Ryan Gustin picked up his first WoO Late Models win
It proved to be an historic night for Ryan Gustin as he scored his first World of Outlaws CASE Construction Late Model Series win on Saturday night at Sharon Speedway. The No. 19R machine charged through the top-5 and ultimately passed by a former champion to get to the checkered flag.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Marshalltown, Iowa earned $20,000 for his efforts in a race held on the 3/8 mile clay oval located in Hartford, Ohio and shown live by DirtVision.com.
A total of 39 cars were signed in for competition.
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Shane Clanton(15.819), 2. Michael Norris, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Max Blair, 5. Boom Briggs
Group B Results- 1. Ryan Gustin(16.158), 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Brent Larson, 4. Josh Richards, 5. Devin Moran
Heat 1 Results: 1. Dennis Erb Jr., 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Boom Briggs, 4. Gordy Gundaker
Heat 2 Results: 1. Max Blair, 2. Darrell Lanigan, 3. Chub Frank, 4. Michael Norris
Heat 3 Results: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Devin Moran, 3. Brent Larson, 4. Tanner English
Heat 4 Results: 1. Josh Richards, 2. Gregg Satterlee, 3. Daryl Charlier, 4. Mason Zeigler
Last chance Showdown 1 Finish: 1. Kyle Hammer, 2. Zack Dohm, 3. Alex Ferree
Last Chance Showdown 2 Finish: 1. John Garvin Jr., 2. Wyatt Scott, 3. Colton Flinner
WoO Redraw Results: 1. Max Blair, 2. Josh Richards, 3. Dennis Erb Jr., 4. Ryan Gustin, 5. Shane Clanton, 6. Gregg Satterlee, 7. Darrell Lanigan, 8. Devin Moran
Feature Re-cap: At the start of the 60-lap feature it was Blair who grabbed the early lead ahead of Richards, Erb, Clanton and Gustin. Clanton took third from Erb on the second circuit as Blair looked as if his might pull away.
By lap 6, Richards had tracked Blair down and made a move for the race lead one lap later but a caution came out for the slowing car of Norris to negate the move. Just after the restart, Gustin moved to fourth by passing Erb as Blair again began slipping away from his pursuers.
By lap 18, Richards, Clanton, Gustin and Erb were engaged in a tight fight for positions 2-4. Clanton moved around Richards for second and then quickly passed Blair for the lead just after lap 20 but Blair went right back to the top spot.
The battle at the front continued on lap 24 as Clanton again moved around Blair. Clanton briefly got tied up behind a slower car which allowed Blair to close back in just before the halfway point. At the same time, Richards, Gustin and Erb closed in on the second-place runner.
By lap 33, Clanton had built a lead of two seconds over Blair, Richards, Gustin and Erb. Then on lap 36, Gustin passed both Richards and Blair to move into the runner-up position almost three seconds behind Clanton.
A lap 38 caution for the spinning car of Flinner slowed the action. After the restart, Gustin kept Clanton in his sights and even made a bid for the lead on lap 40. Shortly thereafter, Clanton pulled away from Gustin by almost a second while Erb challenged Richards for fourth.
Gustin took the lead away from Clanton on lap 48 while Richards took third away from Blair at the same time. Moran broke into the top-5 on lap 54 when he passed Blair. As the laps clicked away, Clanton stayed close to Gustin in a bid to regain the lead.
But in the end, Ryan Gustin sailed to the finish line to claim his first World of Outlaws victory.
“That was elbows up,” Gustin told DirtVision.com after the race. “It was win it or wear it time. I just tried to keep tires on it, not that those guys were going any harder than I was. I was just a little bit straighter there in the first 30 of it, then the last 30, I was about sideways. Once it got to halfway, it was time to giver ‘er hell.”
Feature Results: 1. Ryan Gustin, 2. Shane Clanton, 3. Josh Richards, 4. Dennis Erb Jr., 5. Devin Moran, 6. Tanner English, 7. Max Blair, 8. Gregg Satterlee, 9. Darrell Lanigan, 10. Brent Larson, 11. Mason Zeigler, 12. Gordy Gundaker, 13. Boom Briggs, 14. Colton Flinner, 15. Daryl Charlier, 16. Jon Garvin Jr., 17. Kyle Hammer, 18. Zack Dohm, 19. Chub Frank, 20. Wyatt Scott, 21. Darrell Brossard, 22. Alex Ferree, 23. Michael Norris, 24. Ryan Scott
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