January 5, 2025 | By Ben Sheton

Pierce, Moseley & Dillard Claims Wild West Shootout Opener Wins

VADO, N.M. — With 146 competitors crammed into the pits on Saturday afternoon, the opening round of the 19th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts was held at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park presented by Low Voltage Solutions.

Opening day victories were snagged by Bobby Pierce, Rob Moseley, and Cade Dillard.

Bobby Pierce thought he missed the mark twice in Saturday’s Penske 50 presented by Schaeffer Oil in the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model division presented by Black Diamond Racecars. The Oakwood, Ill., superstar first gambled on his tire selection, a compound combo that “one other driver in the field was on” that made him “a little worried.” Then, when front-row starter Garrett Alberson grabbed hold of the leader early and paced the opening 28 laps, Pierce “knew it was going to take either a restart or lapped traffic” to race for the win.

But the 28-year-old has been so good over the last few years, none of those hindrances appeared to matter as Pierce turned up the wick down the stretch of Saturday’s 50-lap, $25,000-to-win feature for the miniseries opening round victory. In total, Pierce led the final 30 laps for his seventh win over his last 10 races at Vado dating back to the 2022 Wild West Shootout.

“I thought it was time to go earlier in the race,” Pierce said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “There was one of the restarts I chose the bottom, and I really charged hard on him. I was trying to get the lead early so I can lead my pace and hold onto the front.”

"I hated seeing that caution (for third-running Mike Marlar on lap 29) right when we caught the lapped cars again. I was like, ‘Well, you know, 21 to go, we have to go now.’ I was worried which lane to pick, and when we went down the straightaway, even (Cade) Dillard was right there with us. And we were almost kind of three-wide.

“Last second, Alberson dipped to the bottom and he gassed it back to the top. Luckily I had a heckuva corner and the car hooked up right there in the apex, and I got a good launch. Right then, it was just hang on to the race, don’t do anything stupid, hit your marks, and try to keep a good gap. It’s pretty nerve-wracking when that second-place car is catching you when you’re struggling.”

Pierce may have felt vulnerable from his vantage point, but once he took command following Alberson’s bobble off the turn-two cushion on lap 30, he paced the final 21 laps rather convincingly, stretching his lead up to 2.2 seconds with eight laps remaining.

Alberson did pull within 0.933 of a second at the finish, cutting into Pierce’s lead as they navigated traffic. In hindsight, Pierce “honestly (thought) we could’ve been better on some different tires.”

For Alberson, the $25,000 payday would’ve been the richest of his career. The Las Cruces, N.M., driver with plenty of family and friends in attendance this week looked mighty strong when he took the early lead from pole-starting Chase Junghans and led Pierce by 1.6 seconds before Marlar’s caution on lap 28. Alberson admitted to messing up on the lap-29 restart.

“I don’t know what it is about these restarts, I have to figure it out. It costs me every time, I guess,” Alberson said. “Yeah, our car is good enough to win the race right there. It’s on me. Congrats to Bobby, he did what he needed to do, and (third-finishing Brandon Sheppard). Yeah, we got a good enough car to win the race, we just have to put it there. It hurts when you’re that close and you have a good car, you have a good crew.”

Brandon Sheppard, meanwhile, rounded out Saturday’s podium in third, which gives him three straight top-three finishes since reuniting with Rocket Chassis in last month’s Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Mo. On Saturday, he qualified fourth in Group B, started second and finished second in the fourth heat, and couldn’t challenge for the win from the eighth-starting spot.

“I had a blast, honestly, the track was awesome. It’s the first night out on this XR1.2, so gotta thank everybody at Rocket Chassis and FOX Shocks. … It was a dream to drive tonight, we gotta work on starting a little farther forward,” Sheppard said. “We went harder on tires than them guys did and we were able to hang on to pass some cars to get up through there, so super happy the way the car was.

“Like I said, we’ll try to start up front, especially to be able to run with Bobby and Garrett. They’ve been super fast in practice and super fast today. I just gotta step up the program a little bit and see what we got.”

Meanwhile in the Shocker Hitch X-Mod division presented by Border Tire, three different leaders took their turn at the helm with Rob Moseley, Hunter Sandy, and Jesse Haynie battling for the lead. However, Moseley topped the spirited battle late in the 25 lapper to retake the lead from Haynie, and went on to claim his first-career Wild West Shootout win, which was worth $1,000.

