Gustin does it again at Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals as front of Big Buck 50 field set

 

WHEATLAND, MO. (Oct. 4, 2024) – Ryan Gustin’s domination of the Lucas Oil MLRA Fall Nationals continued on Friday night at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Gustin, of Marshalltown, Iowa, beat Chris Simpson – just as did on Thursday – to pick up another $5,000 prize. Gustin will go for the sweep on Saturday night with $10,000 at stake while Simpson, and others, try to turn the tables.

“This would have been two wins for us if Ryan would have stayed home,” 10th-starting Chris Simpson said with a chuckle. “But we’ll take it. He’s a hell of a racer and he’s proven this year that he’s the best of the best.”

Gustin earned his 12th overall feature win of the season and his 12th career Lucas Oil MLRA victory. Half of those MLRA wins have come at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Gustin took over the lead from Chad Simpson on lap 13 and dominated the 30-lapper from there, winning by 5.37 seconds over Chris Simpson in a race that had only one caution, on lap seven.

“Hats off to everybody that helps out on this deal,” Gustin said. “We did some things tonight that we’d never done before and didn’t know if it was going to work or not. We figured we might as well see if it works tonight versus trying for $10,000 tomorrow.

“We might have went a little bit too far and might back off it just a little bit. The car was good. The Infinity Chassis is on rails the Jay Dickens motor is running smooth.”

Meanwhile, in the 8th annual Super Stocks Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt portion of the program, heat races and dash races were held to determine the first 16 starting positions for Saturday night’s main event.

Both the MLRA Late Models and Super Stocks will hold 50-lap, $10,000-to-win features. The Late Models will have a full program with time trials, heat races and B Mains leading into the main event; Super Stocks will run last-chance qualifiers prior to its feature.

Pits gates will open at 4 p.m. Saturday with grandstands at 4:30, hot laps at 6:30 and racing at 7:05.

The fourth-starting Gustin took over second from Stormy Scott on lap three and was a half-second behind early leader, pole-starting Chad Simpson as the Late Model action got going.

Sailing around the oval on the high side, Simpson led by .425 seconds over Gustin when caution flew on lap seven after Payton Looney walloped the wall in turn four while running fifth.

As action resumed, Chad Simpson regained his modest margin over Gustin with sixth-starting Tyler Kuykendall up to third. Gustin nearly took the lead on lap 11 with a daring slider in turns three and four, but wound up having to regroup.

“He was good,” Gustin said of Chad Simpson. “I about put it through the fence there with that slider. I didn’t know if it was gonna stick or not, but it did.”

Gustin finally took over the lead on lap 13, going past Simpson on the inside of turn two when the race-long leader slipped a bit high. Once in front, it didn’t take Gustin long to drive away. He opened a three-second lead by lap 18 and, with the race remaining caution-free, was clear by 4.059 seconds by lap 25.

Gustin kept pouring it on to outdistance Chris Simpson by nearly a straightaway by the finish with Chad Simpson falling back to third.

“When your car is that good, it makes it easy as the driver,” Gustin said.

Chad Simpson enjoyed a solid points night with his third-place finish. Justin Wells was fourth and Kuykendall fifth.

“It’s way better than probably the last five races we’ve had,” Chad Simpson said. “We’re getting our stride back. We’re getting closer, but still just a tick off. Ryan comes in here and he’s one of the best out there right now. We’re close. We’re not far off.”

Chad Simpson was able to increase his points lead from 55 points to 90 in the MLRA title chase over Tony Jackson Jr., who was ninth. There are four series races remaining as Chad Simpson seeks his third straight championship and fifth overall.

Stormy Scott of Las Cruces, N.M., set fast overall qualifying time for the second straight night. He led Group B with a time of 15.318 seconds. Scott would up seventh in the feature.

Clark, Schultz earn front-row spots for Big Buck 50 feature: Gary Clark of Walker, Mo., and Terry Schultz of Sedalia nailed down front-row starting positions for the Super Stocks Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt main event.

Clark captured the Steve Scott Concrete Dash, featuring first and second-place finishers from the first four heat races held on Friday. Clark’s win over Jacob Rexing earned him the inside starting spot on row one.

In the Lucas Oil Speedway Dash, with the top two finishers from heats 5-through-8, Schultz outran Richie Tosh to the win to nail down the outside spot of row one. Schultz won the inaugural Big Buck 50 in 2014.

All 16 of the dash drivers clinched spots in the starting field of the $10,000-to-win, 50-lap feature on Saturday. Four B-Features will determine the final starters in the Big Buck main event.

Past Big Buck 50 winners:
2020 – Peyton Taylor, Batesville, Ark.
2019 – Peyton Taylor, Batesville, Ark.
2018 – Rained out
2017 – Tony Anglin, Walnut Ridge, Ark.
2016 – Tim Brown, Stoutland, Mo.
2015 – Jeremy Russell, Jonesboro, Ark.
2014 – Terry Schultz, Warrensburg, Mo.

