TESTAMENT OF HEART: Brian Shirley Wins First Night of Hawkeye 100 at Maquoketa Speedway

Shirley led all 40 laps for his third Feature win of the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season

MAQUOKETA, IA (August 16, 2024) – Brian Shirley has proven himself to be one of the toughest dirt Late Model drivers to defeat in the second half of the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models season.

The Chatham, IL driver earned a special opening Feature win at Maquoketa Speedway with a heavy heart on his chest after fellow dirt Late Model champion, Scott Bloomquist passed away on Friday and his wife, Shannon, entered treatment for an illness on Monday.

“Truthfully, with the sad news about Scott and what’s been going on with my wife is hard. She’s had an illness for a little while now, it’s been tough and some don’t understand the heartache that we go through. It tugs on the heartstrings a little bit. Family is most important, but (Friday) shows you’re here one day and gone the next. So, that tells the tale of my emotions and how tough it’s been. I’m thankful for all the good glory to God because today is a testament of heart.”

Shirley began the night with a Heat race win, then rolled off for the 40 Lap, $10,000-to-win Feature from the outside lane of the front row.

On the opening lap of the race, Shirley used his momentum on the outside to pick up speed off of Turn 2 to pass by Decorah, IA driver Tyler Bruening for the lead.

Shirley’s lead was assisted by Bruening being marred in a battle with Oakwood, IL driver Bobby Pierce and Marshalltown, IA driver Ryan Gustin for second place.

Shirley had to fend off the three drivers through restarts that gave the field a chance to pounce on the No.3S Bob Cullen Racing Late Model with Gustin running the high line while Pierce ran the bottom line and slowly drifting up to the middle around the track.

When lapped cars became a factor late in the race, Shirley had to get creative with his ways of slicing through the traffic to keep Pierce and Gustin away from getting a chance to pass him.

Bruening came into the picture late and challenged the three drivers by waiting to make a move when a mistake by either driver was exposed.

Pierce got into a tight battle with the two for the lead and lost momentum to give Bruening an open chance to cross under the reigning Series champion for a podium spot.

Though Gustin continued to chase down Shirley, he was no match as “Squirrel” crossed the finish line to win his third race of the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season – the most he’s done since 2016.

“This was something really cool,” Shirley said. “A lot of guys are really good in our sport like Brandon (Sheppard), Bobby (Pierce), Josh (Richards), Darrell (Lanigan), even Scott (Bloomquist) have gone back to back on Feature wins. To put ourselves in a little bit of a different category from everyone else is really cool.

Gustin finished second to Shirley for his 12th top-10 finish in the last 13 races – a streak that began at River Cities Speedway in June.

“I definitely think we had a shot there,” Gustin said. “I think we had a shot had the lapped car had not moved him up and he was right in my lane. It is what it is, we have a really fast racecar right now. I mean, we’ve shown a lot of speed, just really looking for these wins. It’s been an extremely tough day here for everybody. I was pretty close to Scott for the last five years, and it definitely hurts.”

Bruening wound up with a third-place result to earn his second consecutive podium finish – a new  Series feat for the driver of the Skyline Motorsports No.16 Longhorn Chassis.

“This sport is a lot of fun when you’re running good and the car is good. You don’t come in all distraught and destroyed and getting run into. This is such a huge confidence booster. We’ve had the car to run in the top five all year, we just got tangled up in silly stuff or early wrecks. You gotta put a whole night together. When that happens, you gotta have a little luck too. We’re starting to get that stuff to come our way. It’s never too late to get a win so we’re gonna keep digging.”

Pierce went on to finish fourth. With his performance, along with issues hampering Mooresville, NC driver Nick Hoffman throughout the Feature, the “Smooth Operator” passed Hoffman in the standings to claim second place in the Series title fight. He sits 58 points back of New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard with 10 races to go until the season finale at World of Outlaws World Finals.

Robeline, LA driver Cade Dillard finished fifth on Friday night to create his mark in the points standings by overtaking Brandon, FL driver Kyle Bronson for fourth place.

RECAP NOTES:

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Chad Simpson

Simpson Quick Time Award: Cody Overton

Heat Race Winners: Tyler Bruening, Ryan Gustin, Bobby Pierce, Brian Shirley

Last Chance Showdown Winners: Cody Laney, Dustin Sorensen

Bilstein Pole Award: Tyler Bruening

Fox Factory Hard Charger Award: Shannon Babb (+12)

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models battle in the final 2024 Series race in Iowa for the first Hawkeye 100 event victory at Maquoketa Speedway on Saturday, Aug. 17.

In addition to the racing on the track at Maquoketa, there will be off-track activities for fans to enjoy on Saturday, including a car show from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., a kids zone from 12 p.m.-4 p.m., the Hoker Trucking Toys for Tots donation drive, a driver autograph session at 4:30 p.m., and a cornhole tournament starting at 12:30 p.m.

Get tickets for Maquoketa Speedway HERE

For more information about the upcoming events in the 2024 World of Outlaws CASE Late Models season, CLICK HERE.

If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap of the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models season on DIRTVision – through your computer or mobile device.

CASE Late Model Feature (40 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[1]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 5. 97-Cade Dillard[7]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[11]; 8. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[9]; 9. 18-Shannon Babb[21]; 10. 22*-Max McLaughlin[8]; 11. B5-Brandon Sheppard[12]; 12. 25S-Chad Simpson[10]; 13. 8-Dillon McCowan[15]; 14. 19-Dustin Sorensen[18]; 15. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 16. 75-Daniel Adam[16]; 17. 97JR-Cody Overton[19]; 18. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[14]; 19. 89-Mike Spatola[22]; 20. 32B-Cody Laney[17]; 21. 9-Nick Hoffman[6]; 22. 38-Thomas Hunziker[13]; 23. 14W-Dustin Walker[24]; 24. B1-Brent Larson[23]