WORLD OF OUTLAWS LATE MODEL DRIVER RYAN GUSTIN

By Cyndi Stiffler

Dirt Empire is hitting the asphalt with driver Ryan Gustin as our contributing writer, Cyndi Stiffler, tracks what it is really like spending a racing season in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series as she chronicles Gustin and his team.

RYAN GUSTIN’S FIRST World of Outlaws win in late May at Hartford, Ohio’s Sharon Speedway is most definitely the biggest news since the last issue. Those that know Ryan and follow the Outlaws know he was robbed of that win last year and he came back this year with a vengeance at the 3/8 oval. He set fast time in his group, and then won his heat race over Devin Moran and the invert set him outside of the second row for the feature.

After last year’s performance from 19th to almost winning, he became a crowd favorite there to vindicate himself this year and Gustin did not disappoint as he put on show in his famed high-side style. He actually used the bottom groove with twelve laps to go to pass Shane Clanton for the lead and then pull away for the final laps to claim his first World of Outlaws win. (I rely on a lot of people to help with information following Ryan on the road and compiling these articles but that night I was lucky enough to be there since this was my home track and to watch this team reach this millstone in front of a crowd that wanted it as much as they did was exciting.)

“It feels awesome, man,” Gustin said. “I definitely didn’t want to wait this long, but it definitely feels good, especially to win $20,000. I knew if we had a shot anywhere, it was going to be [Sharon Speedway]. We were really good last year, and we put a 100 percent identical setup on it, and [the car] was good tonight too. I think we definitely got something figured out at this place.”

That win set the tone for the last two months on the road. Gustin went on to Tri-City Speedway in Illinois a week later and picked up another win and a third and has found himself in the top ten in more than 20 races through his summer travels so far including at least six podium finishes and is currently fourth in the World of Outlaw points.

Recently at Red Cedar Speedway, while running second, Gustin broke a rear end that ended another possible trip to victory lane. This prompted my interest in how they maintain such a high level of performance on the road without breakdowns. Gustin explained that they basically replace everything that moves every 1,500 laps. Engines are pulled and rebuilt every 1,2001,500 laps with valve springs being replaced every 600 laps. They also periodically change carburetor gaskets and transmission clutches and oil. The team has two chassis and four engines, to maintain, and then of course the hours of tire prep. For a team on the road, depending on the races, they could very easily be replacing parts and rebuilding engines every month, but this level of maintenance avoids the risk of failure when the money is on the line. They sell the good used equipment to local/weekly racers that are glad for a deal on good used parts.

As the summer is winding to a close, the shortage of tires is still an issue. Two more shows have recently been canceled directly due to tire shortages. While the World of Outlaws teams have plenty of tires, many of the local or other series they race in cannot get tires, and it definitely could get a lot worse before it gets better. The World of Outlaws put in a rule this year that each team was only allowed five tires a night and only a few compounds are allowed. The tires are paint marked in nightly tech and serial numbers recorded for each event. While this seems to be a great idea to cut down on tire costs, it actually in many cases is causing teams to use more tires instead of less as they would reuse certain tires again that only had a few laps in qualifying or heats, but the reality is this is the elephant in the room in racing right now, and teams and sanctions are trying anything and everything to cope.

The month of July’s schedule has allowed the team to race more local, and Ryan was able to spend at least part of the week at home and working out of his own shop instead of a Walmart parking lot, but as they gear up for the end of the summer, they will be heading for a long trek out of town again for three to four weeks that will start first in West Virginia when they pick up a new Rocket Chassis before heading back to Sharon Speedway August 20th, and then on to tracks through the southeast. To keep updated you can follow Gustin’s journey on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and his website www.ryangustin.com.