News Director 
Story By: BEN SHELTON / WILD WEST SHOOTOUT – VADO, NM – Bobby Pierce, Terry Phillips, and Kris Jackson topped the podium in their respective divisions during the fourth round of action at the 18th annual Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts on Friday evening at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park.
Pierce’s win marked his third straight in the Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model division presented by Black Diamond Race Cars as he inched closer to either a $100,000 (for five wins) or a $25,000 (for four wins) Penske Paydirt Jackpot Bonus.
While, Pierce led all but the first four laps of the feature, the triumph was anything but easy as his right-rear tire was packed with mud early in the feature.
“I’ll be honest, we got super, super lucky there,” Pierce said in Hoker Trucking Victory Lane, referring to the mud that packed his car’s right-rear tire and caused a race-long vibration. “(It happened) on like lap four and you saw me drop to the bottom, because I almost was gonna pull in the infield or bring out a caution. I figured that if I pull in now, that’s 25 laps that I have to get back to the front, because I figured no way I’d be able to hang on to even a top five (with the problem). It’s just one of them deals man — I stayed out and I guess we kinda got lucky that those guys chose a harder tire.”
Pierce and B.J. Robinson brought the field to the green flag for the 30-lap feature, and it was Robinson, who paced the first four laps before Pierce used the high line in turns three and four to take the lead. Bobby overcame the severe vibration caused by the mud buildup to snare his third-straight miniseries win, which was worth $11,000.
Finishing 0.493 seconds back in second was Garrett Alberson with Cade Dillard, Shannon Babby, and Kyle Larson (who started 22nd) rounded out the Top-5 finishers.
In Shocker Hitch X-Mod action presented by Border Tire, Kris Jackson broke through with his first win in the miniseries, which came from the eighth-starting spot. Eleventh-starting Nick Rivera pursued him across the finish line with sixth-starting Reece Solander in third. Mike Rosales, who led the first nine laps finished fourth with Jake Haddox in fifth.
With four different winners in the first four X-Mod events, the $2,500 Arizona Differential by Nate Four-Or-More Bonus is officially off the table.
The night cap with the Mesilla Valley Transportation/ Border Tire Modifieds presented by Rancho Milagro was a barn burner. Tyler Wolff paced the first half of the 25-lap finale before Jake O’Neil took control for a handful of laps. The closing laps found veteran Terry Phillips charging to the lead and ultimately the $1,000 victory.
Eighth-starting Jake O’Neil ended up second with 18th-starting Cade Dillard advancing to third. Rounding out the Top-5 finishers were Carlos Ahumada Jr. (started 12th) and Jake Gallardo (started 13th).
Dillard needs to sweep the final two miniseries events to capture the $15,000 Wehrs Machine Five-Or-More Bonus.
Full results from the event can be found at www.WildWestShootout.net.
Action continues with Round #5 of the miniseries on Saturday, Jan. 13 at FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park with complete shows for Super Late Models ($11,000-to-win), Modifieds ($2,000-to-win), and X-Mods ($1,000-to-win).
The pit gate opens at 1 p.m. MT with the driver’s meeting at 2 p.m. and hot laps at 3:30 p.m.. The grandstand gate opens at 3 p.m.
Daily general grandstand admission on Saturday, Jan. 13 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 #4
FK Rod Ends Vado (N.M.) Speedway Park
Jan. 10, 2024
Dirt Track Bank Super Late Models presented by Black Diamond Racecars
A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[3]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[6]; 4. 18B-Shannon Babb[4]; 5. 6-Kyle Larson[22]; 6. 157-Mike Marlar[9]; 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard[5]; 8. 1-Tyler Erb[8]; 9. 2S-Stormy Scott[13]; 10. 7T-Drake Troutman[10]; 11. 19-Dustin Sorensen[15]; 12. 77-Preston Luckman[7]; 13. 14M-Morgan Bagley[17]; 14. 7-Ricky Weiss[12]; 15. 49T-Jake Timm[11]; 16. 15-Justin Duty[19]; 17. E85-Jason Strand[24]; 18. 10-Kaden Honeycutt[23]; 19. 14S-Collen Winebarger[16]; 20. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[21]; 21. 1R-BJ Robinson[2]; 22. 101-Forrest Trent[14]; 23. 18-Chase Junghans[20]; 24. 32B-Cody Laney[18]
Mesilla Valley Transportation / Border Tire Modified presented by Rancho Milagro
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. T75-Terry Phillips[5]; 2. 0-Jake O’Neil[8]; 3. 97-Cade Dillard[18]; 4. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[12]; 5. J17-Jake Gallardo[13]; 6. 69-Lucas Schott[17]; 7. 88-Chad Wheeler[16]; 8. 189-Steven Whiteaker Jr[23]; 9. 45-Chase Holland[22]; 10. 71-Philip Houston[7]; 11. G17-Fito Gallardo[11]; 12. 02-Tanner Mullens[4]; 13. 65-Tyler Davis[19]; 14. 1ST-Johnny Scott[21]; 15. 88S-Nathan Smith[24]; 16. 57-Duke Erickson[14]; 17. 2SS-Mark Smith[15]; 18. 19SB-Lance Mari[10]; 19. 16-Chris Henigan[1]; 20. 27X-Calvin Iverson[20]; 21. 4R-Dereck Ramirez[3]; 22. 60-Dan Ebert[6]; 23. 64-Casey Fowler[9]; 24. (DQ) 4W-Tyler Wolff[2]
Shocker Hitch X-Mods presented by Border Tire
A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. J2-Kris Jackson[8]; 2. A0S-Nick Rivera[11]; 3. 5-Reece Solander[6]; 4. 12-Mike Rosales[1]; 5. 198-Jake Haddox[9]; 6. 15A-Mike Anderson[2]; 7. 14J-Jacob Hodges[4]; 8. 71-Nate Reinke[10]; 9. 3J-Josh Cain[17]; 10. 05-Aasa Flores[3]; 11. 19-Lucas Rodin[12]; 12. X15-Jesse Haynie[21]; 13. 18-JC Morton[5]; 14. 5M-Eric McNutt[19]; 15. 21X-Tanner Kade[16]; 16. 1J-Jaden Christ[14]; 17. 24-Jonathon Ortega[22]; 18. M17-Rob Moseley[18]; 19. 44-Christy Barnett[7]; 20. 7CC-Colby Williams[20]; 21. 15-Tracy Denby[24]; 22. 44JT-Jaime Torres[13]; 23. 58-Chad Reid[23]; 24. 24M-Shane McNutt[15]
