Wheatland, MO (October 3, 2024) – Ryan Gustin survived a back-and-forth battle for the lead and a late race charge from Chris Simpson to score the opening night win in the MLRA “Fall Nationals” on Thursday at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO.

Not only was the action intense at the top, the drama also continued in the Championship Chase throughout the night, with multiple top five drivers having their struggles while others found a way to capitalize with just five races remaining on the 2024 season.

Jon Binning brought the field to the green for the 30-lap main event along side of Chris Simpson. Simpson grab the lead on the initial circuit, and as the field completed lap one it was Binning losing grip and spinning in turns one and two to bring out the nights first of three cautions. Simpson again grabbed control and was able to maintain the advantage over fourth stating Gustin and Stormy Scott, before a Jeff Herzog spin slowed the pace again on lap 8.

With Gustin closing ground just prior to the caution, he picked up where he left off and took his first lead of the night on lap 11. Trouble next struck MLRA point leader Chad Simpson on lap 16 when he spun to the infield with 14 laps to go while running in 8th. Simpson would visit the hot pit before returning and finishing in 15th.

Gustin again jumped back to the point on the final restart of the night, but it was Chris Simpson finding his way back out front on lap twenty for the second time on the night. That lead would be short lived as Gustin once again raced back by for the top spot just one lap later. Simpson would continue to pressure Gustin for the lead in the closing laps, circling the low line while Gustin moved to the top side. Lap traffic on the final lap would block any advances by Simpson, as Gustin drove to his 11th career Lucas Oil MLRA victory, and 5th all-time in Wheatland.

Simpson’s second place run, allowed him to close back in on the championship battle taking a 200-point deficit down to just 120 heading into Friday night. Lucas Oil Speedway champion Justin Wells raced from 13th to round out the podium in third. Stormy Scott would hold on for 4th while Tony Jackson Jr. finished in 5th, closing to within just 55 points of Midwest Sheet Metal Point Leader Chad Simpson.

“This is a different tire combination than what we normally run here with the four on the right rear and twos everywhere else ,” explained Gustin. “It’s definitely a different ballgame compared to what were used to running on, but we’ll go to work on it and make it better for tomorrow.”

For Gustin, the advantage may have been running in second which allowed him to watch the moves of Simpson early in the going. “I seen his (Chris Simpson) signal guy move him down there and I figured we were just going to crack the whip and run the cushion and hope for the best, and tonight it all worked out,” he concluded. As for his success at the Lucas Oil Speedway he continued, “it’s a love hate relationship here I guess. Sometimes where almost unstoppable here and other times we don’t even make the show, so hopefully we can keep it rolling and be standing here again tomorrow night.”

Simpson’s runner up finish marked his third MLRA podium of the season and second at the Lucas Oil Speedway. “You get out in the lead there and then I seen Ryan below me and I knew if Ryan was good down there I could be really good down there,” noted Simpson. “I moved down there on that restart, and I probably should have ran the top one lap to stop him from getting a run, but either way it was a good race. We were a little better down here in three and four than he was and I think we might have had something there on that las lap but Kayden was in the way, so we’ll take it. It’s a three-night weekend, so to get second tonight you know is still a good night for us.”

The MLRA Fall Nationals continues on Friday night with another complete $5,000 to win main event. Action for the weekend will conclude at the Diamond of Dirt Tracks on Saturday night with the $10,000 MLRA finale, along with the $10,000 to win feature event for the “Big Buck 50” Super Stocks.

