What won the race: Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., took the lead on the second lap and never looked back, surviving a green-white-checkered restart at the finish for Thursday's $15,000 victory in the 45-lap Billy Winn Classic at Bedford Speedway. Pierce crossed the finish line 0.838 seconds ahead of series points leader Brandon Sheppard for his sixth series victory of the season.

Quotable: “We’ve been on a roll lately,” Pierce said. “This was a new track so we didn’t know what to expect, but we rolled pretty good there. It reminded me of Port Royal Speedway. It’s fun going to these big tracks because you have a lot of speed. The straightaways are so long, so on the restarts you had to build up the speed. It was a different challenge in turn one compared to turn three.”

Key notes: Pierce notched his 24th career WoO victory as the national tour returned to Bedford for the first time since 2009. ... Right after the checkers, Pierce spun in turn one to avoid Bryan Bernheisel's wrecked car, causing left-rear damage to his machine. ... The first of several cautions (virtually all for flat tires) flew on lap 15 for Kyle Bronson who slowed with a right-rear flat. ... The second yellow flew for polesitter Brian Shirley, who slowed with a flat left-rear on lap 19 while running third; he finished eighth. ... Cody Overton also slowed with a flat on lap 22. ... Nick Hoffman and Alex Ferree also slowed with flats to cause a lap-24 stoppage. ... The oft-slowed 45-lapper lasted 52 minutes, with 19 drivers running at the checkers.

On the move: Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., started 19th and finished sixth.

Winner's sponsors: Pierce’s Longhorn Chassis is powered by a Vic Hill Racing Engine and carries sponsorship from Low Voltage Solutions, Inc., Rio Grande Waste Services, Inc., Hoker Trucking LLC, Mesilla Valley Transportation, Oakwood Tire Center, Bloomington Normal Truck Performance, Carnaghi Towing & Repair, Toyota of Danville, Floyd’s Waste Systems, PureMax Racing Oil, A Plus Vacuum, Leka Tree Service, Velocita, Bert Transmissions by Budda, Ted Brown’s Quality Paint & Body Shop, VP Race Fuels, Swift Springs, Bilstein Shocks, Dirt Car Lift and Performance Bodies.

Points chase: After Bedford: 1. Brandon Sheppard (3,496); 2. Nick Hoffman (3,462); 3. Bobby Pierce (3,346); 4. Cade Dillard (3,312); 5. Kyle Bronson (3,282); 6. Tyler Bruening (3,262); 7. Ryan Gustin (3,260); 8. Dennis Erb Jr. (3,232); 9. Brian Shirley (3,188); 10. Dustin Sorensen (3,124).

Current weather: Overcast, 72°F

Car count: 34

Fast qualifier: Bobby Pierce

Time: 19.094 seconds

Polesitter: Brian Shirley

Heat race winners: Bobby Pierce, Cade Dillard, Brandon Sheppard, Brian Shirley

Consolation race winners: Max McLaughlin, Jakob Piper

Provisional starters: Brent Larson, Dustin Walker, Tim Smith Jr.

Next series race: July 12, Sharon Speedway (Hartford, OH) $10,000