In his first-ever appearance at Shelby County (IA) Speedway, Bobby delivered a performance to remember Tuesday night, charging from seventh and outdueling some of the best in the sport to win the Kosiski Family 53. The $25,053 victory marked his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and 26th of his career in a wild 53-lap main event.
Bobby slipped as far back as ninth in the early going before regrouping and beginning his charge forward. By lap 11, he had cracked the top five, picking off cars methodically. He advanced to fourth on lap 13, then climbed to third with 26 laps remaining and grabbed second just three laps later.
Slipping by Davenport with a slider in turn four on lap 32, Bobby set off a thrilling exchange of slide jobs between the nation’s top two ranked drivers. The back-and-forth battle opened the door for Thornton to enter the fray, creating an exciting three-wide battle for the lead with 17 laps to go.
“I kind of had to make some of the holes myself with the sliders,” Bobby said. “Those were just like death sliders there. I knew I kind of had to make them check up, but we just had to get something going. We just had such a consistent line of cars that were running the top.”
With 12 laps remaining, Bobby cleared Thornton and finally secured the lead for good, holding off his challengers over the final stretch to win by 1.2 seconds.
“Me and JD were going at it hard, and that let Thornton get in there,” he said. “I was like, man, I don’t want him in the mix. It’s just another car I got to race, but awesome race. I can’t wait to watch the replay.”
Beyond the victory, Bobby was equally energized by the atmosphere at Shelby County.
“These fans, man, it’s just cool coming to a town that has all the support,” he said. “All these fans coming out, packed house. Love to see a town give a racetrack their support. Thank you, Shelby County Speedway. Awesome, awesome racetrack.”