QUARTER MILE MASTER: World of Outlaws Late Models’ 900th Feature Race Sees Bobby Pierce Score First Path Valley Win 

The “Smooth Operator” tapped into his Illinois roots to capture the first Feature race at Path Valley Speedway

SPRING RUN, PA (May 19, 2024) – With a large points gap starting to get even bigger, Bobby Pierce needed momentum. After four straight podium finishes, he didn’t finish better than 10th in his last two World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series races. 

That changed at Path Valley Speedway Sunday night. He powered from eighth to the win, scoring his second Feature win of 2024 at a new track that suited the Oakwood, IL native’s driving style. 

Beginning the bullring battle in the eighth position, Pierce immediately moved up to the sixth position and tried finding any sweet spot for him to find an edge to place himself in contention to win the 40-lap Feature. 

Pierce used every open lane of the Spring Run, PA track to maneuver his No.32, moving into the top-three with the halfway mark shown on the flag stand. 

With laps ticking down, the urgency to get to the lead had Pierce doing what he does best, ripping the high line around a short track. 

He got by New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard, then tracked down Pennsylvania native Mason Zeigler for the top spot. 

With Zeigler stuck behind lapped traffic, Pierce took his chance, nailing the throttle off Turn 2 to fly by him, squeezing through the slower cars in his way, to take the Feature lead. 

From there, Pierce used any lane he could to gap Zeigler, who began using the middle lane to try and run down the defending Series champion. 

However, Zeigler’s efforts weren’t enough to catch the “Smooth Operator,” who took home the landmark win in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series’ 900th Feature Race. 

“First off, this place was really badass,” Pierce said. “I was looking forward to it for sure. We struggled in Hot Laps, so it had me really worried to start. We worked on it and had a good qualifying effort. Drew the eight in the pill draw and I was like ‘Man, I don’t think we’ll be able to get ‘er done.’ But we had a good car, and I can’t thank my crew enough. 

“The track really came around to me cause I snookered the guys up in Turns 1 and 2. It was a super fun race all around, we caught some breaks here and there and it was just an awesome race track. I thought they over-watered the track, but it was all it took to make two lanes out there. We really needed that, badly.” 

Zeigler, of Chalk Hill, PA, crossed the finish line second in the Feature, left wondering what could have been if he had known it was Pierce running him down. 

“I could’ve done some things different,” Zeigler said. “In that condition, I was judging the drivers on the outside that I was trying to lap, and he wasn’t gaining much on the lapped car on the inside, but he wasn’t no Bobby Pierce. I didn’t know who was coming up from behind me and where they were running. I could hear cars all around me because it was such a small racetrack, so if I had known it was Bobby coming after me, I probably would have moved up or be more aggressive.  

“It is what it is, hindsight if I go up and try it and goof it one time, maybe he gets by anyway. Whenever he got by me and I found the middle, it was too late. I just made the mistake of not being in the right places.” 

Sheppard came home in third, a needed rebound after finishing 17th and eighth the last two races. With it, he closed back in on the points lead – now four points behind Series points leader Nick Hoffman, who finished seventh. 

“The biggest consistency is our inconsistency,” Sheppard said. “I’ll take tonight for what it is. We had a solid night, the car felt pretty good, and we gotta repeat it. We did a few different things with setting up the car tonight and I felt better in certain situations, so we may have something there that we can take and race a little bit. That’s where we’ve been struggling, and we’ve got to find something that we can take track-to-track to be up front from when we unload. Just gotta keep working, man… 

“I had a lot of fun at this place, the track was really cool and looked like some of the places back home, like Peoria, but different because of the dirt, of course. All in all, we had a decent night, so we’ll just take it for what it is and go to work to get that consistency in the top-five.” 

Marshalltown, IA driver Ryan Gustin came home in fourth place and 2022 Series champion Dennis Erb Jr completed Path Valley's top-five finishers.

RECAP NOTES: 

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap of the Night - Nick Hoffman 

Bilstein Pole Award - Nick Hoffman 

Simpson Quick Time Award - Cody Overton 

CASE Heat Winners - Tyler Emory (Heat 1), Mason Zeigler (Heat 2), Cody Overton (Heat 3), and Nick Hoffman (Heat 4) 

CASE Last Chance Showdown Winners - Daniel Hilsabeck and Dustin Sorensen 

FOX Factory Hard Charger Award - Kyle Bronson 

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models make their first trip to North Carolina in 2024 for two days of high-octane Memorial Day Weekend racing from Ultimate Motorsports & RV Park, May 24-25. For more information about the upcoming events in the 2024 season, CLICK HERE. 

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision. 