Lucas Oil Speedway Contingencies 10/3/24
Lap Leaders – Chris Simpson (1 – 10), Ryan Gustin (11 – 19), Chris Simpson (20), Ryan Gustin (21 – 30)
Cautions – 3

MyRacePass “Overall Fast Time Award” – Stormy Scott (14.793 sec.)
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – Tim Douglas
MD3 “Most Laps Led” – Ryan Gustin (19)
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Earl Pearson Jr.
Sunoco Race Fuel “Rookie of the Race” – Aaron Marrant
PEM Racing “4th Place Finisher” – Stormy Scott
Fluidyne: “5th Place Finisher: – Tony Jackson Jr.
Sunoco “Engine Builders Challenge” – Jay Dickens
Midwest Sheet Metal “Points Leader Spoiler Challenge” – Chad Simpson
MSD Performance Holley: “1st B-Main NON-Qualifier” – Shawn Knuckles
MD3 Final Finisher: – Jon Binning

Fall Nationals Night #130 Laps | 00:24:13.811

1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 2. 32-Chris Simpson[2]; 3. 49W-Justin Wells[13]; 4. 2S-Stormy Scott[5]; 5. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[11]; 6. 22H-Dustin Hodges[15]; 7. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[16]; 8. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[24]; 9. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[21]; 10. 15L-Payton Looney[8]; 11. 8-Dillon McCowan[23]; 12. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[17]; 13. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[22]; 14. 25-Chad Simpson[9]; 15. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[19]; 16. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[12]; 17. 50C-Kayden Clatt[10]; 18. (DNF) 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[3]; 19. (DNF) 36M-Logan Martin[6]; 20. (DNF) 2T-Tyler Stevens[14]; 21. (DNF) 9G-Joseph Gorby[18]; 22. (DNF) 93-Brandon Overton[7]; 23. (DNF) 11-Jeff Herzog[20]; 24. (DNF) 65-Jon Binning[1]

B Feature 1 Fast Shafts10 Laps | 00:03:30.889

1. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 2. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[1]; 3. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[4]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 5. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 6. 1S-Shawn Knuckles[7]; 7. 10M-Jacob Magee[5]; 8. (DNF) 1T-Tucker Cox[8]; 9. (DNF) 7W-Cole Wells[6]

B Feature 2 Wieland10 Laps | 00:06:21.283

1. 9G-Joseph Gorby[8]; 2. 11-Jeff Herzog[2]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[5]; 4. 16-Rusty Griffaw[1]; 5. 29-Keith Hammett[6]; 6. 5V-Austin Vincent[3]; 7. 7M-Allan Middendorf[7]; 8. (DNS) 7J-Ryan Johnson; 9. (DNS) 15S-Clayton Stuckey

H1-Flo Sports8 Laps | 00:03:21.760

1. 65-Jon Binning[2]; 2. 2S-Stormy Scott[1]; 3. 25-Chad Simpson[3]; 4. 49W-Justin Wells[4]; 5. 11T-Trevor Gundaker[7]; 6. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[6]; 7. 10M-Jacob Magee[8]; 8. (DNF) 1S-Shawn Knuckles[9]; 9. (DNS) 8-Dillon McCowan

H2-Simpson Race Products8 Laps | 00:02:36.832

1. 15T-Tyler Kuykendall[1]; 2. 93-Brandon Overton[5]; 3. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[2]; 4. 22H-Dustin Hodges[7]; 5. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[3]; 6. 11G-Gordy Gundaker[6]; 7. 7W-Cole Wells[8]; 8. 1T-Tucker Cox[4]

H3-Earnhardt Technologies8 Laps | 00:02:45.728

1. 32-Chris Simpson[1]; 2. 36M-Logan Martin[2]; 3. 50C-Kayden Clatt[3]; 4. 2T-Tyler Stevens[6]; 5. 16-Rusty Griffaw[5]; 6. 5V-Austin Vincent[4]; 7. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 8. 7M-Allan Middendorf[8]; 9. (DNS) 7J-Ryan Johnson

H4- Lucas Oil8 Laps | 00:04:17.941

1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[2]; 2. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 3. 1XMJ-Matt Johnson[1]; 4. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[5]; 5. 11-Jeff Herzog[7]; 6. 15S-Clayton Stuckey[6]; 7. 29-Keith Hammett[8]; 8. 9G-Joseph Gorby[4]