Pierce pounces on another Wild West Shootout win with Thornton & Searing victorious as well

[NickHolt]

Pierce Pounces on another Wild West Shootout Win with Thornton & Searing Victorious as Well

 by Lonnie Wheatley

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 13^th 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 20^th 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, 21^st 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.

 After 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 11^th-starter Josh Cain with Jason VandeKamp, Preston Carr and 17^th-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.

13^th 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