Story By: MIKE WARREN / WORLD OF OUTLAWS – NEW RICHMOND, WI – Bobby Pierce added another piece of history to his World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series resume Friday afternoon at Cedar Lake Speedway.
The Oakwood, IL driver took the lead from Tim McCreadie on Lap 2 and drove to his sixth consecutive Series victory to open the 37th annual USA Nationals.
He joins former champions Billy Moyer and Darrell Lanigan as the only drivers to win six World of Outlaws Features in a row.
“I like setting records,” Pierce said. “It’s cool. The best of the best have run this Series. We’ve had to do it through two crown jewels, so it hasn’t been an easy one. The car’s been great, and I can’t thank my crew enough.”
Tim McCreadie, the Bilstein Pole Award winner, led the field to the green in the 25-lap opener, driving away from Pierce’s No. 32 to lead Lap 1.
But as the Watertown, NY driver entered Turn 2 on Lap 2, he slid his car too high up the banking, allowing Pierce to pull even with him.
McCreadie’s bobble was all the “Smooth Operator” needed as he stormed past the No. 1 on the inside lane, taking the lead away as he drove his Longhorn chassis down Cedar Lake’s backstretch.
From there, Pierce survived four restarts, including one with four laps to go to score his 28th career World of Outlaws CASE Late Models Feature win, tying Steve Francis for 10th on the all-time wins list.
Thursday afternoon’s heat challenged Pierce as he aimed for the $6,000 prize.
“I’ve never been in Wisconsin when it’s this hot,” Pierce said. “And we just happened to have a day race. You had to fight the car, and I’m glad it was only 25 laps and not 30, 40, 50, or whatever.
“It might’ve looked like I was pretty smooth out there, but it was hard to stay out of the bad spots and hit your marks. I was slipping bad there at the end. I knew my tires were gone, and it was getting pretty hard to handle.”
McCreadie settled for second, his best World of Outlaws finish driving for Rocket1 Racing.
According to “T-Mac,” the difference between him and Pierce came down to what happened on Lap 2.
“I made a big bobble in Turn 1, bobbed out and shoved, and gave it away,” McCreadie said. “I was matching lap times with him. I just made one mistake, and that’s all it takes sometimes.
“I just want to thank Mark Richards, Steve Baker, Danny (White), Joel (Rogers), Austin (Hargrove), and this Rocket1 team. This is a brand new XR car, version two, and it’s been good since the beginning of last week.”
Kyle Bronson finished third, earning his fourth World of Outlaws podium of 2024.
The Brandon, FL driver passed Nick Hoffman on Lap 18 to reach the final podium position.
“I feel like we were pretty good early,” Bronson said. We were a little too tight early in the race, but as the race went on, it came to us pretty good. It was bottoming out too much at the beginning, but it was pretty good.”
Hoffman finished fourth, cutting the Series points lead to 22 points behind Brandon Sheppard, who finished sixth.
Three-time USA Nationals winner Jonathan Davenport rounded out the top five.
RECAP NOTES:
Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Tyler Bruening
Simpson Quick Time Award: Jonathan Davenport
Heat Race Winners: Tim McCreadie, Tyler Bruening, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley, Max McLaughlin, Nick Hoffman
Last Chance Showdown Winners: Ethan Dotson, Tyler Erb
Bilstein Pole Award: Tim McCreadie
Fox Factory Hard Charger: Brandon Sheppard (+10)
CASE Late Mode Feature (25 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 1-Tim McCreadie[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[8]; 4. 9-Nick Hoffman[5]; 5. 49-Jonathan Davenport[7]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[16]; 7. 25-Jason Feger[12]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin[10]; 9. 71-Hudson O’Neal[17]; 10. B1-Brent Larson[9]; 11. 10-Garrett Smith[13]; 12. 18-Shannon Babb[22]; 13. 97-Cade Dillard[11]; 14. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[23]; 15. 1T-Tyler Erb[20]; 16. 19-Dustin Sorensen[18]; 17. 74X-Ethan Dotson[19]; 18. 22*-Max McLaughlin[3]; 19. 55C-Chad Mahder[21]; 20. 7-Ricky Weiss[14]; 21. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[25]; 22. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 23. 16-Tyler Bruening[6]; 24. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[15]; 25. 97JR-Cody Overton[24]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 2. 55C-Chad Mahder[5]; 3. 77-Jordan Yaggy[4]; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist[8]; 5. 1X-Aaron Marrant[11]; 6. 89-Mike Spatola[10]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 8. 15-Nick Anvelink[2]; 9. 11-Gordy Gundaker[13]; 10. 11H-Lance Hofer[9]; 11. 74-Mitch McGrath[14]; 12. 38-Thomas Hunziker[7]; 13. AUS1-Joe Chalmers[15]; 14. 35-Parker Foster[12]; 15. 11G-James Giossi[1]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[3]; 3. 97JR-Cody Overton[2]; 4. 57-Mike Marlar[5]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 6. 31-Kye Blight[12]; 7. 10P-Paul Parker[9]; 8. 90-Lance Matthees[15]; 9. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]; 10. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 11. 18C-Chase Junghans[7]; 12. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[8]; 13. 28M-Sam Mars[10]; 14. 14W-Dustin Walker[11]; 15. 9T-Tim Isenberg[14]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Tim McCreadie[2]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 3. 10-Garrett Smith[6]; 4. 11G-James Giossi[3]; 5. 77-Jordan Yaggy[5]; 6. 38-Thomas Hunziker[4]; 7. 89-Mike Spatola[8]; 8. 11-Gordy Gundaker[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Tyler Bruening[2]; 2. B1-Brent Larson[1]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 4. 15-Nick Anvelink[3]; 5. 55C-Chad Mahder[6]; 6. 0-Scott Bloomquist[5]; 7. 1X-Aaron Marrant[8]; 8. 74-Mitch McGrath[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[4]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal[1]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[3]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 6. 11H-Lance Hofer[5]; 7. 35-Parker Foster[7]; 8. AUS1-Joe Chalmers[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 3. 7-Ricky Weiss[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[8]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 6. 18C-Chase Junghans[5]; 7. 28M-Sam Mars[7]; 8. 14R-Jeff Roth[6]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 22*-Max McLaughlin[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 4. 97JR-Cody Overton[4]; 5. 57-Mike Marlar[7]; 6. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[6]; 7. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]; 8. 9T-Tim Isenberg[5]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[3]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 4. 18-Shannon Babb[4]; 5. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 6. 10P-Paul Parker[5]; 7. 31-Kye Blight[7]; 8. 90-Lance Matthees[8]
