Brian Shirley Makes It Back-To-Back Wins at Maquoketa

Brian Shirley competing at Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa, Iowa. (Photo: Emily Schwanke | World Racing Group)

MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Brian Shirley headed to Maquoketa Speedway for the Hawkeye 100 weekend after winning for his wife at Highland on Wednesday night. Determined to get another victory for her, Shirley was focused on Friday. 

Night one of the Hawkeye 100 weekend saw a 40-lap race start off with Shirley and Tyler Bruening on the front row. As they mashed their gas pedals, “Squirrel” and Bruening were side-by-side until Turn 4 when Shirley was able to pass Bruening on the bottom for the lead.

One lap later, Bruening faced the same heat, but this time with none other than Bobby Pierce. Pierce stayed to his inside like a hummingbird at a feeder until Turn 2 when he eased his nose out ahead of Bruening to come out in front of him for the runner-up spot.

At the end of Lap 7, Nick Hoffman and Tristan Chamberlain went at it for seventh. Hoffman stayed to the bottom as the two of them ran right next to each other, but it was not long before the rookie could not hold Hoffman off any longer and Hoffman was able to slide-job him.

Bruening could not catch a break on Friday no matter what he did. On Lap 10, Kyle Bronson and Ryan Gustin came up out of nowhere to challenge Bruening for third. Bronson took to the bottom to try and slide-job him, and Gustin was running the rail in an attempt to sail past him. It took him a while, but Gustin ended up passing both Bronson and Bruening for third running the top line of the track.

On a momentum streak, Gustin did not let up going onto the backstretch, and ended up overtaking Pierce for second as they hit Turn 3 on the next lap. 

Lap 21 saw Shirley lap cars left and right, but Gustin was so close that he could probably smell Shirley’s exhaust fumes. Shirley ended up getting around the pack of lapped cars in front of him to put some space between himself and Gustin. Gustin was not able to pass them as effectively as Shirley. Pierce saw this and dove to the bottom to attempt to pass Gustin going down the back chute, but it ended up being unsuccessful as Gustin had found the cushion. 

Tyler Bruening competing at Maquoketa Speedway in Maquoketa, Iowa. (Photo: Emily Schwanke | World Racing Group)

At this point, Dennis Erb Jr., who was a lapped car, became a factor in the race. Shirley, in an effort to get around him, went up high. This proved to be a disaster for the “Squirrel” because Pierce got around both him and Gustin for the lead. However, the lead was only held for a quarter of a second before the caution was thrown for Erb, who had come to a stop going into Turn 1.

Shirley must have liked how the car felt up top for those few seconds, even if he did almost lose the lead, because that was where he chose to restart for the green flag. Pierce gave him a good run for his money, getting his nose ahead of Shirley multiple times and even taking over the lead on occasion, but Shirley was hooked up and held the lead.

Behind them, Gustin and Bruening battled it out for third in the same way that Pierce and Shirley were. Gustin had figured out before Shirley that the top was superior at Maquoketa, so even though Bruening got his nose ahead of Gustin, he could not make anything happen.

Lap 34 saw Gustin switch lanes though, but only to draft himself forward to get ahead of Pierce. As they went down the frontstretch, Gustin went to the bottom to try to avoid the lapped cars, but he got stuck between one and Pierce. That ended up working out in his favor though, because he was able to draft himself ahead of Pierce to claim second going into Turn 3.

Gustin got a good run on Shirley with the remaining two laps, but Shirley was able to hold him off to get back-to-back wins, as well as his tenth career victory with the World of Outlaws.

“[It takes a] little bit of luck, and this new car has been pretty good for us,” said Shirley about winning the race. “I called my wife after we won the Heat and she was a little bit out of it, but she was happy that we won. So I feel that this [win] is the good Lord telling us that everything’s gonna be alright.”