Pierce Bags $50,000 in First Alabama Gang 100 Score
Photo by Emily Schwanke
EASTABOGA, Ala. — Bobby Pierce may have been born and raised in the cornfields of Illinois, but he’s fallen in love with the southeast in 2025.
In his debut at Smoky Mountain Speedway in March, he came, saw and conquered. Swainsboro Raceway was more of the same one week later, as Pierce collected a win and a podium in his first trip to that facility.
And in his third trip to Talladega Short Track, the “Smooth Operator” mastered the “Hornet’s Nest” for his third win of the year with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.
“I really looked forward to coming here,” Pierce said following his first Talladega triumph. “Especially with $50,000, that’s a lot of money. I felt confident, I feel like we’ve got a good car right now almost anywhere we go. Probably wouldn’t have thought that before Smoky Mountain and Swainsboro, but we won those races and it was like ‘man, we’ve got a really good car, I’ve just got to drive it.”
The 2023 World of Outlaws champion started the 100-lap contest from the inside of row two, staring at the back of Bilstein Pole Award winner Cory Hedgecock and Jimmy Owens. Hedgecock pulled out to the early lead while Pierce made quick work of Owens in the opening circuits to grab second.
After sizing up Hedgecock for a dozen laps, Pierce went to the bottom of Turns 3 and 4 while Hedgecock rode the cushion and took over the top spot in the next set of corners. Pierce expected passing to become more difficult as the race progressed, which made it all the more crucial to get out front as soon as possible.
“It was only a matter of time until the bottom got really good,” Pierce said. “I saw Dennis Erb kind of pull away from me on the bottom there. It was kind of my race to lose at that point. After that, the only worry was if that middle did get cleaned up for a second and allow someone to roll around the outside.”
A flurry of yellows in the middle portion of the race created plenty of shuffling for second on back, as Owens got by Hedgecock for second on Lap 23 before losing the spot to Zack Mitchell just past halfway. Pierce wasn’t bothered by any of it though, as he nailed restart after restart to keep the lead.
When it appeared as if Pierce had the trophy in the bag coming to the white flag, Cody Overton cut a tire to set up a green-white-checkered dash to the finish. With Mitchell behind him in search of the biggest win of his career, Pierce put together two more flawless laps to take home the $50,000 payday.
The Alabama Gang 100 is Pierce’s latest addition to his collection of long-distance victories that also includes wins in the Prairie Dirt Classic, USA Nationals, the World 100 and more in the past year alone.
“Experience went a long way with that,” Pierce said. “Running more different tracks and more long-distance races and running up front in those races. Getting that experience has been good, learning to, when you’re in the lead, set the pace, not pushing too hard. Like when I was in second tonight, I really wanted to get the lead, so I was kind of pushing hard at that moment to get the lead. Once I got it, every caution that would come out, I would want to build the lead a little bit and then kind of ride.”
While Mitchell was unable to capitalize on his chance to pounce on Pierce with two to go, the southeastern stalwart was thrilled to end up on the podium in his first World of Outlaws Feature start of 2025.
“I got by Jimmy on the restart and got to second and felt it kind of latching up,” Mitchell said. “It is what it is. I kind of wanted to jump up to the top just to see there one time to try to see if I could go around him, but Jimmy must have been too close to me.”
One week after a season-best finish of second in Spring Nationals competition at Tazewell Speedway, Owens kept the momentum rolling with a third-place effort – his first World of Outlaws top five since Volusia Speedway Park in January.
“That last restart, Zack snuck by us on the bottom there,” Owens said. “Really, I just needed to choose the bottom lane, but it’s kind of hard to when you’re running second, choosing the top. Then we could roll the top side through 3 and 4, but on that last little bit Zack beat us, it got a little crummy up there and we just fell back into third. Just happy to come home with a good third-place finish.”
Jadon Frame came home fourth to establish a new World of Outlaws career best while Mike Marlar completed the top five.
RACE NOTES:
Austin Smith set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap Award.
Tyler Millwood won the Simpson Quick Time Award.
Zack Mitchell won Real American Beer Heat 1.
Cory Hedgecock won STAKT Products Heat 2.
Bobby Pierce won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.
Jimmy Owens won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.
Jake Timm and Cade Dillard won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.
Cory Hedgecock won the Bilstein Pole Award.
Nick Hoffman drove from 20th to 12th for the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.
Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.
Zack Mitchell won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.
Jadon Frame was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.
Mike Marlar was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.
Cory Hedgecock was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.
Nick Hoffman was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.
Tyler Millwood was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.
Trey Mills was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.
Ryan Gustin was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.
UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision will head north to resume the season at the Dairyland Showdown at Mississippi Thunder Speedway, Thursday-Saturday, May 1-3. For tickets, click here.
