Pierce Pounces on another Wild West Shootout Win with Thornton & Searing Victorious as Well
Pierce Pounces on another Wild West Shootout Win with Thornton & Searing Victorious as Well
Story By: Lonnie Wheatley/Wild West Shootout
Photos By: Tyler Rinkin
SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. (January 9, 2019) – Bobby Pierce moved one step closer to a potential Keyser’s Quarter-Million Challenge bonus payout by wiring Wednesday’s Super Late Model field at the 13th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts atop the 1/3-mile FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway clay oval.
While the Oakwood, IL, ace led all 30 non-stop rounds to collect the $5,000 victory, it wasn’t without strong challenges from Brandon Overton over the final dozen laps.
With Pierce adding his second win of the six-race miniseries, Ricky Thornton, Jr., bested the Modified ranks while Cole Searing made it two in a row in X Modified action.
Taking the green flag on the front row outside of the Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport feature event, Pierce gunned into the lead at the outset and set a torrid pace on the top side of the track.
In his wake, sixth-starter Overton worked his past Chase Junghans by the ninth round and chipped away at Pierce’s advantage over the ensuing circuits. Working through traffic, Overton closed to Pierce’s rear bumper by the 20th round and challenged for the point several times before a pair of last lap efforts fell just short at the line.
“I love this track,” Pierce said from Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “It’s just the perfect shape and it fits me really well.”
With the triumph, Pierce is still eligible for a $250,000 bonus courtesy of the Keyser’s Quarter-Million Challenge should he win all six events. One more win on the week assures a $10,000 bonus, two more is worth an extra $25,000 and three more to push his total to five would be worth $100,000.
“It’s a little more pressure, but I’m a lot more relaxed knowing that we’ve got a good car,” Pierce explained.
While Pierce took the checkered flag just ahead of Overton, the battle for third a half straightaway back waged on between a handful of cars with Scott Bloomquist utilizing traffic to his advantage to surge into the show position in the final handful of laps after running fifth much of the way.
Hudson O’Neal held fourth until mechanical problems slowed him on the final round with Cade Dillard capitalizing to snare fourth with Brandon Sheppard slipping by Junghans on the final lap to round out the top five.
Ricky Thornton, Jr., took full advantage of his front row outside starting position in the 25-lap Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border International Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential feature event by leading all the way for his first Wild West Shootout win of the year.
Thornton, Jr., jumped out front immediately and never looked back, ultimately taking the checkered flag ahead of tenth-starter Dustin Strand with Matt Gilbertson, 21st starter Tyler Wolff and Alex Guthmiller in the top five.
After topping three of six events last year to take the Wild West Shootout title, Huron, South Dakota’s Cole Searing continued his mastery of the RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson.
Starting the 20-lap feature event in fifth, Searing needed just three laps to make his way to the front and led the rest of the way to make it two-for-two thus far in this year’s rendition of the Wild West Shootout.
Searing was chased to the stripe by 11th-starter Josh Cain with Jason VandeKamp, Preston Carr and 17th-starter Calvin Iverson rounding out the top five.
The Wild West Shootout continues at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway on Friday, January 11, with racing action set to go green at 7:00 p.m. with ensuing rounds including a pair of events on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and the finale on Sunday at 5:00 p.m.
A $5,000 winner’s share is up for grabs for the Super Late Models through the opening five nights of competition before the stakes are upped to $14,000-to-win for the January 14 Shaw Trucking finale.
Advance tickets may be purchased online at www.wildwestshootout.net/schedule/ and ticket pricing/purchasing information can be found at www.wildwestshootout.net or by calling the Wild West Shootout office at 520-664-2074.
Wild West Shootout Hotel Information can be found at http://www.wildwestshootout.net/fan-info/lodging-2/ or by calling Hilton Phoenix/Mesa at 480-833-5555. The Hilton Phoenix/Mesa is located at 1011 West Holmes Avenue in Mesa, AZ.
Arizona Speedway is located just minutes from Phoenix. From Phoenix, take US 60 east to Ironwood Dr., turn right (south) and go four miles, Arizona Speedway is on the right hand side. For more information, visit www.wildwestshootout.net or call 520-664-2074.
