Bobby Pierce Sweeps Iowa; Claims Victory at Hamilton County

Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce and Brian Shirley in Victory Lane after competing at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa. (Photo: Emily Schwanke | World Racing Group)

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa — The World of Outlaws late models packed up their belongings and moved just a few hours away from their Monday night home of Independence Motor Speedway to none other than Hamilton County Speedway.

Kyle Bronson and Brandon Sheppard led the 24-car lineup to the starting area, and at the drop of the green flag, Bronson shot out ahead of Sheppard to maintain the lead. As they raced throughout the first corner, Bronson drifted up high coming out of Turn 2 and got fishtailed a little bit, giving both Sheppard and third-place runner Tyler Bruening an advantage. By the time they got to Turn 3, Bruening was in the lead with Sheppard following close behind.

Coming out of Turn 2 seemed to be the worst area of the track because the next time around, Bruening lost the lead to Sheppard. Bruening was riding the middle lane and Sheppard took the top, allowing him to slide down in front of him on the back stretch to take over first.

Meanwhile, Bronson fought for position with Cody Laney and Bobby Pierce, who won Monday night’s event and was gunning for another. Going into the next set of turns, Pierce went high while Bronson went low, and Pierce was able to take over third from Bronson. Bronson lost another position as well when Laney followed right behind Pierce to claim fourth.

Kyle Bronson competing at Hamilton County Speedway in Webster City, Iowa. (Photo: Emily Schwanke | World Racing Group)

On a Lap 4 restart following Dustin Walker spinning in Turn 4, the tides turned and Pierce closed the gap between himself and Sheppard. Pierce ran the low side while Sheppard ran the top, and for a solid three laps, it was a game of cat-and-mouse. Finally, Pierce was able to find the momentum and speed needed to get past Sheppard, and he did so going into Turn 3. However, Sheppard was not giving up that easily and coming out of Turn 4, they swapped lanes and engaged in a drag race of which Sheppard was the victor. The same thing happened on Lap 8, but instead of Sheppard winning the drag race, it was Pierce.

Lap 25 saw an intense battle between Cade Dillard, Ryan Gustin and Brian Shirley, all vying for the fifth position. Dillard, who was in fifth, felt the pressure from the side and the back as that was where Shirley and Gustin were coming in hot. Coming out of Turn 2, it looked like an extremely close battle, but Gustin faded a little, giving Shirley the only advantage. Dillard went low while Shirley went high, and this proved to be a mistake for Dillard as Shirley slid down in front of him coming off of the next set of curves to take over fifth.

Another restart occurred on Lap 30 after Dillard slowed in Turn 4, and this proved to be a most interesting restart because Max McLaughlin got past Sheppard to take the second-place spot. Unfortunately, that position was short-lived. Shirley came up on McLaughlin’s bottom side and ran in front of him to take over runner-up down the front stretch. McLaughlin was able to stay in third though, even though Sheppard was right there in fourth…for half a track. Sheppard took over third going through Turns 1 and 2.

Pierce was able to stay out front ahead of hard-charger Shirley to go back-to-back in the Hawkeye State, and win the 35-lap A-Main. Shirley, Sheppard, McLaughlin and Bruening rounded out the top five.

“I got to the bottom right away in Turn 1 and it stuck really good,” said the “Smooth Operator” about his win and car. “It felt really good right off the bat and I kind of felt like I could go anywhere. Really fun racetrack. Huge thanks to Longhorn for building this car. We’re two-for-two so far, and we’ll see if we can keep it up.”