NEW RICHMOND, Wis. — The list of six-figure winners in Dirt Late Model racing is one of the most exclusive clubs in the sport — and its latest member is now Ryan Gustin.

With 13 career wins on the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series prior to Saturday night, Gustin knew how to get the job done against the big dogs. But crown jewel victories? That’s eluded the Marshalltown, Iowa, driver until he bagged Saturday’s $100,000-to-win 38th annual USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond, Wis., where he commanded the final 88 laps over Mike Marlar, who finished 1.049 seconds behind.

“I’m glad its over,” Gustin said in victory lane Saturday night. “I’ve seen Sheppard there once, and I got behind Bobby (Pierce in lapped traffic), and he kicked it up. He was flying around the top. But I felt like I was hung. I knew that middle would be there, but I didn’t want to go down and get passed on the outside either.

“At the end there, I figured, the hell with it: I’m going to run through the middle and protect the slider. We get beat on the top, we get beat on the top. It all worked out. Man, this is awesome … to win this deal, my first crown jewel, I’m speechless, really.”

Once he settled into second behind early pacesetter Garrett Alberson after starting on the front row, Gustin chipped away at the lead ever so slightly once the leaders entered into traffic. Navigating turns one and two on lap 12 smoother than Alberson, Gustin made his eventual race-winning when he split the gap between the leader and a lapped car.

From that point on, Gustin did everything necessary to hold down the lead, even as Brandon Sheppard, Jonathan Davenport, Hudson O’Neal, and Marlar, among others, stayed within striking distance throughout the running.

Sheppard emerged as Gustin’s biggest threat late in the race, cutting the gap from nearly two seconds with 20 to go down to less than half a second with 12 circuits remaining. On lap 89, Sheppard pulled alongside Gustin around the bottom, and almost cleared the eventual winner exiting turn four until Gustin made a nifty move to reclaim the bottom in the following corner.

That move alone gave Gustin nearly a second lead until Devin Moran brought out lap 94’s final caution on the frontstretch to set up a seven-lap sprint to the checkers.

“I’ve seen Sheppard there, and we was kind of in lapped traffic, so I wanted it, but I didn’t at the same time. Like I said, seven laps to go, $100,000, you don’t know what to do. So I tried using up the whole racetrack, float the middle and it all worked out.”

Gustin’s performance culminated a complete turnaround for him at Cedar Lake’s marquee event. On Thursday, Gustin “unloaded horrible,” so much that the No. 19 Todd Cooney Motorsports team switched cars.

“Got old faithful out, and she was pretty good tonight,” said Gustin, whose four previous USA Nationals feature starts were topped by his fourth-place finish last year.

Marlar, meanwhile, tied his career-best runner-up finish in the USA Nationals in 2017 when he got around Sheppard for second on the final restart. For Marlar, he was one of the biggest movers of the race starting 16th.

“Fun race, the lapped traffic was great and the racetrack was unbelievable,” Marlar said. “They got it the perfect amount of wet this time. It lasted the whole race, but the first part of it was manageable, we could race pretty good. It was an awesome race.”

O’Neal essentially followed Marlar to the front, finishing third after starting 15th to continue his string of success in three USA Nationals feature starts that have resulted in top-six finishes.

“We made a lot of progress coming into today,” O’Neal said. “Felt like we were good last night in the heat rave, but still needed just a little bit more to maneuver up through there. Made the right changes today and was able to drive from 15th to the podium here, which we’re happy with. Lacked a little bit for the frontrunners, but we’ve got a good car anyway.” — Spence Smithback

Notes: Pole-starting Garrett Alberson, who eventually faded to finish 16th, paced the opening 11 laps before Gustin passed him around the high side in traffic. Alberson ran second from laps 12-46 before the lap-48 restart began his spiral down the leaderboard. Restarting third, Alberson nearly tangled with a gaggle of cars and had to check up to save his race car. He dropped back to seventh on lap 48 before he eventually fell outside the top-10 on lap 57. … Brandon Sheppard restarted second with seven laps to go and nearly passed Gustin on lap 89 around the bottom before Gustin used a nifty move to retake the bottom on lap 90. Sheppard lost four positions on the final restart in getting shuffled back to finish sixth. ... Two-time reigning USA Nationals champ Bobby Pierce was never a factor all night, starting 17th and running as high as 10th on lap 98 before finishing 11th. Pierce brought out the second caution of the night on lap 43 for a flat right-rear tire running 11th. He gained 12 positions over the final 57 laps after restarting 23rd. … Six cautions slowed the 47-minute feature, all over the final 62 laps: Lap 39 for Trevor Gundaker’s spin; lap 43 for Pierce’s flat right-rear tire; lap 48 for fifth-running Tanner English, who slowed on the frontstretch; lap 51 for Tyler Bruening and Ethan Dotson tangling; lap 57 for Brian Shirley slowing; and lap 93 for eighth-running Devin Moran’s flat right-rear tire. … Bruening ended up finishing 20th on a night he suffered engine issues in hot laps and resorted to a backup car, forfeiting his fifth starting position. 

