Story By: BEN SHELTON / WILD WEST SHOOTOUT – VADO, NM – Despite a wind and sandstorm, the 18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts was contested on Sunday afternoon at FK Rod Ends Vado Speedway Park.
In the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model division presented by Black Diamond Race Cars Bobby Pierce charged past Mike Marlar in turn 3 with three laps remaining to claim the $11,000 feature win.
From the outside-front-row starting spot Marlar paced the first 37 circuits before Gorsuch Performance Solutions Pole Sitter Pierce utilized a late-race restart to get to the lead and ultimately the win.
“That was an awesome race,” Pierce said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane. “I knew it had to be that time (to complete the slide-job pass on Marlar). I knew Mikey was probably gonna come down, but I had to stick my nose in there and go for it. I figured it was only a matter of time before he probably moved up in turn one, and if he would’ve moved up he probably would’ve gotten me so I had to go for it. I don’t know how much room I gave him, but I was going for the win. We have a lot of sponsors here, and it’s cool to be in Victory Lane with them.”
Tyler Erb followed Pierce and Marlar across the finish line with Kyle Larson and Cade Dillard completing the Top-5 finishers.
An Open Practice Session is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 9 from 5 – 9 p.m. MT. Grandstand and pit admission is free, and any competitors who would like to practice, the cost is $200 per car.
Then, action continues with Round #3 of the miniseries on Wednesday, Jan. 10 at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park with complete shows for Super Late Models ($11,000-to-win), Modifieds ($1,000-to-win), and X-Mods ($500-to-win).
The pit gate opens at 2 p.m. MT with the driver’s meeting at 3:30 p.m. and hot laps at 4:30 p.m. and racing action to follow. The grandstand gate opens at 4 p.m.
Daily general grandstand admission on Wednesday, Jan. 10 is $25 for adults, $10 for children (ages 6-12) and free for kids (ages 5-and-under). Reserved seats are $30. Pit admission is $45.
18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts: Round #2
FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park
Jan. 7, 2024
Dirt Track Bank Super Late Models presented by Black Diamond Racecars
A Feature 1 (40 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 4. 6-Kyle Larson[4]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 6. 58-Garrett Alberson[15]; 7. 18B-Shannon Babb[8]; 8. 7-Ricky Weiss[12]; 9. 2-Tyler Stevens[10]; 10. 42S-Don Shaw[3]; 11. 86-Kyle Beard[9]; 12. 7T-Drake Troutman[22]; 13. 15-Justin Duty[25]; 14. 51C-Jake O’Neil[16]; 15. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[19]; 16. 18-Chase Junghans[11]; 17. 73-Rodney Sanders[17]; 18. 49T-Jake Timm[7]; 19. 25-Mikey Kile[23]; 20. 101-Forrest Trent[24]; 21. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[21]; 22. 13-Bricen James[14]; 23. 28M-Sam Mars[13]; 24. 14S-Collen Winebarger[20]; 25. 77-Preston Luckman[18]