Group A Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.757[16]; 2. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.949[1]; 3. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:14.966[9]; 4. 1-Tim McCreadie, 00:14.985[18]; 5. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:15.010[3]; 6. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:15.118[24]; 7. 11G-James Giossi, 00:15.159[2]; 8. 15-Nick Anvelink, 00:15.174[13]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:15.221[8]; 10. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:15.230[10]; 11. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.256[23]; 12. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:15.266[14]; 13. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:15.317[11]; 14. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 00:15.326[21]; 15. 11H-Lance Hofer, 00:15.379[7]; 16. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:15.464[6]; 17. 55C-Chad Mahder, 00:15.465[15]; 18. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:15.469[4]; 19. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.483[17]; 20. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:15.532[12]; 21. 35-Parker Foster, 00:15.542[5]; 22. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:15.566[20]; 23. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:15.592[19]; 24. AUS1-Joe Chalmers, 00:15.704[22]
Group B Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:14.788[19]; 2. 22*-Max McLaughlin, 00:14.927[20]; 3. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:15.023[2]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:15.029[22]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:15.124[12]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:15.125[23]; 7. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:15.172[6]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.215[1]; 9. 25-Jason Feger, 00:15.221[14]; 10. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:15.272[16]; 11. 97JR-Cody Overton, 00:15.293[4]; 12. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:15.303[13]; 13. 18C-Chase Junghans, 00:15.318[5]; 14. 9T-Tim Isenberg, 00:15.340[8]; 15. 10P-Paul Parker, 00:15.360[18]; 16. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:15.375[10]; 17. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.419[24]; 18. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:15.450[17]; 19. 28M-Sam Mars, 00:15.468[21]; 20. 57-Mike Marlar, 00:15.487[3]; 21. 31-Kye Blight, 00:15.507[7]; 22. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:15.649[9]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.652[11]; 24. 90-Lance Matthees, 00:15.814[15]
Hot Laps: 1. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:14.357[3]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:14.476[6]; 3. 11H-Lance Hofer, 00:14.491[7]; 4. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.508[1]; 5. 11G-James Giossi, 00:14.567[2]; 6. 55C-Chad Mahder, 00:14.569[15]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:14.592[16]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:14.602[25]; 9. 15-Nick Anvelink, 00:14.631[13]; 10. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:14.672[8]; 11. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:14.707[24]; 12. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:14.715[43]; 13. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:14.758[4]; 14. 71-Hudson O’Neal, 00:14.773[9]; 15. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:14.786[26]; 16. 1-Tim McCreadie, 00:14.787[18]; 17. 18C-Chase Junghans, 00:14.821[29]; 18. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:14.824[36]; 19. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:14.828[14]; 20. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:14.839[11]; 21. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:14.850[47]; 22. 25-Jason Feger, 00:14.905[38]; 23. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 00:14.937[21]; 24. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:14.948[19]; 25. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:14.966[46]; 26. 22*-Max McLaughlin, 00:14.979[44]; 27. 10P-Paul Parker, 00:15.000[42]; 28. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:15.006[33]; 29. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:15.031[40]; 30. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:15.090[17]; 31. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:15.097[12]; 32. 57-Mike Marlar, 00:15.121[27]; 33. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:15.128[41]; 34. 31-Kye Blight, 00:15.203[31]; 35. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:15.236[34]; 36. 35-Parker Foster, 00:15.253[5]; 37. 90-Lance Matthees, 00:15.285[39]; 38. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:15.290[23]; 39. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.309[48]; 40. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.312[35]; 41. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:15.335[10]; 42. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:15.371[37]; 43. 97JR-Cody Overton, 00:15.507[28]; 44. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:15.515[30]; 45. 9T-Tim Isenberg, 00:16.036[32]; 46. AUS1-Joe Chalmers, 00:16.146[22]; 47. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:16.146[20]; 48. 28M-Sam Mars, 00:16.146[45]