VADO, N.M. — If anyone was going to snap Jonathan Davenport’s three-race win streak in the Rio Grande Waste Services Wild West Shootout at Vado Speedway Park, Bobby Pierce was about as safe a bet as could be made.

Before winning Friday’s fourth round of the six-race miniseries, the 26-year-old Oakwood, Ill., driver recorded finishes of second on Wednesday, third on Jan. 8 and 13th on Jan. 7 after leading the first 26 laps before spinning out of contention on lap 30.

Two other drivers — Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Kyle Larson of Oak Grove, Calif. — actually have a better finishing average after four events than Pierce, Sheppard with an average of 3.5 and Larson an average of 4.25 compared to Pierce’s average finish of 4.75. With four top-five finishes, Sheppard has been as consistent as anyone, while Larson’s sixth-place finish on Wednesday is his only result outside the top five.

Even so, it has been Pierce who has displayed the most speed among J.D.’s three primary chasers. If not for his turn-two mishap in last week’s opener, Pierce likely wouldn’t have a finish worse than third. So when he finally managed to break Davenport’s stranglehold on victory lane, it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

“Everyone knew if J.D. was going to get knocked off, me or Brandon (Sheppard) have probably been the most consistent,” Pierce said. “If we could keep getting our qualifying down, winning our heat races, which tonight was huge. Winning that heat race was like winning the feature. Starting anywhere in the top six or starting 12th, that’s a huge difference. So once we got that out of the way, it was like, well that part’s done. We drew the five (starting position for the feature) and I was like, ’Man, J.D. starts front row (outside). I don’t know what we’re going to do. But we just gave it our best effort and there we were.”

Yes, there he was, just like the first three nights. Even though the feature started much the same way the first three races ended — with Davenport driving away — Friday’s race felt a little different. When Davenport, who held a 2.167-second lead over Pierce on lap seven, just before the leaders began to catch the tail of the field, didn’t immediately build a huge lead following a caution on lap 10, suddenly he didn’t seem quite as invincible.

“I liked to see that (caution) because I figured it would get us all bunched up again and I’d have a better shot at it because the cautions hadn’t been working in my favor lately. But I like to see that especially with the tires I had on,” Pierce said. “It gave their tires a little chance to cool off and my tires were still there with good edges. So I loved seeing that.”

It was Garrett Alberson from right up the road in Las Cruces, N.M., and Pierce’s home-state buddy Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin who initially took advantage of the lap-10 caution. On the restart, they shuffled Pierce back while he tried to regain his footing.

“Then that caution came out and (Garrett) Alberson got back by me and then Brandon (Sheppard) was racing me and I was like, ‘Man, hopefully I didn’t burn my stuff off already,’ ” Pierce said. “Then I had to hit my marks and I started changing my line just a little bit and got going really good. Once I got past them two guys, I set my sights on Davenport and the next thing you know I went into turn one and the car laid over a little bit and I was like, ‘Uh oh, we have a right rear flat,’ and I eventually did. It’s flat right now in the pits. I was like if I’m going to get some luck, I need it right now. Luckily it held together.”

After doggedly pursuing Davenport in two of the three features and leading the most laps in the other — Pierce spun four laps after giving up the lead to Davenport in last week’s opener — Pierce said he did little to alter his driving style. The first race was a 40-lapper, while Friday’s feature was only 30 laps. He said he knew he had to take off in a hurry if he was to have a shot, especially after starting fifth.

“We took the green and right away I was peeking my nose under (Billy) Moyer down the front stretch,” Pierce said. “I knew what all tires they had on, but starting fifth in a 30-lapper, any little hole you got to take it. So I was throwing some risky sliders there to get my moves in and get in position. There when I caught Brandon (Sheppard) and (Garrett) Alberson when they were battling for second, I hit that lap on the bottom of (turns) one and two really good and I thought, ‘Oh yeah, here we go. We got a really good race car.’ I felt like once I got to second, no one was really getting faster or slower. I was just finally able to show my speed once I got past those other guys.

“But there was that moment where I just hit a lightswitch and I started sailing on top of (turns) one and two and that was where I really found my money corner. Because if I was just going to do that diamond line in turns one and two, I might have caught him, but it was going to take a long, long time because you’re only catching him a little bit at a time doing that. Once I found that, I was able to roll the top on both corners and then it switched. It went top (in turns) one and two and then middle (in turns) three and four. That’s the great thing about this place is how much it changes. It’s so fun.”

With the track changing, Pierce was fortunate to find the preferred line at the right time.

“You got to take what it’ll give you,” he said. “When you notice when your car is good, you got to go for it. But in the same sense, tonight it was a 30-lapper, so you just got to go, go, go. When I was sailing around turns three and four really good and then I started getting tight in turn three, I thought that’s where I was making some good ground and I had to figure something else out. But by that time I had the lead. Then there was that one time when I stuffed it in the cushion when I had the lead in turn three and I was like, ‘Man you can’t do that again.’ It’s a challenge but you just get what it will give you, but tonight, in a 30-lapper, you’re getting more than it’ll give you. You just do what you got to do.”

Pierce thought he had it well under control until a caution with two laps remaining. When Urbana, Mo.’s Dillon McCowan shredded a right rear tire directly in front of the leaders in turns one and two, it brought Davenport, Sheppard, a fast-closing Kyle Larson, who had rallied from 20th, and Alberson right back to Pierce’s rear deck. Fortunately it was a single file restart and Pierce didn’t have to defense multiple lanes.

“When that caution came out with like one or two laps to go, I was just thinking this is any normal race even though J.D. is the hottest driver and he’s right behind you on your ass, don’t make any mistakes,” Pierce said. “I figured it was going to be what it’s going to be and I knew if I could get a good initial restart off of that turn four like I did, I felt like I’d have a good shot at it. I got a really good restart and I went into turn one and two and I was decent. Went into (turns) three and four with that line that I was doing, so I knew if he was going to slide me I possibly would be able to protect it. But it was nerve-racking. It was very nerve-racking, especially with that tire going flat.”