Eldora Speedway
Gustin still trying to get over the hump at Eldora
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Ryan Gustin (joshjamesartwork.com)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Sept. 6) — A part of Ryan Gustin takes pride in finishing fifth in Saturday’s World 100 at Eldora Speedway. Another part of the Marshalltown, Iowa, driver is upset he couldn’t hang onto a podium position or challenge for the lead once he got to third from the 12th starting spot by lap 43.
“It’s mixed emotions for sure,” the 34-year-old Gustin said. “It was by far the best we’ve been at this place. We’ve had decent runs here, but it’s always been beating the fence down. Felt like we had a really, really good car tonight. It was a testament what these Infinity Chassis are.”
That makes three straight top-10 finishes at the World 100 for Gustin, who finished eighth in 2023 and ninth last season. But in Gustin’s mind, he hasn’t fared all that well in Eldora’s 100-lappers.
In 15 major event entries at Eldora, Gustin’s has qualified for eight 100-lappers, including the World 100 four straight years. The Dream hasn’t been so kind to him, an event he’s failed to qualify for four times in seven attempts, with a best finish of 20th in 2023 at the track where Jonathan Davenport, Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer and Dale McDowell found multi-victory success.
“This place is tough. It’s the most humbling place you’ll ever go to really,” Gustin said. “I’ve watched more of these races than I’ve ran. You watch guys like J.D., Scott, Billy, Dale, and when you’re out there racing, you learn different things about how to get around this place. Nothing but laps will teach you. You can watch all the video you want, but you have to drive this place and figure it out. I think that’s why those guys are so good here. Definitely going in the right direction. Looking forward to coming back.”
When Gustin climbed nine positions in 43 laps to move behind Davenport and eventual winner Ricky Thornton Jr., he thought he had a car capable of contending with two of the sport’s heaviest hitters. But nothing further materialized as Gustin could only pull within less than a second from Davenport once from laps 38-88, the 50-lap green-flag run before the caution for Chris Madden with 12 laps to go.
“I didn’t feel like I used up too much of my tire. I thought I was being fairly easy on them early. When it gets to the dirty stage to kind of the beginning of the race, that’s where you tear up tires. Obviously didn’t wanna do that,” Gustin said. “To see J.D’s spoiler get bigger and bigger, we were running them down. You see Ricky up there, (I was like), ‘Don’t overdrive the car.’ That’s the biggest thing at this place. I always feel like I’ve overdrove the car.
“You got to slow down, keep the tires under you, worry about entry speed, not exit speed. I mean, it’s, like I said, it’s tough to learn when you’re on the outside watching these things, if you don’t make the show. You have to get in the show. You have to get in the car and drive the racetrack, it definitely helps.”
Being able to draw from the experience of his first-ever crown jewel victory in Aug. 9’s USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., buoyed Gustin’s confidence during the World 100 finale. He feels he’s able to pace himself more effectively throughout a long-distance feature.
Virtually nothing that Gustin learned setup-wise from his USA Nationals victory could carry over into World 100 week, though. Actually, in his 24th-place finish in Friday’s Eldora prelim, a 25-lap feature where he finished a lap down, Gustin and his Todd Cooney Racing team employed a setup “pretty similar to what we ran at Cedar Lake,” but “obviously we were horrible.”
“Pacing yourself, yes. As far as setup-wise, no. They’re not even close,” said Gustin, who added “anywhere you go in the country in these cars, they’re so technical and so stuck, so much horsepower and tire and air. Track to track is so much different.”
When asked what the difference had been between Friday’s underwhelming prelim performance and nearly landing on the podium Saturday, Gustin couldn’t quite divulge his secrets.
“We had some extra help tonight. They know who they are. Can’t thank them enough,” said Gustin, who added that, setup-wise, “we were kinda all over the board, really.”
Gustin and his No. 19r team has been operating without a designated crew chief since Cody Mallory left the team in mid-June. With Mallory on the wrenches, Gustin picked up two victories, both on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series circuit in Jan. 28’s tour opening at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., and March 22 at Swainsboro (Ga.) Speedway.
Gustin’s upped his pace since mid-June, notching four victories, nine podiums and 20 top-10s in 30 features since June 17’s DIRTcar Summer Nationals triumph at Davenport (Iowa) Speedway. When a follow-up question was asked about who the unnamed helping hand at Eldora might be, Gustin again respectively declined to say who.
“Like I said, we had some help. I can’t thank them enough,” Gustin said. “These guys work their butt off, too. The crew, they’ve been running ragged the last two, three weeks, almost a month it seems like.”
Third in World of Outlaws points with nine races to go, Gustin’s in position for his best points finish on the tour since his 2021 rookie season. He’s finished sixth, fourth, seventh and sixth on the tour the last four years, with last year’s five-victory campaign his winningest WoO season.
At four wins on tour so far in 2025, Gustin would like to nab at least two more victories for a new single-season high before Nov. 8’s World Finals finale at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. He’s hoping a productive World 100 at Eldora is another sign that things are continuing to progress for himself and Todd Cooney's team.
“We weren’t that far off at all. I feel like, this place, a lot of it is about luck, man,” Gustin said of Eldora. “We got extremely lucky. We were terrible (on Friday). Spun the six on the wheel, if we win that heat race, we’d be on the pole of the World 100. A lot of it is luck. But it’s better to be lucky than good.”
