure his first podium with the Series in 2024.

“On that restart, I stayed on the right part of the race track,” Shirley said. “The (22*) and (Sheppard) got crossed up so it let me get by the both of them. We just had to get up on the wheel, hit our marks right, and bring it home.

“We’re excited though. We’re just trying to build on this new car and try to make the right moves each night because it’s not easy to make the right decisions every night. So, we’re gonna take some baby steps because it’s not easy to make the right decisions every night. We’ll take the time it requires to understand the car and keep trying to do the right things and hopefully, the wins will come.”

Sheppard rallied to finish with a third-place at Hamilton County. He had a good car, but a late takeoff on the final restart cost the current Series points leader the second-place finish he was driving towards.

“I had a good car the whole race,” Sheppard said. “Even at the end, I had a good car, just chose the wrong line. I let the 22* get to the bottom and I had to slide to the top and Shirley got by me. So, that was my bonehead mistake by choosing the wrong line. But, I had been taking off on the bottom so good all night that I didn’t think the top was gonna be the place to go. Bobby turned down and I had to turn down with him and didn’t get the start I wanted. It is what it is, we had a solid car again tonight and we just gotta keep it going and try to stay consistent.”

Decorah, IA native Tyler Bruening finished fourth, and McLaughlin finished fifth to move his way up to second in the MD3 Rookie of the Year points.

RECAP NOTES:

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Nick Hoffman
Simpson Quick Time Award: Kyle Bronson
Heat Race Winners: Kyle Bronson, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley
Bilstein Pole Award: Kyle Bronson
Fox Factory Hard Charger Award: Tristan Chamberlain

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models finish the June stretch of the Heartland Grand Tour with racing at I-94 EMR Speedway on Thursday, June 27, River Cities Speedway on Friday, June 28, and Norman County Raceway on Saturday, June 29. Tickets for I-94 are $5 off if you purchase them HERE. For more information about the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models schedule, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the tracks, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models race live on DIRTVision.


RESULTS

CASE Late Mode Feature (35 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 16-Tyler Bruening[5]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin[11]; 6. 9-Nick Hoffman[10]; 7. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[13]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[16]; 11. 32B-Cody Laney[9]; 12. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[22]; 13. 76-Blair Nothdurft[17]; 14. 25-Chad Simpson[8]; 15. 35-Parker Foster[19]; 16. 11-Jon Kirby[18]; 17. 97-Cade Dillard[7]; 18. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[14]; 19. 43-Derrick Stewart[24]; 20. 22-Charlie McKenna[20]; 21. B1-Brent Larson[12]; 22. 97JR-Cody Overton[15]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker[21]; 24. 53-Andrew Kosiski[23]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[3]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[4]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 7. 35-Parker Foster[8]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 4. 22*-Max McLaughlin[5]; 5. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[4]; 6. 76-Blair Nothdurft[6]; 7. 22-Charlie McKenna[7]; 8. 53-Andrew Kosiski[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 3. 32B-Cody Laney[6]; 4. B1-Brent Larson[3]; 5. 97JR-Cody Overton[8]; 6. 11-Jon Kirby[5]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[7]; 8. 43-Derrick Stewart[4]

Sea Foam Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:17.503[4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:17.507[12]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:17.539[16]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:17.565[17]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:17.580[11]; 6. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:17.642[15]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:17.658[13]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:17.708[22]; 9. B1-Brent Larson, 00:17.720[9]; 10. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:17.728[19]; 11. 21-Billy Moyer Sr, 00:17.759[2]; 12. 43-Derrick Stewart, 00:17.763[10]; 13. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:17.773[21]; 14. 22*-Max McLaughlin, 00:17.925[3]; 15. 11-Jon Kirby, 00:17.927[6]; 16. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:18.016[20]; 17. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:18.033[8]; 18. 32B-Cody Laney, 00:18.056[24]; 19. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:18.148[7]; 20. 22-Charlie McKenna, 00:18.309[14]; 21. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:19.005[5]; 22. 35-Parker Foster, 00:19.298[18]; 23. 53-Andrew Kosiski[1]; 24. 97JR-Cody Overton[23]