September 3, 2023

Bobby Pierce overcomes brake loss to score $20,000 win at Deer Creek

By Mike Warren, WOO Late Model Series PR (Spring Valley, MN) -- Bobby Pierce found his 11th way to win with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models this season at Deer Creek Speedway Saturday night. But not a preferred way.

Pierce had no brakes for the final 15 laps of the 50-lap grind, having to abandon what got him the lead while holding off Brandon Sheppard to score the $20,000 triumph.

PHOTO CREDIT: Buck Monson

“Going off into the corner, you don’t know if it is going to steer,” Pierce said about driving with no brakes. “Especially if I was running the top like that. You use so much brake around the corner with these cars, you’re pedaling. It helps the car turn. It helps the car slow down. It just does a lot of stuff. So, no brakes is like driving with a blind fold.”

Pierce’s luck went a bit smoother for him earlier in the evening, able to win his Heat Race and draw the pole for the 50-lap Feature.

To his outside, Minnesota native Dustin Sorensen was eager for a career performance in front of his home state fans. And behind them, four-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard – who earned the Simpson Quick Time Award for the night – started fourth, looking for his third straight win.

At the start of the Feature, Sorensen bested Pierce through Turns 1 and 2 and led his first lap with the World of Outlaws. His time out front didn’t last long, though, as Pierce dove under Sorensen on entry into Turn 3 and had the lead by the exit of 4.

From there, Pierce made qualifying laps around the top, pulling ahead by a straightaway in the first three laps.

Behind him, Sheppard and Sorensen waged a war for the runner-up spot. Sheppard stole it early from Sorensen, but the yellow #28 never let “BShepp” get too far ahead. While Sheppard ran high, Sorensen lurked low. He could pull even with Sheppard into the corner but the #B5 always had the better run off the turn.

When close enough, Sorensen launched slider after slider, cutting in front of Sheppard off the corner, but Sheppard was always able to cut underneath him and steal the spot the next round.

Slower traffic came into play at multiple times, bringing Sheppard and Sorensen a car length from Pierce. However, once the #32 found clean air, it was back to a straightaway lead within the lap.

With 20 to go, Pierce had a solid command of the race. Then, his brakes started to fade. To make up for it, he had to change from running the top to running the bottom, which gave Sheppard’s chance new life.

“Dad was on the backstretch (spotting) and his hands had gotten to the point where I knew someone was right behind me,” Pierce.

While Pierce battled to keep his car in line every corner, Sheppard was breathing down his neck, waiting to capitalize on any mistake.

However, none came. Pierce drove through the hinderance and picked up his 15th career World of Outlaws win.

“It rubbered up in (Turns) 3 and 4 on the bottom,” Pierce said. “Here (in Turns 1 and 2) it didn’t too bad. It was pretty clean. It took rubber over here (in 3 and 4) so that was my money corner. I knew as long as I could get through here, Brandon probably wasn’t going to beat me.”

Sheppard had to settle for second but left focused on the positives. It was his fifth straight podium finish and comes after back-to-back wins. He’s also now tied for second in points with Chris Madden.

“It was a fun track there, a little slippery,” Sheppard said. “I missed it on my right front there. I couldn’t quite finish the corner like I needed to. I’d get into the corner really good and I couldn’t steer up off the corner. Overall, I couldn’t be happier with this Longhorn chassis and Bilstein shocks, everyone involved with this team. Everyone has been working their tails off. We got our consistency. We just have to keep it up."

Sorensen finished third, his career-best World of Outlaws finish – also his first podium, top five and top 10 with the Series.

“I got by [Sheppard] for good one time but caught a lap car at the worst possible time and he got back by me,” Sorensen said. “He was good too, but I think if I managed to stay in front of him, I might have got him. But it is just awesome to be racing with guys like Bobby (Pierce) and Brandon (Sheppard). That was a huge confidence booster for us.”

Kyle Bronson finished fourth for the second straight night, in the debut weekend for this new Longhorn chassis. Ryan Gustin rounded out the top five for this second straight top five finish. And Brent Larson earned the Fox Factory Hard Charger Award by going from 20th to seventh.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series returns to Atomic Speedway for the Outlaw Invasion, Sept. 29-30. For tickets, CLICK HERE. https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/schedule/

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.