USA Nationals
Pos. Driver (car no.), hometown, chassis, earnings
1. Ryan Gustin (19m), Marshalltown, Iowa, Infinity, $100,000
2. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., Longhorn, $25,000
3. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., Longhorn, $12,000
4. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., Longhorn, $9,000
5. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., Longhorn, $7,500
6. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., Rocket, $6,000
7. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., Longhorn, $5,000
8. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., Longhorn, $4,500
9. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $4,400
10. Cody Overton (2), Evans, Ga., Longhorn, $4,200
11. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., Longhorn, $4,000
12. Tim McCreadie (9), Watertown, N.Y., Longhorn, $3,800
13. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, Longhorn, $3,600
14. Jason Feger (25), Bloomington, Ill., Longhorn, $3,400
15. Jake Timm (49), Winona, Minn., Longhorn, $3,350
16. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., Longhorn, $3,300
17. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., Longhorn, $3,250
18. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., Longhorn, $3,200
19. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., Longhorn, $3,100
20. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, Infinity, $3,000
21. Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., Longhorn, $3,000
22. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., Rocket, $3,000
23. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., Longhorn, $0
24. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., Longhorn, $0
25. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., Longhorn, $3,000
26. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., Longhorn, $3,000
27. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., Longhorn, $3,000
28. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., Longhorn, $3,000
29. Trevor Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., Longhorn, $3,000
30. Chub Frank (1*), Bear Lake, Pa., Longhorn, $0
Lap leaders: Alberson 1-11; Gustin 12-100
Heat race winners (among 52 cars): Bruening, Davenport, Madden, Gustin, Alberson, Timm
Dash winner: Alberson
Consolation winners: Moran, Thornton
Last-chance winner: Shirley
Provisional starters: Hoffman, Troutman, Frank, Dotson, Chamberlain
Preliminary feature winner: McCreadie

Feature lineup

(100 laps)

Row 1: Garrett Alberson, Ryan Gustin
Row 2: Chris Madden, Jonathan Davenport
Row 3: Tyler Bruening, Jake Timm
Row 4: Tanner English, Brandon Sheppard
Row 5: Dustin Sorensen, Tim McCreadie
Row 6: Brent Larson, Dennis Erb Jr.
Row 7: Jason Feger, Brandon Overton
Row 8: Hudson O'Neal, Mike Marlar
Row 9: Bobby Pierce, Cody Overton
Row 10: Devin Moran, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 11: Kyle Bronson, Gordy Gundaker
Row 12: Brian Shirley, Trevor Gundaker
Row 13: Nick Hoffman, Drake Troutman
Row 14: Chub Frank, Ethan Dotson
Row 15: Tristan Chamberlain

Last chance results

(15 laps, top two transfer)

Finish: Brian Shirley, Trevor Gundaker, Cade Dillard, Jake O'Neil, Chase Junghans, Dillon McCowan, A.J. Diemel, Max Blair, Dan Ebert, Daniel Adam, Ethan Dotson, Tyler Erb. Scratched: Dylan Thornton, Boom Briggs.

Consolation results

(12 laps; top two transfer)

First consolation: Devin Moran, Kyle Bronson, Brian Shirley, Cade Dillard, Dillon McCowan, Jake O'Neil, Max Blair, Boom Briggs, Dan Ebert, Jordan Yaggy, Derrick Stewart, Thomas Hunziker, Nick Hoffman, Chub Frank, Drake Troutman. Scratched: Aaron Marrant, Justin Green.

Second consolation: Ricky Thornton Jr., Gordy Gundaker, Trevor Gundaker, Chase Junghans, Daniel Adam, Dylan Thornton, Tyler Erb, A.J. Diemel, Ethan Dotson, Lance Matthees, Sammy Mars, Tristan Chamberlain, Mitch McGrath, Tim Isenberg, Matthew Larson. Scratched: Billy Moyer, Joel Collins.