The 13th Annual Wild West Shootout is made possible by Keyser Manufacturing, O’Reilly Auto Parts, FK Rod Ends, Black Diamond, M&W Transport, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Border Tire, Sport Truck RV, PFC Brakes, Arizona Differential, RHR RacingSwag, Barnett Harley Davidson, Hoker Trucking, Total Seal Piston Rings, Shaw Trucking, San Tan Ford, Toste Construction, Swift Springs, Pro Power Engines, Five Star Graphix, Beaver Stripes, VP Racing Fuel, Penske Racing Shocks and Hoosier Tires.
13th Annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Results from FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway – Wednesday, January 9, 2019
Black Diamond Super Late Models presented by M&W Transport:
Qualifying:
Group 1: 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist 14.552, 2. 2-Brandon Overton 14.570, 3. 7-Ricky Weiss 14.583, 4. 28m-Jimmy Mars 14.625, 5. 86-Kyle Beard 14.729, 6. 42s-Don Shaw 14.922, 7. 20v-Rece Vaught 15.244, 8. 37w-Scott Ward 15.419, 9. 37-Rob Mayea 15.434, 10. 7mm-Michael Maresca 15.522, 11. 83-Dennis Souza 17.207.
Group 2: 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal 14.495, 2. 11-Pat Doar 14.656, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard 14.668, 4. 2s-Stormy Scot 14.731, 5. 1g-Garrett Alberson 14.770, 6. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr. 14.890, 7. 15d-Justin Duty 15.102, 8. 14m-Dean Moore 15.410, 9. 44-Cole Schill 15.494, 10. 76-Blair Northdurft 15.660, 11. 942-Terry Casey 15.674, 12. 28c-John Cornell 15.826.
Group 3: 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce 14.820, 2. 32-Chris Simpson 14.820, 3. 97-Cade Dillard 14.838, 4. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr. 14.949, 5. 17-Billy Franklin 15.006, 6. 71rc-R.C. Whitwell 15.257, 7. G17-Jacob Gallardo 15.640, 8. 6T-Terry Carter 16.003, 9. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 10. 78s-Steve Stultz 16.272, 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker 16.408, 12. 7w-Richard Wallace NT.
Group 4: 1. 51-Joey Moriarty 14.705, 2. 91-Tony Toste 14.817, 3. 18-Chase Junghans 14.877, 4. 75-Terry Phillips 15.010, 5. 91p-Jason Papich 15.165, 6. 32b-Cody Laney 15.182, 7. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh 15.550, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt 15.579, 9. 7w-Richard Wallace 16.199, 10. 46-Darren Coffell 16.222, 11. 24-Rick Ortega 16.306.
Heat Races – Top 4 advance to “A” Main, balance to 2 “B” Mains
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 2. 11-Pat Doar, 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 4. 2s-Stormy Scott, 5. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 6. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 7. 15d-Justin Duty, 8. 14m-Dean Moore, 9. 76-Blair Northdurft, 10. 44-Cole Schill, 11. 942-Steve Isenberg, 12. 28c-John Cornell.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 2. 2-Brandon Overton, 3. 7-Ricky Weiss, 4. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 5. 86-Kyle Beard, 6. 42s-Don Shaw, 7. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 8. 37w-Scott Ward, 9. 20v-Rece Vaught, 10. 37-Rob Mayea, 11. 83-Dennis Souza.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 32-Chris Simpson, 3. 97-Cade Dillard, 4. 71rc-R.C. Whitwell, 5. 17-Billy Franklin, 6. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 7. 78s-Steve Stultz, 8. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 9. 6T-Terry Carter, 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 11. G17-Jacob Gallardo (DNS).
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 18-Chase Junghans, 2. 51-Joey Moriarty, 3. 32b-Cody Laney, 4. 91-Tony Toste, 5. 75-Terry Phillips, 6. 91p-Jason Papich, 7. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 9. 46-Darrenn Coffell, 10. 24-Rick Ortega, 11. 7w-Richard Wallace.
“B” Mains – Top 4 from each advance to “A” Main
First “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 75-Terry Phillips, 2. 86-Kyle Beard, 3. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 4. 37w-Scott Ward, 5. 15v-Kolby Vandenbergh, 6. 91p-Jason Papich, 7. 37-Rob Mayea, 8. 3x-Lyndon Bolt, 9. 20v-Rece Vaught, 10. 46-Darren Coffell, 11. 24-Rick Ortega, 12. 7w-Richard Wallace, 13. 42s-Don Shaw. DNS: g17-Jacob Gallardo, 28c-John Cornell.
