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Jake Smith (Nick Anderson Photo)

Smith scores again and secures 2026 Limited Mod series title at Wild West Shootout

By Meghan Diemel, Editor
All The Dirt! Racing News

CASA GRANDE, AZ (January 18) – The final night of action at the Wild West Shootout was a successful one for two-time WISSOTA National Champion Jake Smith. He drove to the victory in the Limited Modifieds at Central Arizona Raceway from his ninth starting spot on the grid, netting his second win of the series.

His standout performance throughout the two-week series, which included long drives to the front of heat races, B features and in the features, helped him top the Limited Modified Series Championship as well on Sunday, capping his time in the desert with big honors.

Other feature winners on the night included Bobby Pierce and Jeremy Payne in Late Models and Modifieds, while Hudson O’Neal and Rodney Sanders garnered the series championships in the Late Models and Modifieds, respectively.

Bobby Pierce started from the pole in the Super Late Models, taking the early lead ahead of Tyler Erb, with Hudson O’Neal third and Cade Dillard and Ethan Dotson fighting for fourth; Dotson drove into the spot one lap later, before the first caution fell for debris.

Pierce led the field back to green, with Erb in second, O’Neal in third and Alberson getting by Dotson for fourth with three laps scored. Pierce quickly had more than a straightaway lead on the battle for second between Erb and O’Neal; Erb was along the high side, with O’Neal tucked in along the bottom. Erb changed his line slightly in turns three and four and gained a bit of breathing room from O’Neal, with Alberson right on their bumpers. O’Neal fought back and closed the gap to second once more with 11 laps completed, taking the position next time around. Erb then found himself under fire from Alberson, who made the pass on Erb for third with 14 completed.

Pierce continued to dominate out front, with O’Neal steady in second, Alberson third, Erb fourth and Dotson remaining in fifth before a shredded right rear tire slowed Dustin Sorensen on the track and the caution fell with 20 laps in the books.

Back under green Pierce continued to lead, with O’Neal pressuring for the top spot; he slid Pierce to complete lap 23 and grabbed the position, holding it narrowly through the next lap before Pierce regained the position the following lap. Behind them Alberson was third, Dotson was fourth and Erb was fifth.

Another caution fell with 24 laps to go for Jake O’Neil, who had a flat tire.

Pierce held off O’Neal’s efforts on the next restart, with Alberson close behind in third. Erb was fourth and Dillard worked his way back into the top five. Alberson left the track with a mechanical issue, as out front O’Neal had healthy momentum down the backstretch on the bumper of Pierce. As the duo headed into turn three, O’Neal used a slider to regain the lead, and Pierce tried to return the favor in turn two, but contact between the two occurred as O’Neal held his line along the top side; O’Neal was turned sideways, but never came to a complete stop and the blend rule was used as the field was back under caution.

Pierce had the lead for the restart, as Erb drove by O’Neal into second, with 23rd-starter Jonathan Davenport taking fourth, and Dillard fifth. O’Neal shuffled Erb back to third with 16 laps to go, as Davenport moved by Erb a lap later for third. Dillard remained in fifth.

With more than a 2 second lead, Pierce continued to lead the pack out front, with O’Neal under heavy pressure from Davenport with 13 to go before the caution fell for Jake Timm, who had a flat right rear tire.

Following the restart Davenport blasted past O’Neal for second as Pierce led the field in the lead. Erb was fourth and Dillard was fifth. Pierce continued to build upon his lead, as Davenport was solid in second ahead of O’Neal, with Erb close behind in fourth with seven to go. Dustin Sorensen was up into fifth from his 11th starting spot.

As the laps wound down, Davenport had a late-stage push but came up short from Pierce, as Pierce drove to the victory. O’Neal, Erb and Sorensen completed the top five.

Amelia (1) and Laela (15) Eisenschenk (Nick Anderson Photo)

Of those WISSOTA-licensed drivers who made the feature, Amelia Eisenschenk was 16th and Laela Eisenschenk was 23rd.

In the Limited Modifieds Keenan Glasser was the early leader ahead of Curtis Stieh, Rob Mosely, Bryson Yeager and Cole Suckow in the top five. The red flag then fell for Blake Davis, who was over on his side after riding the backstretch fence in a scary incident with only two laps complete; Davis was okay.