If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS
WoO Late Model Feature (100 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 2. 57-Zack Mitchell[4]; 3. 20-Jimmy Owens[2]; 4. 81F-Jadon Frame[8]; 5. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 6. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[1]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[12]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[20]; 9. 31-Tyler Millwood[5]; 10. 14JR-Trey Mills[11]; 11. 16S-Sam Seawright[10]; 12. 19R-Ryan Gustin[23]; 13. 111-Max Blair[25]; 14. 22*-Drake Troutman[16]; 15. 12-Ashton Winger[6]; 16. 3S-Brian Shirley[9]; 17. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[15]; 18. 96-Tanner English[21]; 19. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[26]; 20. 2-Cody Overton[14]; 21. 74X-Ethan Dotson[24]; 22. 4W-Ryan Wilson[19]; 23. 212-Josh Putnam[13]; 24. 18X-Michael Page[22]; 25. 97-Cade Dillard[18]; 26. 49-Jake Timm[17]
Landa Pressure Washers LCS 1 (10 Laps): 1. 49-Jake Timm[1]; 2. 4W-Ryan Wilson[2]; 3. 96-Tanner English[3]; 4. 11B-Ross Bailes[5]; 5. 99-JR Moseley[4]; 6. 388-Jackson Hise[6]; 7. 81-Jason Riggs[8]; 8. 74X-Ethan Dotson[7]; 9. 17M-Dale McDowell[9]; 10. C6-Oakley Johns[12]; 11. 11-Austin Smith[14]; 12. B1-Brent Larson[11]; 13. 4-Kale Green[10]; 14. 27-Lucas Burns[13]
Landa Pressure Washers LCS 2 (10 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 3. 18X-Michael Page[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 111-Max Blair[6]; 6. 05-TJ Brittain[4]; 7. 44-Chris Madden[8]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[9]; 11. 25-Tim Roszell[10]; 12. M2-Caden Mullinax[12]; 13. 21-Mario Gresham[14]; 14. 2*-Colby Moore[13]
Real American Beer Heat Race 1 (8 Laps): 1. 57-Zack Mitchell[2]; 2. 31-Tyler Millwood[1]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 4. 212-Josh Putnam[4]; 5. 49-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 96-Tanner English[9]; 7. 11B-Ross Bailes[5]; 8. 74X-Ethan Dotson[7]; 9. 17M-Dale McDowell[8]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[11]; 11. 27-Lucas Burns[10]
STAKT Products Heat Race 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[1]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 3. 14JR-Trey Mills[2]; 4. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 5. 4W-Ryan Wilson[8]; 6. 99-JR Moseley[5]; 7. 388-Jackson Hise[9]; 8. 81-Jason Riggs[11]; 9. 4-Kale Green[10]; 10. C6-Oakley Johns[4]; 11. 11-Austin Smith[7]
Keyser Mfg Heat Race 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 81F-Jadon Frame[6]; 3. 16S-Sam Seawright[4]; 4. 2-Cody Overton[5]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 6. 18X-Michael Page[7]; 7. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[10]; 10. 19-Dustin Sorensen[9]; 11. 2*-Colby Moore[11]
Jarrett Rifles Heat Race 4 (8 Laps): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 9M-Tim McCreadie[6]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[4]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 6. 05-TJ Brittain[10]; 7. 111-Max Blair[7]; 8. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 9. 25-Tim Roszell[11]; 10. M2-Caden Mullinax[8]; 11. 21-Mario Gresham[9]
Real American Beer LM Qual A (2 Laps): 1. 31-Tyler Millwood, 00:13.510[6]; 2. 23V-Cory Hedgecock, 00:13.555[5]; 3. 57-Zack Mitchell, 00:13.583[9]; 4. 14JR-Trey Mills, 00:13.620[15]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:13.633[1]; 6. 12-Ashton Winger, 00:13.669[20]; 7. 212-Josh Putnam, 00:13.670[19]; 8. C6-Oakley Johns, 00:13.673[10]; 9. 11B-Ross Bailes, 00:13.721[3]; 10. 99-JR Moseley, 00:13.722[8]; 11. 49-Jake Timm, 00:13.752[4]; 12. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:13.816[16]; 13. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:13.861[11]; 14. 11-Austin Smith, 00:13.870[18]; 15. 17M-Dale McDowell, 00:13.876[12]; 16. 4W-Ryan Wilson, 00:13.888[2]; 17. 96-Tanner English, 00:13.946[21]; 18. 388-Jackson Hise, 00:13.955[7]; 19. 27-Lucas Burns, 00:14.149[13]; 20. 4-Kale Green, 00:14.234[22]; 21. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.401[14]; 22. 81-Jason Riggs, 00:14.438[17]