RESULTS

CASE Late Mode Feature (50 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[4]; 3. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[6]; 5. 19R-Ryan Gustin[7]; 6. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[20]; 8. 44-Chris Madden[9]; 9. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 10. 25-Shane Clanton[18]; 11. 2S-Stormy Scott[8]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley[10]; 13. 49-Jake Timm[12]; 14. 16-Tyler Bruening[13]; 15. 15-Nick Anvelink[16]; 16. 9-Nick Hoffman[11]; 17. 11-Gordy Gundaker[19]; 18. 76-Blair Nothdurft[21]; 19. 11G-James Giossi[22]; 20. 22-Nick Panitzke[17]; 21. 96V-Tanner English[15]; 22. 90-Lance Matthees[24]; 23. 30-Todd Cooney[14]; 24. 14W-Dustin Walker[23]

Last Chance Showdown (10 Laps): 1. 11-Gordy Gundaker[1]; 2. B1-Brent Larson[3]; 3. 76-Blair Nothdurft[2]; 4. 11G-James Giossi[6]; 5. 90-Lance Matthees[4]; 6. 51-Matt Furman[5]; 7. 10-Paul Parker[10]; 8. 77-Jordan Yaggy[9]; 9. 99-Luke Pestka[8]; 10. 14W-Dustin Walker[7]

Case No.1 Engine Oil Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening[3]; 6. 15-Nick Anvelink[6]; 7. 11-Gordy Gundaker[7]; 8. 90-Lance Matthees[8]; 9. 14W-Dustin Walker[10]; 10. 10-Paul Parker[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 28S-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 5. 30-Todd Cooney[5]; 6. 22-Nick Panitzke[7]; 7. 76-Blair Nothdurft[6]; 8. 51-Matt Furman[8]; 9. 99-Luke Pestka[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 3. 44-Chris Madden[3]; 4. 49-Jake Timm[5]; 5. 96V-Tanner English[6]; 6. 25-Shane Clanton[9]; 7. B1-Brent Larson[4]; 8. 11G-James Giossi[7]; 9. 77-Jordan Yaggy[8]

Low-E Insulation Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:14.545[6]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.684[9]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:14.783[21]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:14.835[19]; 5. 28S-Dustin Sorensen, 00:14.845[2]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.967[26]; 7. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:14.982[23]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:15.000[13]; 9. 44-Chris Madden, 00:15.000[20]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.013[15]; 11. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:15.032[3]; 12. B1-Brent Larson, 00:15.044[10]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:15.059[22]; 14. 30-Todd Cooney, 00:15.073[17]; 15. 49-Jake Timm, 00:15.078[16]; 16. 15-Nick Anvelink, 00:15.114[28]; 17. 76-Blair Nothdurft, 00:15.123[14]; 18. 96V-Tanner English, 00:15.162[27]; 19. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.213[24]; 20. 22-Nick Panitzke, 00:15.274[5]; 21. 11G-James Giossi, 00:15.278[8]; 22. 90-Lance Matthees, 00:15.327[12]; 23. 51-Matt Furman, 00:15.339[7]; 24. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:15.362[1]; 25. 10-Paul Parker, 00:15.435[11]; 26. 99-Luke Pestka, 00:15.507[25]; 27. 25-Shane Clanton, 00:15.545[18]; 28. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.545[4]

========================================================================================================================

USRA MODIFIEDS

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 24C-Jim Chisholm[3]; 2. 49-Jake Timm[2]; 3. 50III-Brandon Davis[10]; 4. 4-Jeremy Nelson[8]; 5. 60-Dan Ebert[4]; 6. 99-Josh Angst[6]; 7. 28-Parker Hale[7]; 8. 1-Blake Arndt[1]; 9. 15W-Alex Williamson[16]; 10. 83-Kylie Kath[5]; 11. 21-Jacob Bleess[13]; 12. 69-Lucas Schott[14]; 13. 95-Keith Foss[11]; 14. 33-Joe Ludemann[12]; 15. 96-Taton Hansen[9]; 16. 4A-Joel Alberts[18]; 17. 27-Don Gerritsen Jr[20]; 18. 12-Nick Murgic[25]; 19. 55H-AJ Hoff[15]; 20. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[17]; 21. 29H-Joe Horgdal[22]; 22. 77-Jacob Stark[24]; 23. 61T-Tammy Soma Clark[21]; 24. 98-Kevin Stoa[23]; 25. (DNF) 51W-JT Wasmund[19]; 26. (DNS) 43-Zach Brom

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 99-Josh Angst[5]; 2. 1-Blake Arndt[1]; 3. 96-Taton Hansen[4]; 4. 60-Dan Ebert[9]; 5. 33-Joe Ludemann[8]; 6. 4A-Joel Alberts[6]; 7. 27-Don Gerritsen Jr[2]; 8. 98-Kevin Stoa[3]; 9. (DNS) 43-Zach Brom

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 83-Kylie Kath[2]; 2. 49-Jake Timm[3]; 3. 28-Parker Hale[6]; 4. 69-Lucas Schott[4]; 5. 55H-AJ Hoff[5]; 6. 15W-Alex Williamson[7]; 7. 51W-JT Wasmund[8]; 8. 29H-Joe Horgdal[1]; 9. 12-Nick Murgic[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 24C-Jim Chisholm[2]; 2. 4-Jeremy Nelson[1]; 3. 50III-Brandon Davis[3]; 4. 95-Keith Foss[5]; 5. 21-Jacob Bleess[8]; 6. 99L-Steve Lavasseur[7]; 7. 61T-Tammy Soma Clark[6]; 8. 77-Jacob Stark[4]