Back under green Stieh was the leader, with Glasser in second under pressure from Suckow. Former WISSOTA National Champion Jake Smith was in fourth after starting ninth, and Mosely was fifth. With eight laps scored the battle between Stieh and Suckow heated up and they were side by side for second before Suckow hit a rut along the low side of the track and spun, bringing the field back under yellow.

Following the restart Stieh was still in the lead, but as they worked through turn two Glasser hit the same hole and was stalled along the low side of the track, keeping the field at a standstill.

Smith used the next green lap to hustle past Stieh along the low side, surviving the notorious rough patch to take the lead coming to the start/finish line with 14 laps to go. Moseley was third, Jeremy Haddox was fourth, and Yeager was racing in fifth.

Smith continued to add to his advantage over the course of the remaining 10 laps and onto the checkered flag. Stieh was solid in second, as Rodin worked his way forward in the closing laps to finish third. Mosely and Haddox completed the top five.

Other WISSOTA racers on hand who made the feature included Parker Anderson (6th), Scott Bintz (10th), Duke Erickson (11th), Scott Tofte (13th), and Brandon Rehill (23rd).

Jeremy Payne was the early leader from the front row in the Modifieds, as Talan Willis held second, Lance Mari was third, Jake Gallardo was fourth and Carlos Ahumada Jr. was fifth. A tire came off Cale Murphrey’s ride and the caution came out and regrouped the field.

Payne led the restart with four laps scored, as Willis climbed the track and allowed Gallardo by into the runner-up spot. Mark Dotson was then spun in turn two and the field was back under yellow.

With the green flag back out over the field, Payne was the leader once more, as Gallardo held second ahead of Mari. Willis was fourth, but was under heavy pressure from Dustin Strand and Gabe Hodges; Strand grabbed the spot just before the yellow flew for a spun Rodney Sanders, who had hooked the rough patch and came to a stop.

Payne was the leader back under green once more, pulling away from Gallardo and Mari in the top three. Strand was on the move, pulling even with Mari in the turns, but the caution then fell for Tyler Davis, who had a flat tire.

Back underway Payne held the lead, with Mari blasting past Gallardo into second, and Gallardo was then left to fend off Strand. Gallardo worked back into contention for second, as Mari’s car began to show smoke. Strand was fourth, with Hodges fifth. A caution then fell with 13 laps scored for Mark Dotson. During the first attempt at the restart Tyler Davis was spun into the wall.

Payne continued the lead when the green dropped for the final 12-lap dash to the finish. Gallardo was second, Mari was third, Hunter Sandy raced into fourth and Hodges was fifth. A lap later Mari regained second, but it was brief as Gallardo moved back into the spot. Gallardo then had to fend off Sandy, who was pressuring him to the inside; with five laps to go Sandy took the spot. Hodges worked past Mari into fourth, with Strand doing the same to take fifth.

The No. 186 continued to dominate to the checkered flag, finishing ahead of Sandy, Hodges, Gallardo, and Strand in the top five.

Former WISSOTA National Champion Blake Jegtvig was 17th in the field to complete the WISSOTA competitors who made the final feature Sunday.

SUMMARY

Super Late Models:

A Feature 1 (50 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 49-Jonathan Davenport[23]; 3. 6-Hudson O'Neal[4]; 4. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 5. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[21]; 7. 74X-Ethan Dotson[6]; 8. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 9. 22*-Drake Troutman[9]; 10. B5-Brandon Sheppard[19]; 11. 15S-Clay Stuckey[10]; 12. 0-Jake O'Neil[15]; 13. 49T-Jake Timm[16]; 14. 15D-Justin Duty[5]; 15. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 16. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[18]; 17. 8-Dillon McCowan[14]; 18. 128-Kylan Garner[17]; 19. 58-Garrett Alberson[8]; 20. 19R-Ryan Gustin[13]; 21. 9T-Tim Isenberg[20]; 22. 82-Eston Whisler[24]; 23. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[22]; 24. 13-Bricen James[12]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 15D-Justin Duty[3]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[6]; 4. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 5. 128-Kylan Garner[8]; 6. 75A-Daniel Adam[7]; 7. 86-Kyle Beard[5]; 8. 75-Terry Phillips[9]; 9. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[4]; 4. 0-Jake O'Neil[3]; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard[7]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 7. 66-Eli Ross[6]; 8. 4TW-Tim Ward[8]; 9. 11X-Austin Kuehl[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 6-Hudson O'Neal[1]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[2]; 3. 15S-Clay Stuckey[3]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 5. 9T-Tim Isenberg[6]; 6. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[5]; 7. 88-Chance Mann[8]; 8. 15*-Cole Schill[9]; 9. 82-Eston Whisler[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 97-Cade Dillard[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 13-Bricen James[4]; 4. 49T-Jake Timm[3]; 5. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[5]; 6. 21F-Gunner Frank[7]; 7. 6T-Terry Carter[8]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 9. 96-RC Whitwell[9]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 128-Kylan Garner[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[4]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[9]; 5. 75A-Daniel Adam[3]; 6. 66-Eli Ross[6]; 7. 4TW-Tim Ward[8]; 8. 86-Kyle Beard[5]; 9. 75-Terry Phillips[7]; 10. 11X-Austin Kuehl[10]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1X-Amelia Eisenschenk[3]; 2. 9T-Tim Isenberg[1]; 3. 15-Laela Eisenschenk[2]; 4. 82-Eston Whisler[9]; 5. 15*-Cole Schill[7]; 6. 21F-Gunner Frank[4]; 7. 6T-Terry Carter[6]; 8. 88-Chance Mann[5]; 9. 78S-Steve Stultz[8]; 10. 96-RC Whitwell[10]