Consolation lineups

First consolation
Row 1: Dan Ebert, Kyle Bronson
Row 2: Cade Dillard, Devin Moran
Row 3: Max Blair, Nick Hoffman
Row 4: Brian Shirley, Boom Briggs
Row 5: Dillon McCowan, Drake Troutman
Row 6: Aaron Marrant, Jake O'Neil
Row 7: Chub Frank, Jordan Yaggy
Row 8: Justin Green, Thomas Hunziker
Row 9: Derrick Stewart
Second consolation
Row 1: Gordy Gunaker, Ricky Thornton Jr.
Row 2: Dylan Thornton, Trevor Gundaker
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Daniel Adam
Row 4: A.J. Diemel, Tyler Erb
Row 5: Matthew Larson, Lance Matthees
Row 6: Tristan Chamberlain, Mitch McGrath
Row 7: Tim Isenberg, Ethan Dotson
Row 8: Sammy Mars, Joel Collins
Row 9: Billy Moyer

Dash results

(Six laps; sets first three rows of 100-lapper)

Finish: Garrett Alberson, Ryan Gustin, Chris Madden, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Bruening, Jake Timm.

Heat race recap

Tyler Bruening commanded all 10 laps from the pole to win the first heat race by 2.035 seconds over Tanner English, with fourth-starting Jason Feger grabbing the third and final transfer spot into Saturday night’s 38th annual USA Nationals main event. Second-starting Devin Moran was called for jumping the race’s opening start and docked a starting row; he briefly held the fourth spot before slipping to sixth and rebounded to fifth on the final lap. … Polesitter Jonathan Davenport dominated the second heat, leading the entire way and finishing 2.348 seconds ahead of Dustin Sorensen, who trailed him all 10 laps. Eighth-starting Hudson O’Neal charged to battle Kyle Bronson for third, claiming the final transfer position into Saturday's 100-lap feature and relegating Bronson to fourth. … Second-starting Chris Madden slid by Cade Dillard and led the final four laps to win the third heat by 1.038 seconds over seventh-starting Brent Larson, who moved from fourth-to-second on the final lap. Bobby Pierce battled Dillard in the final stages, pushing Dillard high as they raced towards the checkered flag and beating him by 0.211 of a second to claim the final transfer; Dillard settled for fourth after leading the opening six laps from the pole. … Ryan Gustin held off a mid-race charge from Brandon Sheppard and beat him by 1.478 seconds to win the fourth heat. Brandon Overton rounded out the top-three finishers, as Gordy Gundaker outran his brother, Trevor Gundaker to finish fourth; both Gundakers will need to qualify through one of Saturday’s consolation races. … Garrett Alberson cruised to win the fifth heat race, leading all 10 laps from the pole and taking the checkers 0.849 of a second ahead of fourth-starting Tim McCreadie, who officially pursued Alberson the entire distance. Mike Marlar started and finished third, narrowly holding off ninth-starting Ricky Thornton Jr., who settled for fourth aboard his backup car after losing an engine in time trials. Thornton will need to transfer through one of Saturday’s consolations. … Jake Timm held off Dennis Erb Jr. to win the sixth and final heat, crossing the line 0.387 of a second ahead of Erb, who led the third lap before settling for second. Second-starting Cody Overton slipped as low as fourth on lap six before rebounding to finish third. … All six prelims combined to last just shy of 15 minutes.

Heat race results

(10 laps; top three transfer)

First heat: Tyler Bruening, Tanner English, Jason Feger, Dan Ebert, Devin Moran, Brian Shirley, Drake Troutman, Chub Frank, Thomas Hunziker.

Second heat: Jonathan Davenport, Dustin Sorensen, Hudson O'Neal, Kyle Bronson, Max Blair, Boom Briggs, Aaron Marrant, Jordan Yaggy, Derrick Stewart.

Third heat: Chris Madden, Brent Larson, Bobby Pierce, Cade Dillard, Nick Hoffman, Dillon McCowan, Jake O'Neil, Justin Green.

Fourth heat: Ryan Gustin, Brandon Sheppard, Brandon Overton, Gordy Gundaker, Trevor Gundaker, A.J. Diemel, Lance Matthees, Tim Isenberg, Joel Collins.

