Gustin Gets Second Win of 2025 in Swainsboro Finale

SWAINSBORO, GA (March 22, 2025) – Last year, the story of Ryan Gustin’s season was how he struggled to find his rhythm until the second half of the campaign.

He wasn’t going to let that be the narrative again in 2025.

With eight World of Outlaws Late Models races in the books, “The Reaper” became a two-time winner this season with a victory in the Battle of the Crossroads finale Saturday night at Swainsboro Raceway.

“Confidence is extremely high. I feel like we’ve got the best team in the country right now,” Gustin said. “These guys work their butts off day in and day out, car owner gives us everything we need. Definitely can’t thank these guys enough for everything they do for us.”

Gustin started the race from the outside of Row 2 behind Bilstein Pole Award winner Drake Troutman and Garrett Smith, two drivers who were both in search of their first Outlaw win. Troutman won the drag race to Turn 1, while third-starting Ashton Winger got to his inside exiting Turn 2.

After racing side-by-side for more than a lap, Troutman broke away to the early lead until a caution three laps in reset the field. Gustin got around Winger on the outside entering Turn 1 on the restart before switching to the inside lane to go to work on Troutman. One lap later, Gustin cleared the No. 22* exiting Turn 2 to take over the top spot.

Gustin’s gap to the field quickly grew to two seconds 10 laps in, but then closed back to within a second once the No. 19R caught slower traffic. Gustin’s advantage evaporated entirely when Trey Mills slowed in Turns 3 and 4 to pause the race 18 laps in, but Gustin took full advantage of the clean air after the restart in rebuilding a gap.

One more yellow flag flew with six to go to give the field one last chance at Gustin, but the Marshalltown, IA driver would not be denied, as he powered away once again on the way to his 12th win with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet.

Despite this weekend being Gustin’s debut at Swainsboro, the Midwesterner instantly clicked with the Georgia facility and walked away with a pair of podium finishes. After entering the weekend fourth in the standings, Gustin is now tied with Nick Hoffman for second, 30 points behind Bobby Pierce.

“As far as keeping the race car in the racetrack, steering and all of the above, that’s what you’ve got to have at these southern racetracks,” Gustin said. “You’ve got to be able to keep the right-rear under you and still steer it through somewhat of a push, and we were able to do that all weekend.”

While he was unable to run down Gustin in the late stages, Winger was able to hold onto second to obliterate his previous season-best of 17th from Friday night and turn his season around after a dismal start.

“From the beginning of the year, I wasn’t even fast enough to get an emergency provisional,” Winger said. “I could make a little time down [in Turns 1 and 2] when I would hit it right or he would get it wrong. It got kind of tight over there leaving 2, the way the wall comes at you here, it goes from three lanes to one and a half. Figured I needed a good run, tried to use my head.”

Behind them, Pierce charged up from 10th to third for his third-straight World of Outlaws podium. All three of those runs came at southern racetracks outside of Pierce’s comfort zone, which gives the 2023 Series champion a wave of confidence heading back into familiar territory.

“I’m super happy with a first, first and third on this swing,” Pierce said. “If I could have ran some top fives, I would have been like ‘alright, that’s pretty good, I’ll take it.’ Definitely pretty excited to get back to racing around home and some tracks that we know.”

Troutman came home fourth at the end of 50 laps, while Hoffman rounded out the top five.

RACE NOTES:

Ryan Gustin set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Tanner English won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Drake Troutman won Heat 1.

Garrett Smith won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Ryan Gustin won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Ashton Winger won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Trey Mills and Austin Smith won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.

Drake Troutman won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Dustin Sorensen drove from 24th to eighth for the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Ashton Winger won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Drake Troutman was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Dustin Sorensen was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Dalton Cook was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Jimmy Owens was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Tanner English was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Models head north to Ohio’s Atomic Speedway for the two-night Fireball 50 on Friday and Saturday, Apr. 4-5. To get your tickets in advance, click here.

Feature (50 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[4]; 2. 12-Ashton Winger[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[10]; 4. 22*-Drake Troutman[1]; 5. 9-Nick Hoffman[8]; 6. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[5]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[12]; 8. 19-Dustin Sorensen[24]; 9. 44D-Dalton Cook[9]; 10. 20-Jimmy Owens[15]; 11. 18X-Michael Page[22]; 12. 96-Tanner English[7]; 13. 16S-Sam Seawright[14]; 14. 14JR-Trey Mills[17]; 15. 74X-Ethan Dotson[20]; 16. 75-Daniel Adam[13]; 17. 49-Jake Timm[19]; 18. 111-Max Blair[23]; 19. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[25]; 20. 3S-Brian Shirley[6]; 21. B1-Brent Larson[26]; 22. 40B-Kyle Bronson[21]; 23. 2-Cody Overton[11]; 24. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[16]; 25. 10-Garrett Smith[2]; 26. 11-Austin Smith[18]

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/gustin-gets-second-win-of-2025-in-swainsboro-finale/

FAN 101: https://about.worldofoutlaws.com/

Pierce Continues Southeast Dominance with Swainsboro Score

SWAINSBORO, GA (March 21, 2025) – For the second-straight World of Outlaws Late Models race, Bobby Pierce started his night as a first-timer at the venue.