Modifieds:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 186-Jeremy Payne[2]; 2. 12S-Hunter Sandy[15]; 3. 7G-Gabe Hodges[7]; 4. J17-Jake Gallardo[4]; 5. 71-Dustin Strand[10]; 6. 20S-Rodney Sanders[16]; 7. 5-Reece Solander[18]; 8. 19SB-Lance Mari[5]; 9. 2SS-Mark Smith[3]; 10. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[6]; 11. 38T-Dylan Thornton[19]; 12. 4W-Tyler Wolff[9]; 13. 07X-Troy Morris III[11]; 14. 24-Rick Ortega[13]; 15. 58X-Gary Christian[14]; 16. 10M-Talan Willis[1]; 17. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[21]; 18. 91-Joe Duvall[20]; 19. 65-Tyler Davis[22]; 20. 721-Troy Gemmill[24]; 21. 85D-Mark Dotson[8]; 22. 25-Kale Murphrey[12]; 23. G17-Fito Gallardo[23]; 24. 24C-Joe Chisholm[17]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 7G-Gabe Hodges[2]; 2. 186-Jeremy Payne[7]; 3. 91-Joe Duvall[4]; 4. 19-Dustin Sorensen[6]; 5. 19SB-Lance Mari[12]; 6. 38T-Dylan Thornton[9]; 7. 80XX-Jason Langford[3]; 8. 131-Royal Jones[5]; 9. 17-Brent Holman[11]; 10. 11N-Gene Nicholas[8]; 11. 111-Logan Drake[1]; 12. 57-Gage McCaughan[10]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 85D-Mark Dotson[2]; 2. 2SS-Mark Smith[5]; 3. 65X-Carlos Ahumada Jr[7]; 4. 07X-Troy Morris III[9]; 5. 24-Rick Ortega[11]; 6. 12-Jay Rosales[6]; 7. 5-Reece Solander[12]; 8. 81-Devon Jobin[8]; 9. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[10]; 10. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[4]; 11. 14X-CJ Thorne[3]; 12. 73-Jeff Helget[1]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 58X-Gary Christian[1]; 2. 25-Kale Murphrey[4]; 3. 20S-Rodney Sanders[5]; 4. 112-Brennan Gave[2]; 5. 721-Troy Gemmill[8]; 6. 19R-Lucas Rodin[10]; 7. P17-Peyton Gallardo[11]; 8. 97A-Cole Anderson[9]; 9. J7-Jake Boles[6]; 10. L8-Ethan Stevens[12]; 11. 520T-Lukas Tellez[3]; 12. 58-Devon Reed[7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 4W-Tyler Wolff[2]; 2. J17-Jake Gallardo[5]; 3. 75-Terry Phillips[1]; 4. 24C-Joe Chisholm[7]; 5. 151-Lucas Gibbs[6]; 6. 50-Robert Adams[8]; 7. 44-Christy Barnett[4]; 8. 96-Taton Hansen[11]; 9. 29-Chris Spalding[10]; 10. 26S-Steven Glenn[9]; 11. 97TB-Tyson Blood[3]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 71-Dustin Strand[2]; 2. 10M-Talan Willis[8]; 3. 88XXX-Randy Klein[1]; 4. 20-Cole Queensland[3]; 5. 12S-Hunter Sandy[10]; 6. G17-Fito Gallardo[7]; 7. 65-Tyler Davis[9]; 8. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[4]; 9. 6F-Matt Fester[6]; 10. 46-Paul Miles[5]; 11. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[11]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 24C-Joe Chisholm[1]; 2. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 3. 2J-Blake Jegtvig[14]; 4. G17-Fito Gallardo[8]; 5. 20-Cole Queensland[6]; 6. 81-Devon Jobin[12]; 7. 19R-Lucas Rodin[3]; 8. 97A-Cole Anderson[10]; 9. 75-Terry Phillips[4]; 10. 96-Taton Hansen[9]; 11. 97TB-Tyson Blood[20]; 12. 111-Logan Drake[21]; 13. 26S-Steven Glenn[16]; 14. 02LZ-Ellsworth Conover[18]; 15. 6F-Matt Fester[15]; 16. 14X-CJ Thorne[19]; 17. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 18. 112-Brennan Gave[7]; 19. 44-Christy Barnett[11]; 20. 29-Chris Spalding[13]; 21. 7-AJ Sharpensteen[17]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 5-Reece Solander[3]; 2. 91-Joe Duvall[1]; 3. 65-Tyler Davis[8]; 4. 721-Troy Gemmill[2]; 5. 151-Lucas Gibbs[6]; 6. 50-Robert Adams[7]; 7. 88XXX-Randy Klein[4]; 8. P17-Peyton Gallardo[5]; 9. 12-Jay Rosales[9]; 10. 80XX-Jason Langford[11]; 11. 17-Brent Holman[10]; 12. 131-Royal Jones[13]; 13. 11N-Gene Nicholas[16]; 14. 46-Paul Miles[17]; 15. L8-Ethan Stevens[15]; 16. J7-Jake Boles[14]; 17. 73-Jeff Helget[21]; 18. 520T-Lukas Tellez[19]; 19. 58-Devon Reed[20]; 20. 57-Gage McCaughan[18]; 21. 2K-Taylor Kuehl[12]

