Bobby Pierce carries momentum into Thursday night Cedar Lake opener

Bobby Pierce led all 25 laps

Coming off a win earlier in the week at Boone Speedway, Bobby Pierce parlayed that momentum going into the USA Nationals weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway. The ‘Smooth Operator’ led all the way to score the Thursday night preliminary win leading into Saturday’s $50,000-to-win main event.

The Longhorn Chassis driver from Oakwood, Illinois earned $6,000 from the track located in New Richmond, WI in a race shown live by DirtVision.com.

A total of 48 cars were signed in for competition

Qualifying Results:

Group A Results- 1. Shannon Babb(12.950), 2. Tanner English, 3. Bobby Pierce, 4. Ashton Winger, 5. Ricky Thornton Jr., 6. Gordy Gundaker, 7. Brian Shirley, 8. Kyle Bronson

Group B Results- 1. Cade Dillard(13.093), 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Jonathan Davenport, 4. Hudson O’Neal, 5. Kye Blight, 6. Tyler Erb, 7. Daulton Wilson, 8. Drake Troutman

Heat 1 Results: 1. Brian Shirley, 2. Johnny Scott, 3. Shannon Babb

Heat 2 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Tanner English, 3. Dennis Erb Jr.

Heat 3 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Chad Mahder

Heat 4 Results: 1. Hudson O’Neal, 2. Cade Dillard, 3. Daulton Wilson

Heat 5 Results: 1. Brandon Sheppard, 2. Kye Blight, 3. Drake Troutman

Heat 6 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Tyler Erb, 3. Daniel Hilsabeck

Last Chance Showdown 1 Finish: 1. Kyle Bronson, 2. Nick Hoffman

Last Chance Showdown  2 Finish: 1. Jake Timm, 2. Chris Madden

Last Chance Showdown 3 Finish: 1. Ethan Dotson, 2. Ryan Gustin

WoO Redraw Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Jonathan Davenport, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Brandon Sheppard, 5. Hudson O’Neal, 6. Brian Shirley

Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 25-lap feature it was Pierce who surged to the lead ahead of Davenport, Thornton, Sheppard and O’Neal. Sheppard passed Thornton for third on the second lap just before Hilsabeck spun to bring out a caution. 

Sheppard took second away from Davenport in a three-wide battle that also involved Thornton on the restart but Davenport would retake the position one lap later before a caution for a second Hilsabeck spin.

Sheppard moved to second on lap 7 taking the spot away from Davenport. Further back, O’Neal entered the top-5 passing Shirley. The front runners began to catch the tail of the field.

Davenport, Shirley and O’Neal engaged in a fierce fight for positions 4-6 just after the halfway. Meanwhile at the front of the field, Sheppard closed on Pierce in traffic. The top-3 of Pierce, Sheppard and Thornton ran in tight formation as the laps clicked off.

In the end, it was Pierce who would slip away and drive to the win.

Feature Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Brandon Sheppard, 3. Ricky Thornton Jr., 4. Brian Shirley, 5. Hudson O’Neal, 6. Jonathan Davenport, 7. Tanner English, 8. Cade Dillard, 9. Shannon Babb, 10. Shane Clanton, 11. Dennis Erb Jr., 12. Kyle Bronson, 13. Kye Blight, 14. Chris Madden, 15. Johnny Scott, 16. Tyler Erb, 17. Ryan Gustin, 18. Daulton Wilson, 19. Ethan Dotson, 20. Chad Mahder, 21. Nick Hoffman, 22. Gordy Gundaker, 23. Brent Larson, 24. Jake Timm, 25. Todd Cooney, 26. Dustin Walker, 27. Drake Troutman, 28. Daniel Hilsabeck

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