Second “B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 2. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 4. 15d-Justin Duty, 5. 44-Cole Schill, 6. 76-Blair Northdurft, 7. 28c-John Cornell, 8. 78s-Steve Stultz, 9. 54-Carlos Ahumada, 10. 14m-Dean Moore, 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 12. 6T-Terry Carter, 13. 17-Bill Franklin. DNS: 83-Dennis Souza.
“A” Main
“A” Main (30 Laps): 1. 32p-Bobby Pierce, 2. 2-Brandon Overton, 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 4. 97-Cade Dillard, 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 6. 18-Chase Junghans, 7. 32-Chris Simpson, 8. 1p-Earl Pearson, Jr., 9. 7-Ricky Weiss, 10. 71c-R.C. Whitwell, 11. 28m-Jimmy Mars, 12. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 13. 2s-Stormy Scott, 14. 1g-Garrett Alberson, 15. 6rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 16. 7mm-Michael Maresca, 17. 86-Kyle Beard, 18. 75-Terry Phillips, 19. 91-Tony Toste, 20. 11-Pat Doar, 21. 15d-Justin Duty, 22. 32b-Cody Laney, 23. 37w-Scott Ward, 24. 51-Joey Moriarty.
Mesilla Valley Transportation/Border International Modifieds presented by Arizona Differential:
Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to “B” Main
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 442-Darrell Nelson, 2. 51-Alex Guthmiller, 3. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, 4. 27g-Scott Greer, 5. 36-Ryan Cousins, 6. 196-Joey Olsvhowka, 7. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 8. 23-Adam Cates, 9. 86-Kyle Beard, 10. US-Jonathan Almscheid (DNS).
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 91-Joe Duvall, 2. 4R-Dereck Ramirez, 3. 17-Matt Gilbertson, 4. 71-Jessie Hoskins, 5. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 6. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 7. 33-Stephen Muilenberg, 8. 4-Blake Higginbotham, 9. 2a-Casey Arneson, 10. 22-Davey Mills.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 2. 71s-Dustin Strand, 3. 20-Rodney Sanders, 4. 6-Casey Skyberg, 5. 111-Bumper Jones, 6. 18k-Jacob Pace, 7. 54-Carlos Ahumada, Sr., 8. 02-Kody Scholpp, 9. 8-Al Giesbrecht, 10. 7-Ken McCleskey.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 75-Cody Skytland, 2. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 3. 32-D.J. Shannon, 4. 131-Royal Jones, 5. 30-Matt Leer, 6. 19sb-Lance Mari, 7. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 8. 2-Don Gumke, 9. 57-Duke Erickson, 10. D25-David Tanner.
“B” Main – Top 8 advance to “A” Main
“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 19sb-Lance Mari, 2. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 3. 2a-Casey Arneson, 4. 6-Casey Skyberg, 5. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 6. 57-Duke Erickson, 7. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 8. 22-Davey Mills, 9. 2-Don Gumke, 10. US-Jonathan Omscheid, 11. 77x-Austin Kuehl, 12. 23-Adam Cates, 13. D25-David Tanner, 14. 54-Carlos Ahumada, Sr., 15. 18k-Jacob Pace, 16. 71-Jessie Hoskins, 17. 33-Stephen Muilenberg, 18. 131-Royal Jones, 19. 196-Joey Olsvhowka, 20. 02-Cody Scholpp, 21. 8-Al Giesbrecht, 22. 86-Kyle Beard. DNS: 4-Blake Higginbotham, 7-Ken McCleskey.
“A” Main
“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 20rt-Ricky Thornton, Jr., 2. 71s-Dustin Strand, 3. 17-Matt Gilbertson, 4. 4w-Tyler Wolf, 5. 51-Alex Guthmiller, 6. 1tpo-Tyler Peterson, 7. 19sb-Lance Mari, 8. 30-Matt Leer, 9. 6-Casey Skyberg, 10. 22-Davey Mills, 11. 57-Duke Erickson, 12. 36-Ryan Cousins, 13. 21z-Isaiah Geisel, 14. 111-Bumper Jones, 15. 27-Scott Greer, 16. 442-Darrell Nelson, 17. 65x-Carlos Ahumada, 18. 2a-Casey Arneson, 19. 75-Cody Skytland, 20. 20-Rodney Sanders, 21. 32-D.J. Shannon, 22. 4R-Dereck Ramirez, 23. 6d-Dylan Goplen, 24. 91-Joe Duvall.