LUCAS OIL SPEEDWAY UNOFFICIAL RESULTS (Oct. 5, 2024)
MLRA Fall Nationals/Super Stocks Big Buck 50 Presented by Whitetail Trophy Hunt
MLRA Late Models
A Feature – 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 2. 32-Chris Simpson[10]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[1]; 4. 49W-Justin Wells[8]; 5. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[6]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 7. 2S-Stormy Scott[2]; 8. 93-Mason Oberkramer[5]; 9. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[15]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan[11]; 11. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[9]; 12. 22H-Dustin Hodges[12]; 13. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[21]; 14. 11-Jeff Herzog[18]; 15. 2T-Tyler Stevens[13]; 16. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[20]; 17. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[17]; 18. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[16]; 19. 29-Keith Hammett[22]; 20. 78S-Steve Stultz[23]; 21. (DNF) 36M-Logan Martin[14]; 22. (DNF) 31C-Cole Henson[19]; 23. (DNF) 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 24. (DNF) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[24]

Fast Shafts B Feature 1 – 1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[1]; 2. 31C-Cole Henson[2]; 3. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[3]; 4. 33F-Rickey Frankel[5]; 5. 78S-Steve Stultz[7]; 6. 7W-Cole Wells[4]; 7. 1S-Shawn Knuckles[6]; 8. 10M-Jacob Magee[8]; 9. (DNF) 26G-Glen Powell[9]

Wieland B Feature 2 – 1. 11-Jeff Herzog[2]; 2. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[1]; 3. 29-Keith Hammett[3]; 4. 50C-Kayden Clatt[6]; 5. 9G-Joseph Gorby[5]; 6. 16-Rusty Griffaw[7]; 7. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[9]; 8. (DNF) 15S-Clayton Stuckey[4]; 9. (DNS) 7M-Allan Middendorf

Flo Sports Heat 1 – 1. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 2. 93-Mason Oberkramer[1]; 3. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[4]; 4. 2T-Tyler Stevens[3]; 5. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[5]; 6. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[8]; 7. 33F-Rickey Frankel[7]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[6]; 9. 26G-Glen Powell[9]

Simpson Racing Products Heat 2 – 1. 15L-Payton Looney[1]; 2. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 3. 8-Dillon McCowan[5]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[7]; 5. 31C-Cole Henson[2]; 6. 7W-Cole Wells[4]; 7. 1S-Shawn Knuckles[6]; 8. 10M-Jacob Magee[8]

Earnhardt Technologies Heat 3 – 1. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 2. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[2]; 3. 32-Chris Simpson[4]; 4. 36M-Logan Martin[3]; 5. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[7]; 6. 29-Keith Hammett[6]; 7. 9G-Joseph Gorby[5]; 8. 16-Rusty Griffaw[8]; 9. (DNS) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt

Lucas Oil Heat 4 – 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 49W-Justin Wells[3]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[4]; 4. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[6]; 5. 11-Jeff Herzog[5]; 6. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[8]; 7. 50C-Kayden Clatt[2]; 8. (DNF) 7M-Allan Middendorf[7]

Group A My Race Pass Qualifying – 1. 93-Mason Oberkramer, 00:15.560[5]; 2. 15L-Payton Looney, 00:15.615[6]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson, 00:15.623[12]; 4. 31C-Cole Henson, 00:15.641[7]; 5. 2T-Tyler Stevens, 00:15.661[2]; 6. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck, 00:15.685[8]; 7. 11T-Trevor Gundaker, 00:15.732[17]; 8. 7W-Cole Wells, 00:15.815[4]; 9. 1XM-Aaron Marrant, 00:15.834[13]; 10. 8-Dillon McCowan, 00:15.898[1]; 11. 78S-Steve Stultz, 00:15.938[15]; 12. 1S-Shawn Knuckles, 00:15.970[14]; 13. 33F-Rickey Frankel, 00:16.035[3]; 14. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr, 00:16.172[9]; 15. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain, 00:16.197[16]; 16. 10M-Jacob Magee, 00:16.319[10]; 17. 26G-Glen Powell, 00:16.518[11]