In the nightcap, Cade Dillard wired the field in the Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified division presented by Rancho Milagro to snag the $2,000 victory. Dillard inherited the pole position after initial pole sitter, Paden Phillips was forced to go to a backup car for the 25-lap feature, which forced him to tag the tail of the field. From the pole position, Dillard cruised, while behind a great battle raged. At the checkered flag it was ninth-starting Dustin Sorensen, who finished second with Kyle Strickler third.

The 19th running of the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts features continues on Sunday, Jan. 5 at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park presented by Low Voltage Solutions.

Complete programs are scheduled for the Super Late Models ($10,000-to-win), Modifieds ($2,000-to-win), and X-Mods ($1,000-to-win).

General grandstand admission on Sunday, Jan. 5 is $25 for adults, $10 for children (ages 6-12) and free for kids (ages 5-and-under). Reserved grandstand seating is $30 on Jan. 5. Pit passes are $45.

Single day reserved seat tickets can be purchased online only at https://www.etix.com/ticket/mvc/online/upcomingEvents/venue?venue_id=17413

Full event details and reserved tickets can be found at www.WildWestShootout.net.

For anyone not able to attend, all six rounds will be streamed live via the Official Streaming Partner, FloRacing. For more information visit https://flosports.link/3WWQQYN .

The Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts is made possible by Rio Grande Waste Services, O’Reilly Auto Parts, FK Rod Ends, Low Voltage Solutions, Dirt Track Bank, Black Diamond Race Cars, Sisbarro Buick GMC, Hoker Trucking, ShockerHitch.com, Penske Racing Shocks, Merry’s Home Furnishings, Shaw Trucking, Schaeffer Oil, AM-1 Roofing, Rancho Milagro Racing, Eagle Moon Hemp, Top of the World Ranch, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border Tire, Wehrs Machine & Racing Products, Swift Springs, Dirt Pro Grading & Padwork, Contractors & Developers (C&D) Bonding, Whisler Construction, Shocks by Hammer, Midwest Sheet Metal, Speedway Motors, Day Motor Sports, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Race Fuels, Pro Power Engines, Beaver Stripes, Arizona Differential, Gorsuch Performance Solutions, Don Frank Floors, Toste Construction, Winning Edge Carburetion, The Joie of Seating, Screven Motor Speedway, DirtDraft.com, Victory Fuel, and FloRacing.


19th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts
FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park presented by Low Voltage Solutions
Jan. 4, 2025

Dirt Track Super Late Models presented by Black Diamond Racecars
A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 4. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 5. 1-Tyler Erb[10]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson[6]; 7. 22*-Drake Troutman[13]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[14]; 9. 157-Mike Marlar[5]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 11. 55C-Chad Mahder[24]; 12. 14S-Collen Winebarger[15]; 13. 86-Kyle Beard[22]; 14. 56-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 15. 28B-Carson Brown[25]; 16. 6-Jake Neal[16]; 17. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[18]; 18. 88-Michael Hucovski[23]; 19. 81J-Jack Riggs[19]; 20. S21-Seth Daniels[20]; 21. 10S-Garrett Smith[9]; 22. 82-Eston Whisler[21]; 23. 18-Chase Junghans[1]; 24. 42S-Don Shaw[12]; 25. 69-Ross Bailes[17]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 69-Ross Bailes[1]; 2. 81J-Jack Riggs[3]; 3. 82-Eston Whisler[5]; 4. 88-Michael Hucovski[2]; 5. 28B-Carson Brown[7]; 6. 81-Jason Riggs[8]; 7. 13-Bricen James[11]; 8. 28-Jimmy Whisler[4]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[9]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker[6]; 11. 4P-Richard Papenhausen[13]; 12. 3-Brennon Willard[10]; 13. 53M-Jason Miles[14]; 14. 21X-Joel Collins[16]; 15. 6T-Terry Carter[12]; 16. K7-Keaton Smith[15]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[3]; 2. S21-Seth Daniels[2]; 3. 86-Kyle Beard[4]; 4. 55C-Chad Mahder[7]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[9]; 6. 10N-Rob Sanders[11]; 7. 78S-Steve Stultz[8]; 8. 11-Jon Kirby[10]; 9. 99-Luke Solis[15]; 10. 77-Preston Luckman[1]; 11. 74D-Shawn DeForest[12]; 12. 3K-Keko Perez[13]; 13. 28M-Sam Mars[5]; 14. 02-Kent Rosevear[6]; 15. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]

Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modifieds presented by Rancho Milagro
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[9]; 3. 8-Kyle Strickler[4]; 4. J17-Jake Gallardo[2]; 5. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 6. 420-Rodney Sanders[11]; 7. 51T-Joseph Thomas[16]; 8. 58X-Gary Christian[6]; 9. 75-Terry Phillips[5]; 10. 16-Chris Henigan[15]; 11. 19K-Kyle Slader[8]; 12. 37-John Neal Reid[21]; 13. 65-Tyler Davis[12]; 14. 127-Paden Phillips[1]; 15. 88-Nathan Smith[13]; 16. 3J-Josh Cain[20]; 17. 131-Royal Jones[14]; 18. 22B-Rick Beebe[19]; 19. 71-Chad Melton[17]; 20. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[18]; 21. 77X-Austin Kuehl[24]; 22. 20Q-Cole Queensland[22]; 23. 721-Troy Gemmill[10]; 24. 117-Toby Herring[23]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 71-Chad Melton[2]; 2. 22B-Rick Beebe[1]; 3. 37-John Neal Reid[4]; 4. 117-Toby Herring[3]; 5. 24D-Diego Alvarado[6]; 6. 44-Christy Barnett[8]; 7. 171-Philip Houston[9]; 8. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[5]; 9. 17-Peyton Gallardo[16]; 10. 26D-Cody Duke[7]; 11. 24-Rick Ortega[15]; 12. 70-Jeremy Busby[13]; 13. 77-CJ Hulsey[11]; 14. 32-Max Sadler[18]; 15. 2G-Troy Girolamo[12]; 16. 9R-Jimmy Ray[14]; 17. 80XX-Jason Langford[10]; 18. 28DRG-Tom Georges[17]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 16JR-Dustin Henigan[3]; 2. 3J-Josh Cain[7]; 3. 20Q-Cole Queensland[2]; 4. 77X-Austin Kuehl[6]; 5. 99-Terry Tipton[11]; 6. 18JR-Ricardo Olague Jr[5]; 7. 111-Bumper Jones[8]; 8. 16K-Kaylin Lopez[10]; 9. 15W-Wyatt Gaggero[9]; 10. 64-Casey Fowler[13]; 11. 96C-Carson Ditsch[15]; 12. J7-Jake Boles[14]; 13. 12-Jay Rosales[18]; 14. D25-David Tanner[12]; 15. 54-Carlos Ahumada Sr[16]; 16. 15L-Chris Lewis[17]; 17. 11-Lucas Ward[4]; 18. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[1]

Shocker Hitch X-Mods presented by Border Tire
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 2. X15-Jesse Haynie[5]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[11]; 4. 71-Nate Reinke[6]; 5. 44-Christy Barnett[17]; 6. 7-Shayne Bailey[21]; 7. 1S-Scott Bintz[2]; 8. 21-Jake Smith[18]; 9. 510-Cody King[19]; 10. 5-Steve Holzkamper[15]; 11. 93-Greg Gorham[24]; 12. 81-Devon Jobin[8]; 13. 3-Dickie Gorham[13]; 14. 22-Keenan Glasser[20]; 15. 115-Boddie Parker[14]; 16. 44JT-Jaime Torres[16]; 17. 23B-Israel Ortega[23]; 18. G3-Brian Craighead[22]; 19. 96-Dusty Riggs[12]; 20. B52-Michael Hartman[10]; 21. 7S-Hunter Sandy[4]; 22. 12M-Mike Rosales[3]; 23. 07-Donavon Flores[9]; 24. 515-Chad Fouquette[7]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 44-Christy Barnett[1]; 2. 510-Cody King[3]; 3. 7-Shayne Bailey[5]; 4. 23B-Israel Ortega[2]; 5. 57-Duke Erickson[6]; 6. 10-Bryan Bennett[7]; 7. 40D-Blake Adams[16]; 8. 25-Kale Murphrey[9]; 9. 33-Justin Allen[4]; 10. 12MB-John Miller[14]; 11. 24K-Shane Krafka[13]; 12. 562-Craig Walker[10]; 13. 72R-Ryan DeForest[8]; 14. 12-Isiah Mendoza[12]; 15. 19TP-Theron Pierce[11]; 16. 14-Dawson Manicki[15]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[2]; 2. 22-Keenan Glasser[3]; 3. G3-Brian Craighead[1]; 4. 93-Greg Gorham[6]; 5. 75J-Jeremy LaCoe[7]; 6. 82-Sherman Barnett[15]; 7. 345-Jimmy Downs[8]; 8. 28-Aiden Frazier[10]; 9. 02-Deuce Teague[11]; 10. 00-Joseph Swearingen[14]; 11. W27-Forrest Wemken[9]; 12. 4-Chris Hooper[5]; 13. 37-Robert Trujillo[12]; 14. 27-Andy Davis[4]; 15. 65-Dustin Smith[13]