RHRSwag.com X-Mods presented by Barnett Harley-Davidson:
Heat Races – Top 16 in passing points advance to “A” Main, balance to “B” Main
Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 17-Lance Schill, 2. 10-Cole Searing, 3. 5c-Preston Carr, 4. 37x-Skeeter Estey, 5. 18g-Cooper Guffey, 6. 39-Stephen Muilenberg, 7. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 8. 19d-Dane Durbin, 9. 0-Brandon George, 10. 97x-Don Schaeffer.
Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 1s-Scott Bintz, 2. 81x-Matt Sparby, 3. 41J-Josh Jensen, 4. 44-Austin Hunter, 5. 141-Clint Jensen, 6. 32-Eric Haugland, 7. 171-Jed Smith, 8. 99-Jamie Thorstad, 9. 57-Nahan Higginbotham, 10. 65-Ron Reed.
Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 2g-Brockton Grunwold, 2. 13b-Jess Brekke, 3. 44JT-Pablo Torres, 4. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 5. 413-Tate Johnson, 6. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 7. 56-Terry Bahr, 8. 97-Coleman Anderson, 9. 3-Adam Unreu 10. 10c-Cole Haugland.
Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 20-Austin Ellis, 2. 3J-Josh Cain, 3. 19-Lucas Rodin, 4. 34-Troy Randall, 5. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 6. 80-Gerald Vesel, 7. 7b-Bailey Cousins, 8. 88-Nathan Smith, 9. 17e-Neil Eckert.
“B” Main – Top 8 advance to “A” Main
“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 2. 141-Clint Jensen, 3. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 4. 34-Troy Randall, 5. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 6. 10c-Cole Haugland, 7. 19d-Dane Durbin, 8. 97x-Don Schaefer, 9. 32-Eric Haugland, 10. 57-Nathan Higginbotham, 11. 7b-Bailey Cousins, 12. 80-Gerald Vesel, 13. 171-Jed Smith, 14. 65-Ron Reed, 15. 56-Terry Bahr, 16. 413-Tate Johnson, 17. 3-Adam Unreu. DNS: 18g-Cooper Guffey, 88-Nathan Smith, 97-Coleman Anderson, 99-Jamie Thorstad, 17e-Neil Eckert, 0-Brandon George.
“A” Main
“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. 10-Cole Searing, 2. 3J-Josh Cain, 3. 16-Jason VandeKamp, 4. 5c-Preston Carr, 5. 27x-Calvin Iverson, 6. 19-Lucas Rodin, 7. 37x-Skeeter Estey, 8. 97x-Don Schaefer, 9. 13b-Jess Brekke, 10. 41j-Josh Jensen, 11. 30-Dewayne Tesch, 12. 141-Clint Jensen, 13. 44JT-Pablo Torres, 14. 39-Steve Muilenberg, 15. 81x-Matt Sparby, 16. 1s-Scott Bintz, 17. 44-Austin Hunter, 18. 34-Troy Randall, 19. 20-Austin Ellis, 20. 10c-Cole Haugland, 21. 22-Matt Heinzerling, 22. 17-Lance Schill, 23. 19d-Dan Durbin, 24. 2g-Brockton Gronwold.
Wild West Shootout Points through Night Two of Six:
Late Models
1 32p Bobby Pierce 141
2 0 Scott Bloomquist 131
3 2 Brandon Overton 122
4 b5 Brandon Sheppard 116
5 97 Cade Dillard 112
6 71 Hudson O’Neal 96
7 1p Earl Pearson, Jr. 96
8 71rc R.C. Whitwell 82
9 32 Chris Simpson 77
10 18 Chase Junghans 72
11 1g Garrett Alberson 67
12 91 Tony Toste 65
13 7 Ricky Weiss 60
14 6rt Ricky Thornton, Jr. 59
15 28m Jimmy Mars 58
16 75 Terry Phillips 56
17 11 Pat Doar 55
18 2s Stormy Scott 45
19 51 Joey Moriarty 40
20 91p Jason Papich 32