Group B My Race Pass Qualifying – 1. 2S-Stormy Scott, 00:15.318[11]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin, 00:15.545[3]; 3. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall, 00:15.778[2]; 4. 50C-Kayden Clatt, 00:15.833[15]; 5. 36M-Logan Martin, 00:15.884[8]; 6. 49W-Justin Wells, 00:15.954[7]; 7. 32-Chris Simpson, 00:15.975[9]; 8. 22H-Dustin Hodges, 00:15.980[4]; 9. 9G-Joseph Gorby, 00:16.007[6]; 10. 11-Jeff Herzog, 00:16.097[17]; 11. 29-Keith Hammett, 00:16.102[12]; 12. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson, 00:16.106[5]; 13. 46-Earl Pearson Jr, 00:16.208[13]; 14. 7M-Allan Middendorf, 00:16.605[1]; 15. 16-Rusty Griffaw, 00:16.714[10]; 16. 15S-Clayton Stuckey, 00:16.816[14]; 17. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt, 00:20.000[16]

Hickamo Super Stocks
Steve Scott Concrete Dash 1 – 1. 4G-Gary Clark[2]; 2. 59R-Jacob Rexing[1]; 3. 1J-Josh Jones[3]; 4. 69-Brian Brown[4]; 5. 12A-Scotty Allen[8]; 6. 30C-Clayton Campbell[5]; 7. 94C-JT Carroll[7]; 8. C5-CLAUDIE COOK[6]

Lucas Oil Speedway Dash 2 – 1. B4-Terry Schultz[2]; 2. 11T-Richie Tosh[3]; 3. 40-Taylor Carver[1]; 4. G1-Tony Anglin[5]; 5. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[4]; 6. 11-Derek Brown[7]; 7. 216-Chris Junkersfeld[8]; 8. 21-Darin Porter[6]

Heat 1 – 1. 59R-Jacob Rexing[3]; 2. 30C-Clayton Campbell[4]; 3. 251-Brian Schutt[2]; 4. 18-Jon Hays[5]; 5. 56-Mark Davis[6]; 6. CU2-Jeremy Creasey[8]; 7. 23N-Jase Nelson[7]; 8. KEG1-Jeremy Russell[1]

Heat 2 – 1. 4G-Gary Clark[1]; 2. C5-CLAUDIE COOK[3]; 3. 1-Nick Gibson[5]; 4. 88-Jason Winkle[4]; 5. 94K-Kenny Carroll[2]; 6. 83-James Ellis[6]; 7. 88R-Alex Reddmann[7]; 8. (DNS) 116-Zack Smith

Heat 3 – 1. 1J-Josh Jones[4]; 2. 94C-JT Carroll[1]; 3. 27D-Derek Henson[2]; 4. 2X-Whitney Nunally[3]; 5. 67-Devin Irvin[5]; 6. 219P-Peyton Taylor[8]; 7. 18K-Kyle Cotter[7]; 8. (DNF) 12J-Justin Jarrett[6]

Heat 4 – 1. 69-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 12A-Scotty Allen[3]; 3. 73-Daniel Deason[1]; 4. 99W-Edwin Wells[8]; 5. 44-James Nighswonger[4]; 6. 77-Jeff Douty[6]; 7. 43-Kevin Koontz[7]; 8. (DNF) 1T-Bradley Tucker[5]

Heat 5 – 1. 40-Taylor Carver[2]; 2. G1-Tony Anglin[4]; 3. 26M-Donnie Miller[3]; 4. 27S-Will Smart[6]; 5. 4-Jared Hays[1]; 6. 35-Johnny Coats[5]; 7. 16-Logan Thompson[8]; 8. 28K-Chris Kircher[7]

Heat 6 – 1. B4-Terry Schultz[2]; 2. 21-Darin Porter[1]; 3. 10K-Kyle Davis[5]; 4. 66-Matthew Kay[3]; 5. 04-Blaine Ewing[4]; 6. 94-Elmo Floyd[8]; 7. 10-Steve Beach[6]; 8. 27B-Jerett Evans[7]; 9. (DNS) 89-Josh Harris

Heat 7 – 1. 11T-Richie Tosh[2]; 2. 11-Derek Brown[3]; 3. 12V-Nathan Vaughn[4]; 4. 15M-Michael Matthews[7]; 5. 69C-Caleb Brown[1]; 6. 53-Danny O’Neal[6]; 7. X221-Jerry Brown[8]; 8. 70-Patrick West[9]; 9. (DNS) 219-Jared Neiswander

Heat 8 – 1. 21W-Ted Welschmeyer[3]; 2. 216-Chris Junkersfeld[2]; 3. 68-Dean Wille[5]; 4. 164-Michael Muskrat[6]; 5. 00-Cory Flamm[8]; 6. 3-Dale Douty III[7]; 7. (DNS) 2-Colton Bourland; 8. (DNS) GO-Jimmy Ngo

Saturday admission:
Advance Discount Tickets online only (13 and up) – $27
Adults (13 and up) – $30
Seniors (62 and up)/Military – $27
Youth (6-12) – $10
Kids (5 and under) – FREE
Family Pass – $70
Pit Pass – $45

Category: Lucas Oil Speedway, Missouri