USRA B-MODS

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 25-Joe Chisholm[11]; 2. 6-Dustin Kruse[7]; 3. 87H-Harley Dais[5]; 4. 91-Tyler Johnson[6]; 5. 87-Miah Christensen[15]; 6. 8X-Josh Roney[2]; 7. 14M-Brian Mahlstedt[20]; 8. 57-Kyle King[1]; 9. 10T-Trevor Fecht[3]; 10. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[9]; 11. 19-Tracy Johnson[8]; 12. 28T-Philip Ihde[10]; 13. 5-Trystan Hagen[4]; 14. 13-Jesse Antiporek[23]; 15. 33-Corbin Ludemann[24]; 16. 97X-Brian Schott[17]; 17. 4B-Greg Brooks[22]; 18. 17B-Matthew Buddenberg[19]; 19. 23B-Michael Wytaske[18]; 20. (DNF) 35-Dennis Dunbar[12]; 21. (DNF) 22H-Jayme Hiller[16]; 22. (DNF) 97JR-Landon Volkman[21]; 23. (DNF) 29S-Raymond Rehbein[13]; 24. (DNS) 47-Kyle Swanson; 25. (DNS) 20-Gage Motl

A Feature 2 (20 Laps): 1. 16D-Dan Hovden[12]; 2. 44-Kadden Kath[14]; 3. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[11]; 4. 28J-Jackson Hale[16]; 5. 45-Cole Lonergan[6]; 6. 30-Scott Demmer[1]; 7. 60-Colby Mann[10]; 8. 36K-Jayden Larson[5]; 9. 2B-Nathan Butterfield[19]; 10. 29-Lilli Reps[9]; 11. 27-Kevin Joachim[21]; 12. 21-Rian Leichtnam[15]; 13. 11-Lyndon Johnson[17]; 14. 77-Matt Stark[25]; 15. 16-Jacob Bennett[22]; 16. (DNF) 2-Marcus Berndt[13]; 17. (DNF) 155-Gavin Shaw[7]; 18. (DNF) 56H-Brandon Hare[3]; 19. (DNF) 2C-Cole Bennerotte[20]; 20. (DNF) 41-Cheyanne Stanfield[18]; 21. (DNF) 32-Taylor Skauge[2]; 22. (DNF) 85-Ben Moudry[8]; 23. (DNF) 83-Braeden Allen[24]; 24. (DNS) 55S-Brian Shaw; 25. (DNS) 28-Spencer Stock

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 45-Cole Lonergan[1]; 2. 91-Tyler Johnson[3]; 3. 5-Trystan Hagen[5]; 4. 02K-Hunter Kennedy[4]; 5. 60-Colby Mann[9]; 6. 16D-Dan Hovden[10]; 7. 11-Lyndon Johnson[2]; 8. 14M-Brian Mahlstedt[6]; 9. 97JR-Landon Volkman[7]; 10. 16-Jacob Bennett[8]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Ben Moudry[4]; 2. 55S-Brian Shaw[3]; 3. 29-Lilli Reps[2]; 4. 57-Kyle King[8]; 5. 35-Dennis Dunbar[7]; 6. 21-Rian Leichtnam[5]; 7. 22H-Jayme Hiller[9]; 8. 41-Cheyanne Stanfield[10]; 9. (DNF) 33-Corbin Ludemann[6]; 10. (DQ) 77-Matt Stark[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 10T-Trevor Fecht[2]; 2. 30-Scott Demmer[4]; 3. 56H-Brandon Hare[5]; 4. 28T-Philip Ihde[6]; 5. 25-Joe Chisholm[9]; 6. 44-Kadden Kath[7]; 7. 28J-Jackson Hale[8]; 8. 17B-Matthew Buddenberg[3]; 9. 2C-Cole Bennerotte[10]; 10. 4B-Greg Brooks[1]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Dustin Kruse[1]; 2. 19-Tracy Johnson[3]; 3. 155-Gavin Shaw[4]; 4. 32-Taylor Skauge[9]; 5. 2-Marcus Berndt[2]; 6. 29S-Raymond Rehbein[10]; 7. 97X-Brian Schott[8]; 8. (DNF) 28-Spencer Stock[5]; 9. (DNF) 83-Braeden Allen[7]; 10. (DNF) 47-Kyle Swanson[6]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 87H-Harley Dais[5]; 2. 36K-Jayden Larson[6]; 3. 8X-Josh Roney[10]; 4. 42B-Kaeden Bronner[7]; 5. 20-Gage Motl[2]; 6. 87-Miah Christensen[1]; 7. 23B-Michael Wytaske[3]; 8. 2B-Nathan Butterfield[4]; 9. 27-Kevin Joachim[8]; 10. 13-Jesse Antiporek[9]