Ryan Gustin Wins Friday Night thriller at USA Nationals
Photo by Emily Schwanke
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — Ryan Gustin continues to win in a spectacular fashion with the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models in 2024.
The Marshalltown, IA driver closed out a doubleheader Friday for the 37th Annual USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway by triumphing in a duel between four-time Series champion Brandon Sheppard and Jonathan Davenport.
Davenport began the night with the early lead while multiple championship contenders suffered issues. Bobby Pierce and Cade Dillard collided off Turn 4, and then Nick Hoffman suffered a flat right rear tire under the same caution while running third.
When the restart ensued, Davenport hopped out to the lead while Sheppard and Chatham, IL driver Brian Shirley worked to close the gap on the driver of the No. 49 Nutrien Ag Solutions Late Model with traffic in sight of the three drivers.
Then, Gustin came into the picture after gathering a charge from his ninth-place starting spot in the Feature to climb his way up toward the three drivers with 10 laps to go.
While Sheppard got by Davenport for the lead, Gustin worked his way around Shirley to create a three-horse battle for the Friday night win.
Using the lapped traffic to his advantage, Gustin slid by Davenport with five laps to go, then got creative, making an opening in traffic to craft a clear lane for the driver of the No.19R Todd Cooney Racing machine to battle Sheppard for the win.
Using a mix of the low lane, then crossing high to cut Sheppard out of leading, Gustin took the lead with two laps to go while the drivers continued to try anything left on the track to solidify their chance of winning.
As the checkered flag flew on the second Feature race of the day, “The Reaper” earned his third World of Outlaws CASE Late Models win of the 2024 season through trials and tribulations that he’ll have to face again to win $50,000 on Saturday night.
“I didn’t want to enter wherever they were,” Gustin said. “When one went high and one went low, I’d go right through the middle and hoped the lapped cars held them up enough. I noticed we closed in quick once the lapped traffic hit, and just not try to stuff it in the fence.
“Tonight was a big Dash race for us, I don’t you’re gonna see that type of pace early (Saturday) night, but you gotta be there for the last 25 laps. The fans are in for a hell of a show, and I can’t wait to get going.”
While Sheppard wanted to finish the night with his fourth Series win of the 2024 season on Friday, the gasser of the No. B5 Dude Wipes Sheppard Riggs Racing Longhorn Factory Team Late Model extended the points gap between himself and Hoffman to 48 points entering Saturday night’s $50,000-to-win showdown at Cedar Lake.
“We got a good balance under our car,” Sheppard said. “We just gotta do the best we can to make the right judgement calls. Hopefully, we have a good setup for (Saturday) to keep it consistent. Definitely let one slip away there. We’re thinking about the points, but you wanna win these races at the end of the day. We get to learn from our mistakes tonight and go try again (on Saturday).”
Davenport finished the night with a third-place result - his first Series podium since 2022 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. “Superman” had to adjust to new track conditions at the New Richmond, WI track as he goes for a prestigious fourth eagle trophy on Saturday night.
“A lot of the traffic was high or low, and the middle was rough for us,” Davenport said. “We were all trying to find the holes to get through. I thought I had good pace there, but they caught me faster than I realized. Those guys came through and showed me where I needed to be, and I couldn’t get back in front of them in time. We learned a lot about our car and about the racetrack. It’s definitely a different Cedar Lake than what I’m accustomed to, but we’ll take it in stride and be a little bit better (Saturday).”
Shirley brought home a fourth-place finish, and Martinsville, IN driver Ricky Thornton Jr. wrapped up the top five from Friday night’s Feature.
With the two Feature races complete, the top-16 locked into Saturday night’s $50,000 USA Nationals finale at Cedar Lake.
Those drivers include: Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Nick Hoffman, Ryan Gustin, Kyle Bronson, Garrett Smith, Ricky Thornton Jr, Dustin Sorensen, Brent Larson, Hudson O’Neal, Jason Feger, Ethan Dotson, and Cade Dillard.
RECAP NOTES:
Dirt King Simulator Hottest Hot Lap: Brian Shirley
Simpson Quick Time Award: Jonathan Davenport
Heat Race Winners: Jonathan Davenport, Brian Shirley, Bobby Pierce, Nick Hoffman, Garrett Smith, Brandon Sheppard
Last Chance Showdown Winners: Chase Junghans, Tyler Erb
Bilstein Pole Award: Jonathan Davenport
Fox Factory Hard Charger Award: Cody Overton (+15)
FANS Fund Dash Winner: Ricky Weiss
Up Next: The World of Outlaws CASE Late Models cap the crown jewel weekend at Cedar Lake Speedway with the USA Nationals finale on Saturday, August 3. The night will begin with Last Chance Showdowns and two split Dash races to set the lineup for the top-16 cars locked in. Then, it’s the 100-lap Feature worth a $50,000 payday to the crown jewel champion.