MOUTAINOUS CLIMB: Chris Madden Ascends 21 Positions For Comeback Win at Marion Center Raceway 

“Smokey” went from making the final transfer spot into the Feature to collecting the $15,000 payday 

MARION CENTER, PA (May 18, 2024) – Chris Madden faced an uphill battle in the mountains of Pennsylvania during the Connor Bobik Memorial at Marion Center Raceway Saturday night. 

His climb: a 21-position ascent to win the 50-lap Feature. 

He entered the night coming off his first World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model win of the season on Thursday, but that momentum didn’t translate early on. He qualified 15th in Group B of Sea Foam Qualifying and then missed a transfer spot in his Heat Race. 
 
That forced him to transfer in through the Last Chance Showdown, which he did by grabbing the final available transfer spot – placing him 22nd on the starting grid for the Feature.  

When the Feature commenced, “Smokey” didn’t waste time making his climb, using the bottom lane to pass clusters of cars. 

Multiple cautions across the 50-lap race helped keep Madden in the mix for the Feature win. 

Moving into the top five with 20 laps to go, the toughest stretch of work began for him, having to get by the leading contenders with the hourglass running out. 

He started by passing Cade Dillard and Nick Hoffman, who spent most of the race battling each other, with ease to move into second. Then, Madden evaporated the gap on race leader Kyle Bronson with 10 laps to go. 

With momentum back on his side, Madden took his chance for the lead with five laps to go by getting to the bottom of Bronson in Turn 1. They stayed side-by-side until he slid up the track to clear Bronson off of Turn 4. 

Madden used the final four laps to create as much of a gap as he could between the No. 44 and the field to score his 38th Feature win – tying with Rick Eckert for sixth in all-time Feature wins with the World of Outlaws CASE Late Models. 

“We were no good at all till the Feature,” Madden said. “We came in after the (Last Chance Showdown) and went to work on it and made an overhaul instead of tweaking a bit on the car to make it better. As a team, we came to the agreement of what we wanted to do there and did it. We had a heck of a hot rod there in the Feature, so that’s what got it done tonight.” 

Bronson crossed the finish line in second place. While losing stung, the Brandon, FL continues to push the optimism that he will capture a Feature win with the Series soon. 

“I should’ve stayed running my line there,” Bronson said. “I moved down to try and block (Madden’s) run a bit there and my signal guy was telling me he was pretty low. I just couldn’t cut like I wanted to and be able to have a smooth transition to the bottom there. I feel like we were a couple of adjustments away from being a lot better. Overall, (Madden) was really good to come from the (Last Chance Showdown) to win the damn race. We just needed three more laps to get the deal done, but overall, we’re headed in a right direction, and I think we’re in a spot where we could win a bunch of these races here.”  

Hoffman completed the night’s podium with a third-place run. After a tough battle throughout the night between him and Dillard, the Mooresville, NC driver is happy to leave Marion Center Raceway in one piece and grow his points lead to 12 points over New Berlin, IL driver Brandon Sheppard. 

“The racetrack was really good for the guy that came from 22nd, so that’s pretty impressive,” Hoffman said. “I probably just bided my time too much with Cade, and maybe played too nice to be honest. I should’ve been more aggressive and threw a slider sooner and got myself clear of him. Because once I got clear, I could track down Kyle. But the caution and going too deep into Turn 1, locked it down so I didn’t hit Kyle and got myself loose. Then, they swarmed me on both sides, so I had to go back to defense and fend off everyone, then when I got clear again, it was the white flag. My car was really good there and gave myself less work to do for tomorrow.” 

On the final lap, Sarver, PA driver Michael Norris snagged a fourth-place result on Turn 4 from Dillard as they passed the finish line - with the Robeline, LA driver scored with a fifth-place finish. 

With Madden’s win, he also continued his climb toward a potential first Series title, now sitting 28-points behind Hoffman.  

RECAP NOTES: 

Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap of the Night Award Winner – Max McLaughlin 

Bilstein Pole Award Winner – Cade Dillard 

Simpson Quick Time Award Winner – Drake Troutman 

CASE Heat Winners – Drake Troutman (Heat 1), Kyle Bronson (Heat 2), Tyler Bruening (Heat 3), Nick Hoffman (Heat 4), Cade Dillard (Heat 5), and Brandon Sheppard (Heat 6). 

CASE Last Chance Showdown Winners – Gregg Satterlee and Logan Zarin 

FOX Factory Hard Charger Award Winner – Chris Madden

Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models finish the weekend swing through Ohio and Pennsylvania with the first venture to Spring Run, PA’s Path Valley Speedway on Sunday, May 19. You can buy advanced tickets for Path Valley today at the link HERE.  

If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch every World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model race live on DIRTVision.