Fifth heat: Garrett Alberson, Tim McCreadie, Mike Marlar, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chase Junghans, Tyler Erb, Tristan Chamberlain, Ethan Dotson, Billy Moyer.

Sixth heat: Jake Timm, Dennis Erb Jr., Cody Overton, Dylan Thornton, Daniel Adam, Matthew Larson, Mitch McGrath, Sammy Mars.

Time trials

Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Tyler Bruening (16), Decorah, Iowa, 13.644
2. Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 13.805
3. Cade Dillard (97), Robeline, La., 13.932
4. Devin Moran (99), Dresden, Ohio, 13.965
5. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 13.973
6. Chris Madden (44), Gray Court, S.C., 14.019
7. Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 14.107
8. Aaron Marrant (1x), Richmond, Mo., 14.166
9. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 14.167
10. Jason Feger (25F), Bloomington, Ill., 14.202
11. Max Blair (111), Centerville, Pa., 14.215
12. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 14.217
13. Dan Ebert (60), Lake Shore, Minn., 14.249
14. Boom Briggs (99B), Bear Lake, Pa., 14.263
15. Dillon McCowan (75m), Urbana, Mo., 14.267
16. Brian Shirley (3s), Chatham, Ill., 14.331
17. Jordan Yaggy (77), Rochester, Minn., 14.340
18. Jake O’Neil (0), Tucson, Ariz., 14.387
19. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 14.395
20. Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 14.444
21. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.469
22. Chub Frank (1*), Bear Lake, Pa., 14.513
23. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 14.707
24. Justin Green (19J), Sheboygan Falls, Wis., 15.185
25. Thomas Hunziker (38), Bend, Ore., 15.576
26. Derrick Stewart (43), Ainsworth, Iowa, disqualified
Group B
1. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 14.234
2. Garrett Alberson (58), Las Cruces, N.M., 14.264
3. Jake Timm (49), Winona, Minn., 14.295
4. Brandon Sheppard (1), New Berlin, Ill., 14.326
5. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 14.327
6. Cody Overton (2), Evans, Ga., 14.331
7. Brandon Overton (76), Evans, Ga., 14.386
8. Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 14.396
9. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 14.399
10. Gordy Gundaker (11), St. Charles, Mo., 14.433
11. Tim McCreadie (9), Watertown, N.Y., 14.467
12. Dylan Thornton (38T), Orcutt, Calif., 14.496
13. Trevor Gundaker (11G), St. Charles, Mo., 14.528
14. Tyler Erb (1T), New Waverly, Texas, 14.543
15. Daniel Adam (75), Peru, Ill., 14.585
16. Tim Isenberg (9T), Marshfield, Wis., 14.610
17. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 14.641
18. Sammy Mars (28m), Menomonie, Wis., 14.658
19. A.J. Diemel (10c), Elk Mound, Wis., 14.661
20. Chase Junghans (18), Manhattan, Kan., 14.691
21. Matthew Larson (8), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.745
22. Lance Matthees (90), Winona, Minn., 14.813
23. Billy Moyer (21), Batesville, Ark., 14.890
24. Mitch McGrath (74), Waukesha, Wis., 14.892
25. Joel Collins (21x), Princeton, Minn., 15.570
26. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20rt), Chandler, Ariz., no time

Saturday’s schedule

(All times local)
8:30 a.m. - Breakfast served in both restaurants
11 a.m. - Apple River tubing
12:30 p.m. - FansFund luncheon
2 p.m. - Pits open
4 p.m. - Grandstands open
4:30 p.m. - Drivers’ autograph session (vendor area)
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Limited Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps (consolation entrants)
Opening ceremonies
- Limited Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model consolations (12 laps)
- Super Late Model hot laps (feature locked-in entrants)
- Limited Late Model consolation (12 laps)
- Super Late Model last chance (15 laps)
- Limited Late Model feature (30 laps)
Track prep/driver introductions
- 38th annual USA Nationals (100 laps)

Friday’s schedule

8:30 a.m. - Breakfast served in both restaurants
11 a.m. - Apple River tubing
2 p.m. - Pits open
4 p.m. - Grandstands open
6:30 p.m. - On-track activity
- Limited Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model hot laps
- Super Late Model time trials (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Limited Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Super Late Model heats (10 laps)
- Limited Late Model consolation (10 laps)
Intermission/fireworks show
- Super Late Model dash (6 laps)
- Limited Late Model feature (25 laps)
- Super Late Models Fans Fund dash (12 laps)
Postrace party in the Cedar Lake Arena