Off the track, there will be a cornhole tournament for race fans to participate in at the Cedar Lake Arena at 2:00 p.m. CT, and a driver autograph session at 4:30 p.m. before Saturday’s racing program commences.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
RESULTS
CASE Late Mode Feature (25 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[9]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[4]; 5. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[13]; 6. 19-Dustin Sorensen[11]; 7. 71-Hudson O'Neal[14]; 8. 10-Garrett Smith[5]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[12]; 10. 25-Jason Feger[10]; 11. 97JR-Cody Overton[26]; 12. 18C-Chase Junghans[19]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson[23]; 14. 18-Shannon Babb[17]; 15. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 16. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 17. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 18. 16-Tyler Bruening[18]; 19. 1T-Tyler Erb[20]; 20. 57-Mike Marlar[22]; 21. 1-Tim McCreadie[7]; 22. 77-Jordan Yaggy[21]; 23. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[24]; 24. B1-Brent Larson[25]; 25. 31-Kye Blight[16]; 26. 22*-Max McLaughlin[15]
Last Chance Showdown 1 (10 Laps): 1. 18C-Chase Junghans[5]; 2. 77-Jordan Yaggy[3]; 3. 97JR-Cody Overton[8]; 4. 28M-Sam Mars[2]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[7]; 6. 55C-Chad Mahder[4]; 7. 11H-Lance Hofer[11]; 8. 90-Lance Matthees[12]; 9. 35-Parker Foster[14]; 10. 89-Mike Spatola[10]; 11. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[15]; 12. 40B-Kyle Bronson[1]; 13. 10P-Paul Parker[13]; 14. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[6]; 15. B1-Brent Larson[9]
Last Chance Showdown 2 (10 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 57-Mike Marlar[6]; 3. 1X-Aaron Marrant[2]; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist[5]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[7]; 7. 11G-James Giossi[8]; 8. AUS1-Joe Chalmers[12]; 9. 9T-Tim Isenberg[11]; 10. 74-Mitch McGrath[9]; 11. 38-Thomas Hunziker[14]; 12. 7-Ricky Weiss[3]; 13. 15-Nick Anvelink[10]; 14. 14R-Jeff Roth[13]; 15. 14W-Dustin Walker[15]
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 1-Tim McCreadie[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 4. 40B-Kyle Bronson[5]; 5. 55C-Chad Mahder[4]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 89-Mike Spatola[6]; 8. 10P-Paul Parker[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[3]; 3. 22*-Max McLaughlin[2]; 4. 28M-Sam Mars[5]; 5. 18C-Chase Junghans[4]; 6. 97JR-Cody Overton[8]; 7. 11H-Lance Hofer[6]; 8. 35-Parker Foster[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 19-Dustin Sorensen[3]; 3. 18-Shannon Babb[2]; 4. 77-Jordan Yaggy[5]; 5. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[4]; 6. B1-Brent Larson[6]; 7. 90-Lance Matthees[7]; 8. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 2. 97-Cade Dillard[3]; 3. 71-Hudson O'Neal[5]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[2]; 5. 11-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[6]; 7. 15-Nick Anvelink[8]; 8. 14R-Jeff Roth[7]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 10-Garrett Smith[1]; 2. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 3. 31-Kye Blight[3]; 4. 1X-Aaron Marrant[4]; 5. 0-Scott Bloomquist[5]; 6. 11G-James Giossi[6]; 7. 9T-Tim Isenberg[8]; 8. 38-Thomas Hunziker[7]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. B5-Brandon Sheppard[1]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[2]; 3. 16-Tyler Bruening[4]; 4. 7-Ricky Weiss[5]; 5. 57-Mike Marlar[3]; 6. 74-Mitch McGrath[6]; 7. AUS1-Joe Chalmers[7]; 8. 14W-Dustin Walker[8]
