Eldora Speedway
Gustin seeks Big E redemption after World heartbreak
By Bryan Ault
Special to DirtonDirt
Ryan Gustin at the World 100. (Zach Yost)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Oct. 9) — Ryan Gustin thinks his return to Eldora Speedway for the inaugural Clash on the Wabash will go much better than his last visit, when a broken driveshaft while leading with 12 laps remaining cost him a World 100 victory.
“I don't see why there's any reason we should be right up front, really,” Gustin said on Friday afternoon ahead of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned preliminary race won by Ricky Thornton Jr. of Chandler, Ariz. “I mean, obviously, they're out laying the water to it right now, not really what I particularly like to see, you know, as good as we were with that middle, but we'll see what we get. Man, my confidence, I'd say is higher than anybody in the place, to be honest with you, so I don't see any reason why we shouldn’t be able to win both nights.”
Unfortunately, the Marshalltown, Iowa, driver’s prelim night during the two-day show went awry from the start. Docked for a left-side deck height penalty during prerace technical inspection, he was permitted only one qualifying lap at the end of Group B on a fast surface. He timed 18th in Group B, finished outside of a transfer spot in his heat race and came home seventh in the B-main, failing to make the 40-lapper.
“We just got put behind eight ball, that’s part of it,” Gustin said in street clothes after his consolation race. “We’ll try to rebound tomorrow, and see what we can do.”
Gustin had every reason to feel confident ahead of the weekend because he knows he has a fast car. He was dominating September’s World 100, pulling out to a sizable lead over eventual winner Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C. While he acknowledges he wasn’t getting too high or low emotionally in the cockpit of his Infinity Chassis during the race’s closing circuits, the Todd Cooney Motorsports driver believed he had the car to park on Eldora’s victory stage in front of a sold-out crowd.
“I mean, with that big video board up there, you were able to watch the board and kind of, you know, see where everybody's at,” Gustin said. “I'd say 90 percent of the time, if they don't have the cameras on your car, you know you're safe, it feels like. I wasn't really too concerned, even on the restarts and stuff. We were really good that whole race.
“I don't ever really, you know. focus on (his emotions) until the checkered flag flies,” he added. “You just focus on doing your job and make sure that you hit your marks. Obviously that last restart there, I felt like, you know, we took off really well and just obviously, what happened … happened.”
Following a restart on lap 88, Gustin felt a vibration against his right leg as he barreled into turn one of the Tony Stewart-owned half-mile oval. He knew immediately what it was: an expired driveshaft, which also broke a set of gears. Gustin pulled into the pit area, tossed his helmet out of the cockpit in frustration and was left despondent after posting a 21st-place finish in a race he commanded for so long.
“In that situation, yeah, you're just mostly pissed off, just leading laps of the World 100 and to have it taken it from me like that, it's definitely a very emotional feeling,” Gustin said. “I just had a loss for words, really, I kind of still am, to be honest. Hopefully we come here and whoop their ass this weekend and get redemption.”
Gustin is feeling very confident about his chances for Saturday, despite the rough-and-tumble outing on Friday. He brought the same Infinity Chassis back to Eldora for the Lucas Oil Series weekend. The engine he raced in September’s century grind had reached its mileage limit and needed a rebuild, so a fresh powerplant is under the hood. Still, he knows it’s hard to win at a place like The Big E, especially with so many top drivers in the pit area.
“I mean, the World, especially everybody that's anybody is here, you know,” Gustin said. “Everybody that makes that show on Saturday is a damn good racer. That’s what makes it hard, really. I mean, anywhere you go, where you’ve got 100 hitters, I mean, it's tough to win.”
Friday night’s outing was particularly rough. The lone-lap qualifying effort was a challenge, with Eldora’s speeds approaching track-record levels during time trials.
“I hope they slow this track down by about two seconds,” Gustin said. “I think it'd be a lot better racing. I mean when it's wide open like that, the guys that qualify up front are going to run up front. The track might get racier in this feature, but it's just totally different than what we had at the World for sure."