Limited Mods:

A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 21-Jake Smith[9]; 2. 32C-Curtis Stieh[3]; 3. 19-Lucas Rodin[14]; 4. M17-Rob Moseley[6]; 5. 99-Jeremy Haddox[13]; 6. 27P-Parker Anderson[12]; 7. 75T-Tyler Johnson[17]; 8. 711-Payce Herrera[23]; 9. 13-Josh Beyer[5]; 10. 1S-Scott Bintz[11]; 11. 57-Duke Erickson[24]; 12. 0-Dakota Girard[16]; 13. 28T-Scott Tofte[18]; 14. 9-Ken Schrader[7]; 15. 3R-Mel Romero[25]; 16. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[1]; 17. 02-Deuce Teague[20]; 18. 22K-Keenan Glasser[4]; 19. 75-Cole Suckow[8]; 20. 50X-Justen Yeager[21]; 21. 30-Blake Davis[10]; 22. 7X-Bubba Stafford Jr[15]; 23. 34-Brandon Rehill[22]; 24. 44-Christy Barnett[2]; 25. 22-Jonathon Ortega[19]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 32C-Curtis Stieh[2]; 2. 28BY-Bryson Yeager[6]; 3. 89-Chris Mangum[1]; 4. 0-Dakota Girard[5]; 5. 30-Blake Davis[10]; 6. 99-Jeremy Haddox[11]; 7. 21B-Braxton James[7]; 8. 02-Deuce Teague[9]; 9. 57-Duke Erickson[8]; 10. 14-Erick Barraza[4]; 11. 10-Bryan Bennett[3]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. M17-Rob Moseley[1]; 2. 1S-Scott Bintz[2]; 3. 13-Josh Beyer[6]; 4. 3R-Mel Romero[3]; 5. 50X-Justen Yeager[5]; 6. 19-Lucas Rodin[11]; 7. 75T-Tyler Johnson[9]; 8. 12C-Cale Riggs[4]; 9. 14J-Remington Budd[8]; 10. 980-Kaden Woodie[7]; 11. 05-Aasa Flores[10]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 22K-Keenan Glasser[2]; 2. 75-Cole Suckow[3]; 3. 44-Christy Barnett[7]; 4. 34-Brandon Rehill[1]; 5. 28T-Scott Tofte[5]; 6. 7X-Bubba Stafford Jr[10]; 7. 711-Payce Herrera[4]; 8. 23H-Hector Barraza[9]; 9. 54-Lance Relf[8]; 10. 3J-Josh Cain[6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Ken Schrader[1]; 2. 21-Jake Smith[3]; 3. 27P-Parker Anderson[4]; 4. 22-Jonathon Ortega[5]; 5. 23B-Israel Ortega[2]; 6. 11DW-Danny Wagner[6]; 7. 77-Chance Kodet[7]; 8. 562-Craig Walker[9]; 9. 71B-Dave Siercks[10]; 10. 88-Tyler Delong[8]

