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Shirley Wins Wild West Shootout Opener in Arizona

Brian Shirley charged to his first win of the season on Saturday night in the opening round of the Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway (Queen Creek, Ariz.). (Mike Ruefer photo)

In his first ever trip to the annual Arizona miniseries, Shirley piloted his Bob Cullen Racing No. 3s Thomason Express/ J&J Ventures Gaming/ XR1 Rocket Chassis/ Durham Racing Engine Super Late Model to a $5,000 victory.

“What can I say, I mean, I’ve just been blessed, blessed with a great team,” Shirley said in Victory Lane. “The point of coming out here was so me, Anthony [Burroughs], Aaron [Mitchell], Mikey [Myers], could gel.”

Shirley started the night by posting the second-quickest lap in his time trial group. He followed that up with an eight-lap heat race win, earning him the sixth starting spot for the 40-lap main event.

Taking advantage of Ricky Thornton Jr.'s slipup on lap-29, Brian took the lead and pulled away to a 1.905 second advantage in the final 10 laps for the win. Trailing Shirley to the finish line were Frank Heckenast Jr., Thornton Jr., Brandon Sheppard, and Chris Simpson.

“At Vado … we had some things and miscues there where we just didn’t do a good job. We worked three days and Anthony [Burroughs] took the whole car apart,” said Shirley. “Just looking forward to getting the races in and some laps and just thankful that the good Lord blessed me.”

With another $5,000 on the line on Sunday night, Shirley qualified fourth overall in his group and went on to finish third in his heat race. After starting 10th in the 40-lap feature, Brian advanced three positions to record a seventh-place finish.

For full results from the weekend, please visit www.WildWestShootout.net.

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