Real American Beer LM Qual B (2 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.551[3]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens, 00:13.627[1]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:13.663[12]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar, 00:13.712[10]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:13.741[6]; 6. 44-Chris Madden, 00:13.787[4]; 7. 16S-Sam Seawright, 00:13.838[2]; 8. 22*-Drake Troutman, 00:13.869[7]; 9. 2-Cody Overton, 00:13.893[8]; 10. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:13.937[9]; 11. 81F-Jadon Frame, 00:13.953[22]; 12. 9M-Tim McCreadie, 00:13.965[16]; 13. 18X-Michael Page, 00:14.130[13]; 14. 111-Max Blair, 00:14.171[11]; 15. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:14.267[19]; 16. M2-Caden Mullinax, 00:14.358[17]; 17. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:14.373[21]; 18. 21-Mario Gresham, 00:14.411[20]; 19. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.477[14]; 20. 05-TJ Brittain, 00:14.739[15]; 21. 2*-Colby Moore, 00:14.909[5]; 22. 25-Tim Roszell, 00:14.975[18]
CURRENT WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL SERIES STANDINGS
Points Updated: April 26, 2025
Pos. No. Driver Hometown Points Gap Starts Wins Top 5s Top 10s
1 32 Bobby Pierce Oakwood, IL 1598 11 3 6 9
2 9 Nick Hoffman Mooresville, NC 1516 -82 11 0 3 9
3 19R Ryan Gustin Marshalltown, IA 1508 -90 11 2 4 6
4 22* Drake Troutman Hyndman, PA 1478 -120 11 0 4 5
5 111 Max Blair Centerville, PA 1434 -164 11 0 1 5
6 74X Ethan Dotson Bakersfield, CA 1430 -168 11 1 3 4
7 2 Cody Overton Thomson, GA 1424 -174 11 0 1 4
8 3S Brian Shirley Chatham, IL 1418 -180 11 0 2 3
9 9M Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY 1410 -188 10 0 1 3
10 96 Tanner English Benton, KY 1400 -198 10 0 0 1
11 28 Dennis Erb Carpentersville, IL 1388 -210 10 0 0 1
12 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN 1370 -228 6 0 2 4
13 40B Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL 1354 -244 10 0 0 2
14 19 Dustin Sorensen Rochester, MN 1334 -264 9 0 1 2
15 12 Ashton Winger Hampton, GA 1302 -296 6 0 1 1
16 20TC Tristan Chamberlain Richmond, IN 1274 -324 9 0 0 0
17 B1 Brent Larson Lake Elmo, MN 1238 -360 7 0 0 0
18 49 Jake Timm Winona, MN 1236 -362 4 0 0 0
19 11 Austin Smith Cedartown, GA 1208 -390 2 0 0 0
20 75 Daniel Adam Peru, IL 1136 -462 3 0 0 0
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USCS 360 SPRINT CARS
USCS Feature (25 Laps): 1. 47-Dale Howard[2]; 2. 3-Derek Hagar[5]; 3. 01-Jadan Bowling[6]; 4. 71-Christopher Townsend[10]; 5. 48-Coen McDaniel[4]; 6. 55-Chase Howard[15]; 7. 17JR-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[14]; 8. 28-Jeff Willingham[13]; 9. 23-Lance Moss[12]; 10. 44-Ronny Howard[1]; 11. 9-Lane Whittington[11]; 12. 38-John Robicheaux[21]; 13. 21-Spencer Meredith[8]; 14. 57-Levi Beard[19]; 15. 22M-Shawn Murray[7]; 16. 8X-Hayden Martin[3]; 17. 57M-Marty Meredith[18]; 18. 87-Chase Anderson[16]; 19. 43-Terry Witherspoon[17]; 20. 10-Terry Gray[9]; 21. 16-Hannah Merritt[20]
Engler Machine & Tool Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 47-Dale Howard[1]; 2. 48-Coen McDaniel[5]; 3. 22M-Shawn Murray[4]; 4. 21-Spencer Meredith[6]; 5. 87-Chase Anderson[3]; 6. 57M-Marty Meredith[2]; 7. 57-Levi Beard[7]
Butlerbuilt Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Jadan Bowling[1]; 2. 3-Derek Hagar[4]; 3. 71-Christopher Townsend[3]; 4. 10-Terry Gray[6]; 5. 17JR-Ricky Stenhouse Jr[5]; 6. 55-Chase Howard[7]; 7. 38-John Robicheaux[2]
Schoenfeld Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 8X-Hayden Martin[1]; 2. 44-Ronny Howard[3]; 3. 9-Lane Whittington[2]; 4. 23-Lance Moss[4]; 5. 28-Jeff Willingham[6]; 6. 43-Terry Witherspoon[5]; 7. 16-Hannah Merritt[7]
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