KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Ryan Gustin won his first SLMR sanctioned late model feature on the Saturday night at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
The “Reaper” from Marshalltown, Iowa added another victory to his 2014 season. He has won with the NCRA, MLRA, and MARS late model series, but Gustin became a first-time winner in SLMR competition.
The SLMR series was in action on Saturday on the final night of the inaugural USRA National Championships. After a dominating run by Justin Zeitner the night before, the series stayed overnight and took to the banks of Lakeside Speedway for only the second time in the series’ history.
Saturday’s 25-lap feature got off to a very a rough start. Two red flags came out after the first lap was officially complete. The first red flag came out when Dan Shepard climbed the turn one wall and rolled over one and a half times. Shepard was taken off the track in an ambulance for observations.
Kyle Berck had a very tough night. He had terminal engine problems in his heat race, and he borrowed a car from Ben Schaller, and even then, he started the race late and couldn’t keep up with the front of the pack.
The second red flag came out on the following restart. A pileup in turn two started when Mike Collins slapped the turn one wall, which stacked up the field, and Tad Pospisil flipped over and ended up on his roof. Pospisil was okay. Brian Kosiski, Robbie Anderson, Corey Zeitner, and Friday’s feature winner Justin Zeitner, were all involved.
Corey Zeitner ran second at the time of the second red. He had to go to the pit area because he cut a right rear tire after clipping Collins’ front end. Zeitner had to go to the rear of the field for the restart. Randy Foote was in the lead, and because Zeitner went to the pit, Ryan Gustin inherited second.
From that restart, Foote and Gustin battled hard for the lead. Eight laps into the race, Gustin put his Rocket chassis number 19R out in front for good.
Four caution flags came out during the features came out for cars hitting implement tires onto the racetrack. The cautions stacked the field up, and each time, Gustin delivered on keeping his car out in front.
Justin Gregg was in the top five for the majority of the feature, but the Hastings, Nebraska driver smacked the back stretch wall and then slammed into the tire barrier to the turn-three pit entrance.
In the closing laps, Gustin held off all challengers and took home the checkered flag. Corey Zeitner battled back from the tail at the beginning of the race and finished second. Randy Foote recorded a season best third place finish. Andrew Kosiski took fourth, and after crashing two laps from the finish on Friday, Josh Krug came back and rounded out the top five.
Lil' Lightnin' strikes at Lakeside
Anthony Ainslie
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 3) -- Justin Zeitner took the checkered flag in the feature in the SLMR late model series’ first ever visit to Lakeside Speedway Friday night.
The 14th race of the 2014 MalvernBank.com “Race for the Safe” took place at the Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas as part of the inaugural United States Racing Association (USRA) National Championships.
Zeitner started on the outside of the front row and led most of the 25 laps of Friday’s Malvern Bank and Trust “A” feature. However, the La Vista, Nebraska driver had to fend off point leader Kyle Berck and MLRA late model star Ryan Gustin, who made his first ever SLMR start.
Zeitner and Josh Krug battled and swapped the race lead in the opening laps. They passed each other using the top groove of all the turns around the speedway.
Fifth place was one of the hottest battles of the race. Tad Pospisil, Justin Gregg, and Bill Leighton Jr. were all weaving through the high and low lanes trying to gain the upper hand.
The first yellow flag came out when an implement tire was hit, and it rolled out to the middle of turn four. Dan Shepard spun out to avoid the tire, but he brought out the caution.
One of the biggest moments came with 13 laps left in the feature. Zeitner was in the race lead going through lapped traffic. Zeitner ran into the back of Dan Shepard, a lapped driver, spinning Shepard around in turn four, which brought out the race’s second yellow flag. Zeitner was kept out in front with Kyle Berck in a close finish, Ryan Gustin was in third, and Krug was back in the fourth spot.
Krug got a great jump on the restart and passed Gustin and Berck for third and then second. However, the 4K Rocket chassis of Krug was closing in on a top five finish, but with only three laps to go, Krug struck the wall between turns one and two bringing out the race’s third and final caution.
From there, Justin Zeitner, who was racing his father Leon’s car, held off charges from Gustin and Berck and took the checkered flag for his first SLMR feature win of the 2014 season. The young La Vista driver went to victory for the first time since June during a weekly show at I-80 Speedway. Berck took second, Gustin finished third, Bill Leighton Jr. got fourth, and Tad Pospisil rounded out the top five.