Group A Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport, 00:13.563[2]; 2. 3S-Brian Shirley, 00:13.742[15]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce, 00:13.764[9]; 4. 1-Tim McCreadie, 00:13.861[4]; 5. 22*-Max McLaughlin, 00:13.875[1]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb, 00:13.923[14]; 7. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr, 00:13.939[3]; 8. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:13.994[16]; 9. 19-Dustin Sorensen, 00:13.999[23]; 10. 55C-Chad Mahder, 00:14.007[6]; 11. 18C-Chase Junghans, 00:14.080[12]; 12. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:14.133[5]; 13. 40B-Kyle Bronson, 00:14.180[7]; 14. 28M-Sam Mars, 00:14.208[18]; 15. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 00:14.286[10]; 16. 89-Mike Spatola, 00:14.340[20]; 17. 11H-Lance Hofer, 00:14.348[8]; 18. B1-Brent Larson, 00:14.372[11]; 19. 10P-Paul Parker, 00:14.400[17]; 20. 35-Parker Foster, 00:14.629[13]; 21. 90-Lance Matthees, 00:14.665[21]; 22. 4G-Bob Gardner, 00:14.836[24]; 23. 97JR-Cody Overton, 00:14.837[22]; 24. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:14.837[19]
Group B Qualifying (2 Laps): 1. 9-Nick Hoffman, 00:13.877[21]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith, 00:13.940[18]; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 00:13.966[7]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb, 00:14.008[22]; 5. 25-Jason Feger, 00:14.076[14]; 6. 74X-Ethan Dotson, 00:14.147[13]; 7. 97-Cade Dillard, 00:14.175[3]; 8. 31-Kye Blight, 00:14.207[6]; 9. 57-Mike Marlar, 00:14.302[17]; 10. 11-Gordy Gundaker, 00:14.306[24]; 11. 1X-Aaron Marrant, 00:14.400[12]; 12. 16-Tyler Bruening, 00:14.443[4]; 13. 71-Hudson O'Neal, 00:14.448[8]; 14. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 00:14.487[11]; 15. 7-Ricky Weiss, 00:14.547[2]; 16. 28-Dennis Erb Jr, 00:14.556[1]; 17. 11G-James Giossi, 00:14.735[9]; 18. 74-Mitch McGrath, 00:14.806[23]; 19. 14R-Jeff Roth, 00:14.812[16]; 20. 38-Thomas Hunziker, 00:14.862[15]; 21. AUS1-Joe Chalmers, 00:14.888[20]; 22. 15-Nick Anvelink, 00:14.900[10]; 23. 9T-Tim Isenberg, 00:14.948[5]; 24. 14W-Dustin Walker, 00:15.381[19]
F.A.N.S Fund Dash (12 Laps): 1. 7-Ricky Weiss[1]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[4]; 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist[3]; 4. 25-Jason Feger[2]; 5. 4G-Bob Gardner[6]; 6. 1-Tim McCreadie[9]; 7. 11-Gordy Gundaker[5]; 8. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 9. 31-Kye Blight[8]; 10. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 11. 10-Garrett Smith[11]
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CEDAR LAKE SPEEDWAY LATE MODELS
A Feature 1 (25 Laps): 1. 5E-Shane Edginton[1]; 2. 11-Pat Doar[3]; 3. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[2]; 4. 15-Nick Anvelink[4]; 5. 85-John Kaanta[5]; 6. 7C-Jim Carlson[9]; 7. 07-Cory Crapser[19]; 8. 22P-Nick Panitzke[15]; 9. 44-Darrell Nelson[7]; 10. 28-Sam Mars[20]; 11. 31T-Trent Follmer[10]; 12. 54-Michael Bruggeman[14]; 13. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[11]; 14. F50-Ryan Corbett[23]; 15. 18X-Shawn Meyer[13]; 16. 1-Lukas Koski[8]; 17. 2C-Carey Umbarger[6]; 18. 12XL-Ben Heinle[21]; 19. 4C-Brandon Corbett[24]; 20. (DNF) 34-Jordan Langer[17]; 21. (DNF) 155-Gavin Shaw[18]; 22. (DNF) 88-Steve Hucovski[22]; 23. (DNF) 14-Robbie Johnson[16]; 24. (DNS) 57-Tony Bahr
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 07-Cory Crapser[9]; 2. 28-Sam Mars[4]; 3. 12XL-Ben Heinle[1]; 4. 88-Steve Hucovski[2]; 5. F50-Ryan Corbett[5]; 6. 4C-Brandon Corbett[3]; 7. 22-Brett Shafer[12]; 8. 04JR-Adam Ayotte[8]; 9. 99-Sawyer Specht[7]; 10. 33C-Cody Emmans[6]; 11. (DNS) 71-Rick Hanestad; 12. (DNS) 1L-Brad Loveday; 13. (DNS) 58-AJ Diemel
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Carey Umbarger[7]; 2. 85-John Kaanta[9]; 3. 31T-Trent Follmer[2]; 4. 71JR-Buddy Hanestad[6]; 5. 22P-Nick Panitzke[1]; 6. 54-Michael Bruggeman[10]; 7. 4C-Brandon Corbett[3]; 8. 28-Sam Mars[5]; 9. 33C-Cody Emmans[11]; 10. (DNF) 71-Rick Hanestad[4]; 11. (DNF) 58-AJ Diemel[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Pat Doar[4]; 2. 1-Lukas Koski[2]; 3. 44-Darrell Nelson[6]; 4. 57-Tony Bahr[1]; 5. 14-Robbie Johnson[3]; 6. 34-Jordan Langer[5]; 7. 12XL-Ben Heinle[9]; 8. F50-Ryan Corbett[7]; 9. 99-Sawyer Specht[10]; 10. (DNF) 1L-Brad Loveday[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15-Nick Anvelink[5]; 2. 7C-Jim Carlson[1]; 3. 55N-Greg Nippoldt[9]; 4. 5E-Shane Edginton[10]; 5. 18X-Shawn Meyer[7]; 6. 155-Gavin Shaw[2]; 7. 88-Steve Hucovski[8]; 8. (DNF) 04JR-Adam Ayotte[3]; 9. (DNF) 07-Cory Crapser[6]; 10. (DNF) 22-Brett Shafer[4]
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