And for the second-straight race, he ended the night in Victory Lane.

The Oakwood, IL native’s win Friday night in the Battle of the Crossroads at Swainsboro Raceway was the 33rd of his career with The Most Powerful Late Models on the Planet, further extending his lead atop the Series points table.

Pierce started the 35-lap affair at the front after drawing the Bilstein Pole Award, but only got to enjoy the clean air for one lap before a massive pileup behind him halted the action. Tristan Chamberlain made contact with Jimmy Owens before clipping an infield tractor tire and flipping, while a dozen more cars spun or made contact behind him.

Once the carnage was cleared and the race resumed, Pierce went to work on building a gap to the field while Team22 Motorsports teammates Drake Troutman and Chris Madden battled for second.

Troutman won that tussle and was briefly on Pierce’s tail for the lead, but the “Smooth Operator” was able to maintain the top spot. Behind them, Ryan Gustin was busy charging forward from 10th, as he spent several laps in third before getting around Troutman for second.

Gustin was briefly closing in on the leader, but was unable to get any closer than a half-second behind the No. 32. That was until a caution was thrown for debris with four circuits remaining, giving Gustin and the rest of the field one last chance at keeping Pierce out of Victory Lane.

“When they’re on you, I mean, you don’t know where to go,” Pierce said. “Sometimes its better to be second than first. You dipped when you should have dived, you know. Sometimes it’s the way the cards fall.”

The 2023 World of Outlaws champion would not be denied though, as Pierce nailed the restart and drove four perfect laps to take the win in his Swainsboro debut.

While the track was largely bottom-dominant in the Heat Races and Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns, drivers had to navigate a vastly different surface in the Feature, as the high lane quickly became the preferred groove as the race progressed.

“I knew it could possibly get that way,” Pierce said. “I’ve seen some video of this track. Once they do some track prep, it can move to the top, so I’ve seen it happen. It’s strange because it is very flat up there and it’s a far way around, but once that bottom gets slick enough the top is a little quicker sometimes.”

Considering it was also Gustin’s first visit to Swainsboro and he was piloting a wounded race car for most of the Feature, “The Reaper” was more than satisfied with a runner-up result.

“I definitely felt like that caution wasn’t going to hurt us at all,” Gustin said. “Had a really good car there, I just got into that tire a couple times and bent the left-front bumper down and was just kind of sitting on the straightaway. When I kept my left-front light in an arc it was good, but then you miss the brown on exit. All in all it was a good night.”

Troutman brought the No. 22* home third to stand on the podium for the second time in the last three World of Outlaws races. That performance was enough to take the lead in the MD3 Rookie of the Year chase by six points over Ethan Dotson, who finished ninth.

“Honestly, this is the most comfortable I’ve felt in this car all year long,” Troutman said. “We’re making good gains on it. I’ve got a lot of great people behind me that are behind the scenes that don’t really get credit for it.”

A pair of rising stars in the southeast rounded out the top five, with Cory Hedgecock in fourth and Wil Herrington setting a new career-best with the Outlaws in fifth.

RACE NOTES:

Dennis Erb Jr. set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Chris Madden won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Chris Madden won Heat 1.

Jimmy Owens won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Bobby Pierce won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Nick Hoffman won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Ashton Winger and Jackson Hise won the two Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.

Bobby Pierce won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Ethan Dotson drove from 23rd to ninth to pick up the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Drake Troutman was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Ryan Gustin won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Cory Hedgecock was the ARP fourth-Place Finisher.

Wil Herrington was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Chris Madden was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Dalton Cook was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Ethan Dotson was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Cody Overton was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Dennis Erb Jr. was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The World of Outlaws Late Models wrap up the Battle at the Crossroads at Swainsboro Raceway on Saturday, March 22 with a $15,000-to-win main event. To get your tickets in advance, click here.

If you can’t make it to the trac, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 32-Bobby Pierce[1]; 2. 19R-Ryan Gustin[10]; 3. 22*-Drake Troutman[5]; 4. 23V-Cory Hedgecock[6]; 5. 15K-Wil Herrington[12]; 6. 44-Chris Madden[2]; 7. 9-Nick Hoffman[3]; 8. 44D-Dalton Cook[7]; 9. 74X-Ethan Dotson[23]; 10. 2-Cody Overton[14]; 11. 111-Max Blair[19]; 12. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[25]; 13. 3S-Brian Shirley[24]; 14. 14JR-Trey Mills[8]; 15. 9M-Tim McCreadie[20]; 16. 96-Tanner English[15]; 17. 12-Ashton Winger[17]; 18. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 19. 49-Jake Timm[13]; 20. 19-Dustin Sorensen[16]; 21. 18X-Michael Page[21]; 22. 40B-Kyle Bronson[11]; 23. 388-Jackson Hise[18]; 24. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[9]; 25. 49M-Luke Morey[22]; 26. B1-Brent Larson[26]

ARTICLE: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/pierce-continues-southeast-dominance-with-swainsboro-score/

EVENT INFO: https://worldofoutlaws.com/latemodels/schedule/event-info/?event=4547655
TRACK INFO: https://www.swainsbororaceway.com/