Ethan Dotson brought home the win on the third night of the Wild West Shootout stealing it from Bobby Pierce after he was involved in an epic duel with Hudson O’Neal for much of the race.

Pierce jumped out to the lead early on the initial start and maintained it through an early caution after R.C. Whitwell spun on the second lap of the race. Meanwhile O’Neal did what he did the previous two nights. He started in fifth and quickly worked his way up to second and he did within the first five laps of the race. Dotson made a similar move jumping from 7th to fifth on the first restart getting around Jake O’Neil and Garrett Alberson.

For the majority of the race it was Bobby Pierce and Hudson O’Neal show. O’Neal stalked Pierce waiting for the right moment to pounce. It looked like he was going to make a move a third of the way into the 30-lap feature, when Pierce narrowly avoided Chase Junghans. However, O’Neal had to get on the binders in order to avoid plowing into him as well. That set him back a bit and he had to rework his way back within striking distance.

While that was happening in the front, Dotson began to slowly work his way forward. He got around Jonathan Davenport for fourth with 15 laps left in the race. A few laps later and Dotson had reeled in third place running Tyler Erb.

Everything changed when a caution came out with 9 to go for Mike Marlar. On the restart, O’Neal made his move. He hugged the bottom while Bobby went high and maybe a little too high. They were side by side down the back stretch and O’Neal threw the slider in 3 and 4. Pierce tried to cross him over, but O’Neal pinched him down and effectively blocked him. However, the two made contact and that contact cut O’Neal’s tire ending his chances at a victory. The caution stymied Terbo’s chances at a win as well because he was looking to get around Pierce heading into 3 and 4, but it was all for naught as the caution reset the field.

On the next restart, Dotson saw his opportunity to strike and he took it. While Pierce was busy trying to keep Terbo behind him on the bottom, Dotson roared past them both on the outside. Pierce tried to break his momentum by sliding him up the track, but it was too late and Dotson cleared him coming out of 4.

After taking the lead, Dotson checked out and never looked back. Meanwhile Pierce found himself with his hands full as Terbo did everything he could to try and get past him for second, with the two swapping sliders. PIerce would prevail and Terbo would find himself in the clutches of Ryan Gustin, who eventually got around him to claim the final spot on the podium.

In victory lane, Dotson was ecstatic as he shared how he nabbed the win, “Man, I was hoping [Bobby Pierce] was going to go in there and run the bottom. Before that caution came out I got it rolling pretty good. Man, I can’t thank Cody Mallory and Tommy Greco and Chris, Ian, Zach. We’ve been working our asses off the last couple of months, honestly. And can’t thank John Henderson for letting me do it. And Steve Arpin, and Ohlin Shocks, Longhorn Dynamics. Man, everybody. This is just awesome.”

“Whenever Bobby drove in there and Terbo picked the bottom, I was like, ‘Ah [expletive], I’ve got a chance here.’ So, yeah, just super pumped,” he added.

Official Finishing Order

1. Ethan Dotson
2. Bobby Pierce
3. Ryan Gustin
4. Tyler Erb
5. Jonathan Davenport
6. Brandon Sheppard
7. Garrett Alberson
8. Dustin Sorensen
9. Terry Phillips
10. Hudson O’Neal
11. Kyle Beard
12. Justin Duty
13. Chase Junghans
14. Daniel Adam
15. Clay Stuckey
16. Jake Timm
17. Laela Eisenschenk
18. Dillon McCowan
19. Tim Isenberg
20. Cade Dillard
21. Mike Marlar
22. Jake O’Neil
23. R.C. Whitwell
24. Drake Troutman