21 42s Don Shaw 29
22 86 Kyle Beard 27
23 7mm Michael Maresca 23
24 38 Thomas Hunziker 22
25 10n Rob Sanders 18
26 32b Cody Laney 18
27 15d Justin Duty 17
28 37w Scott Ward 16
29 17 Billy Franklin 8
30 28c John Cornell 5
31 15v Kolby Vandenbergh 5
32 g17 Jacob Gallardo 4
33 14m Dean Moore 4
34 54 Carlos Ahumada 4
35 942 Steve Isenberg 4
36 3x Lyndon Bolt 4
37 6T Terry Carter 4
38 7w Richard Wallace 4
39 20v Rece Vaught 4
40 46 Darren Coffell 4
41 37 Rob Mayea 4
42 76 Blair Northdurft 4
43 44 Cole Schill 4
44 24 Rick Ortega 4
45 78s Steve Stultz 3
46 28 Jim Whisler 2
47 83 Trevor Anderson 2
48 83 Dennis Souza 2
Modifieds
1 71s Dustin Strand 124
2 4w Tyler Wolff 113
3 442 Darrell Nelson 94
4 20rt Ricky Thornton, Jr. 93
5 2a Casey Arneson 91
6 51 Alex Guthmiller 85
7 4R Dereck Ramirez 83
8 19sb Lance Mari 75
9 20 Rodney Sanders 71
10 1tpo Tyler Peterson 69
11 17 Matt Gilbertson 64
12 6 Casey Skyberg 61
13 75 Cody Skytland 57
14 65x Carlos Ahumada 56
15 21z Isaiah Geisel 55
16 86 Kyle Beard 55
17 6d Dylan Goplen 51
18 77x Austin Kuehl 48
19 30 Matt Leer 46
20 111 Bumper Jones 44
21 10 Chad Olsen 41
22 22 Davey Mills 38
23 36 Ryan Cousins 35
24 23 Adam Cates 35
25 57 Duke Erickson 34
26 27g Scott Greer 28
27 71 Jessie Hoskins 25
28 44 Christy Barnett 21
29 O2 Kody Scholpp 18
30 32 D.J. Shannon 17
31 33 Stephen Muilenberg 15
32 91 Joe Duvall 9
33 131 Royal Jones 8
34 18k Jacob Pace 6
35 54 Carlos Ahumada, Sr. 5
36 4 Blake Higginbotham 5
37 2 Don Gumke 5
38 d25 David Tanner 5
39 196 Joey Ohlsvhowka 4
40 8 Al Giesbrecht 4
41 7 Ken McCleskey 4
42 3 Tim Tharp 2
43 27 Chris Unrau 2
44 1x Steve Streeter 2
45 196 Marni Boyer 2
46 US Jonathan Olmscheid 1
X-Modifieds
1 10 Cole Searing 136
2 19 Lucas Rodin 113
3 37x Skeeter Estey 106
4 3J Josh Cain 102
5 13b Jess Brekke 84
6 5c Preston Carr 83
7 1s Scott Bintz 81
8 39 Stephen Muilenberg 80
9 16 Jason VandeKamp 76
10 20 Austin Ellis 73
11 27x Calvin Iverson 69
12 30 Dewayne Tesch 66
13 17x Matt Gilbertson 66
14 81x Matt Sparby 58
15 10c Cole Haugland 56
16 44 Austin Hunter 55
17 17 Lance Schill 52
18 777 Mike Rosales 51
19 97x Don Schaefer 42
20 41J Josh Jensen 42
21 44JT Pablo Torres 36
22 141 Clint Jensen 35
23 97 Coleman Anderson 34
24 19d Dane Durbin 32
25 34 Troy Randall 26
26 32 Eric Haugland 24
27 2g Brockten Gronwold 20
28 22 Matt Heinzerling 16
29 99 Jamie Thorstad 15
30 O7 Donovan Flores 15
31 82x Heath Grizzle 11
32 18g Cooper Guffey 7
33 80 Gerald Vesel 6
34 413 Tate Johnson 5
35 171 Jed Smith 5
36 56 Terry Bahr 5
37 7b Bailey Cousins 5
38 0 Brandon George 4
39 57 Nathan Higginbotham 4
40 65 Ron Reed 4
41 3 Adam Unreu 4
42 88 Nathan Smith 4
43 17e Neil Eckert 4
44 8272 Sherman Barnett 4
45 2 Jessie Haynie 2
46 15 Speedy Madrid 2
47 74 Dana Boatright 2
48 5m Wes Meeks 7
49 11 Richie Jones 7
50 15a Aaron Phillips 6
51 5m Justin Minx 5
52 93ar A.R. Smith 4
53 94 Jalen Rice 4
54 34 James Meile 4
55 28 Peyton George 4
56 98s R.J. Bishop 2
57 8 D.J. Werkmeister 2
58 22 Todd Hoff 1
59 3h Noah Hollingshead 1
