SHARON SMOOTH: Bobby Pierce Wins 25th World of Outlaws Feature at Sharon Speedway
The reigning Series champion worked his way back to the lead in a $10,000 payday
HARTFORD, OH (July 12, 2024) – Bobby Pierce has found his stride and nothing is slowing him down.
After a hiccup that had Pierce work from a setback, the Oakwood, IL native won his seventh World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models Feature of 2024 at Hartford, OH racetrack Sharon Speedway.
Pierce began the 40-lap Feature from the pole but immediately dropped back to fourth after missing his mark into Turn 1, opening the door for Marshalltown, IA driver Ryan Gustin to take the lead.
The labor was laid out for Pierce to carve his way back towards the lead by overtaking Robeline, LA driver Cade Dillard for third, then took over second place from Mooresville, NC driver Nick Hoffman.
Pierce kept the train chugging towards the lead as Gustin got caught behind lapped traffic in his racing line, evaporating the three-second lead the No.19R once held.
Using a slide job through Turns 3 and 4, Pierce took his No.32 machine to the top of the scoring pylon with the crossed signals from the flagstand marking the halfway point of the Feature.
Pierce never relinquished the lead once he took full command of the Feature by slicing through the traffic to expand his lead by over one and a half seconds over the field as the “Smooth Operator” locked up his third consecutive Series win in July.
“The start was sketchy and had me a little nervous,” Pierce said. “I was like ‘f***, we screwed ourselves,’ it was slimy when we took the green and the hard tire did not like that. But, we finally got going and started digging and I saw Gustin was about half a straightaway ahead of us. We were reeling him in, so once I slid him and got clear off of Turn 4, I got that clean air and then it felt bad in the last 10 laps.
“This place gets really slick and super icy, and most tracks aren’t like that so it was tricky. The car was great. Fortunately, we didn’t lose too many positions, but it worked out and I can’t wait to see what the place is like for a 50-lap race tomorrow.”
Dillard worked his way up toward a second-place finish as Hoffman slipped and lost multiple positions late in the running.
“We were fortunate with where we started,” Dillard said. “We had a really good car. Obviously, Bobby has been lights out so to run second to him is good for us. We needed a good run with all the bad luck lately. Hopefully, we can do better tomorrow night but I’ll take a podium finish all night long.”
Gustin secured a podium spot after losing momentum from Pierce taking the lead from him. “The Reaper” will try again to win $15,000 at the Hartford, OH track on Saturday night.
“We missed it a little bit on the setup,” Gustin said. “It is what it is. It’s what these two-day shows are like. If you don’t win the first night, you learn from it and go on to the next one.”
Brandon, FL driver Kyle Bronson finished fourth to score his seventh top-five finish of the 2024 season, and Hoffman finished fifth to wrap up the night at Sharon.
RECAP NOTES:
Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Brian Shirley
Simpson Quick Time Award: Ryan Gustin
Heat Race Winners: Ryan Gustin, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley, Nick Hoffman
Last Chance Showdown Winners: Dave Hess Jr
Bilstein Pole Award: Bobby Pierce
Fox Factory Hard Charger: Gregg Satterlee
Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models get set for a $15,000 showdown on Saturday night at Sharon Speedway on July 13. Including the on-track action, the track will feature several off-track activities for fans on Saturday, including a cornhole tournament at noon (ET), water games in the campground on 2 p.m. and an autograph session at 4:30 p.m.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision.
CASE Late Model Feature (40 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[5]; 3. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[9]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman[2]; 6. B5-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 7. 02-Michael Norris[6]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 10. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 11. 22*-Max McLaughlin[13]; 12. 44-Dave Hess Jr[17]; 13. 22-Gregg Satterlee[20]; 14. 97JR-Cody Overton[10]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[14]; 16. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[15]; 17. 16-Tyler Bruening[12]; 18. 57T-Matt Tifft[16]; 19. 14W-Dustin Walker[23]; 20. 12-Doug Drown[24]; 21. 1Z-Logan Zarin[19]; 22. 9S-Breyton Santee[21]; 23. 1C-Alex Ferree[18]; 24. 217-Eric Wilson[22]