B Feature 1 (10 Laps): 1. 75T-Tyler Johnson[4]; 2. 22-Jonathon Ortega[1]; 3. 50X-Justen Yeager[3]; 4. 711-Payce Herrera[8]; 5. 3R-Mel Romero[2]; 6. 12C-Cale Riggs[9]; 7. 14J-Remington Budd[10]; 8. 88-Tyler Delong[11]; 9. 14-Erick Barraza[13]; 10. 3J-Josh Cain[12]; 11. 77-Chance Kodet[6]; 12. 23H-Hector Barraza[7]; 13. 11DW-Danny Wagner[5]

B Feature 2 (10 Laps): 1. 28T-Scott Tofte[3]; 2. 02-Deuce Teague[6]; 3. 34-Brandon Rehill[2]; 4. 57-Duke Erickson[9]; 5. 21B-Braxton James[5]; 6. 89-Chris Mangum[1]; 7. 980-Kaden Woodie[11]; 8. 10-Bryan Bennett[13]; 9. 71B-Dave Siercks[8]; 10. 54-Lance Relf[10]; 11. 23B-Israel Ortega[4]; 12. 562-Craig Walker[7]; 13. 05-Aasa Flores[12]

Stock Cars:

A Feature 1 (20 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Lund[3]; 2. 21MF-Chaz Baca[5]; 3. 75C-Bo Partain[2]; 4. 73T-Chris Tuchscherer[12]; 5. 3-Mike Albertsen[17]; 6. 980-Kaden Woodie[26]; 7. 11R-Braden Richards[7]; 8. 37-Jason Rogers[8]; 9. 21-Jim Horejsi[10]; 10. 3J-Josh Cain[6]; 11. 711-Payce Herrera[14]; 12. 7K-Kyle Hamby[15]; 13. 8JS-Cameron Starry[9]; 14. 75-Cole Suckow[4]; 15. 7X-Casey Murdoch[25]; 16. 49-Drew Miller[21]; 17. 02X-Larry Brigner[16]; 18. 43-Jake Archibald[24]; 19. 00-Jerry Clements[19]; 20. 5G$-Grady Clements[28]; 21. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh[11]; 22. 96E-Clay Erickson[1]; 23. 7M-Trevor Hidalgo[22]; 24. 15-Speedy Madrid[23]; 25. 82-Shelby Williams[20]; 26. 41-George Fronsman Jr[13]; 27. (DNS) 85-Carlos Barraza; 28. (DNS) 18-Andy Sole

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 96E-Clay Erickson[2]; 2. 11R-Braden Richards[3]; 3. 21-Jim Horejsi[4]; 4. 21MF-Chaz Baca[9]; 5. 02X-Larry Brigner[6]; 6. 72H-Miciah Hidlebaugh[10]; 7. 00-Jerry Clements[8]; 8. 7X-Casey Murdoch[1]; 9. 43-Jake Archibald[7]; 10. 5G$-Grady Clements[5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 75C-Bo Partain[5]; 2. 75-Cole Suckow[6]; 3. 73T-Chris Tuchscherer[2]; 4. 7K-Kyle Hamby[3]; 5. 8JS-Cameron Starry[9]; 6. 3-Mike Albertsen[7]; 7. 7M-Trevor Hidalgo[1]; 8. 49-Drew Miller[8]; 9. 980-Kaden Woodie[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Curt Lund[6]; 2. 37-Jason Rogers[2]; 3. 3J-Josh Cain[8]; 4. 711-Payce Herrera[4]; 5. 18-Andy Sole[3]; 6. 41-George Fronsman Jr[9]; 7. 82-Shelby Williams[7]; 8. 15-Speedy Madrid[5]; 9. 85-Carlos Barraza[1]