SHARON SMOOTH: Bobby Pierce Wins 25th World of Outlaws Feature at Sharon Speedway

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]

The World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: CASE Construction Equipment (Official Construction Equipment), DIRTVision (Official Live Broadcast Partner), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), iRacing (Official Online Racing Game), Racing Electronics (Official Radio Supplier), Simpson Performance Products (Preferred Safety Gear Partner), SIS Insurance (Official Insurance Provider), Toyota (Official Vehicle), and VP Racing (Official Racing Fuel). Contingency sponsors include: Arizona Sport Shirts/Gotta Race, ARP (Automotive Racing Products), Cometic Gasket, COMP Cams, Evolve Transporters, Fox Factory (Hard Charger Award), MD3, MSD, Penske Racing Shocks, Quarter Master, Swift Springs, WELD Racing, and Wieland Metal Services (Exclusive Racing Aluminum); along with manufacturer sponsors, including, Behrent’s Performance Warehouse, Bilstein, Capital Race Cars, Dirt King Simulators, FAST 1 Speed Shop, FIREBULL, Gorsuch Performance, Integra Shocks, Intercomp, Reliable Painting, Rocket Chassis, and Sea Foam.

Founded in 1978, the World of Outlaws®, based in Concord, NC, is the premier national touring series for dirt track racing in North America, featuring the most powerful cars on dirt, the World of Outlaws NOS® Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Annually, the two series race nearly 140 times at tracks across the United States and Canada. CBS Sports Network is the official broadcast partner of the World of Outlaws. DIRTVision® also broadcasts World of Outlaws events over the Internet to fans around the world. Learn more about the World of Outlaws.

Sources: Matt Skipper, World of Outlaws Late Model Series PR