World of Outlaws Bayou Classic

Saturday night at Boothill Speedway, the Louisiana facility proved to the world why it’s the home of dirt Late Model racing’s newest marquee event.

A star-studded field of drivers. A grandstand overflowing with fans. Some of the most entertaining racing found anywhere in the nation. And when the Bayou Classic was all set and done, it was Ryan Gustin on top for the fifth time this season with the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision.

Between his $50,000 victory at Boothill, his $100,000 payday for winning the USA Nationals at Cedar Lake Speedway and three prior World of Outlaws wins, those five triumphs in 2025 have netted the Cooney Motorsports team more than $180,000. But outside of those nights, the season has brought its share of struggles. In 10 Series starts after winning at Cedar Lake, Gustin failed to finish better than sixth until his return to Victory Lane at Boothill.

“I’ve had my head hung pretty low for the past couple months, really,” Gustin said. “We ain’t been running good, and just when you’re struggling, it takes a mental toll on you. When you get down, it’s hard to get back up. When you win 50 grand in that fashion, it makes you feel pretty good.”

The results sheet show a win from the pole for the Marshalltown, IA native, but the 70 laps between the green and checkered flags were anything but an easy cruise. Third-starting Brian Shirley gave Gustin everything he could handle in the first half of the race, while Dennis Erb Jr. loomed close behind, ready to pounce if either of them slipped up.

With 25 laps remaining, a new contender entered the picture in the form of Bobby Pierce. After disposing of Erb around the outside, Pierce rode the rim up to Shirley’s back bumper and caught the No. 3S with 11 to go. A huge head of steam off Turn 4 allowed Pierce to go to Shirley’s inside entering Turn 1, but Shirley was headed for the same piece of real estate, resulting in contact that sent Shirley spinning off Pierce’s nose.

From that point forward, both Gustin and Pierce left it all on the track over the final 10 laps in pursuit of the victory. The two traded sliders and crossovers nearly every corner, and it was still anyone’s race at the white flag. Pierce ripped the cushion for all it was worth trying to get to Gustin’s outside, but tagged the wall in Turn 2 instead, giving Gustin enough room to survive one more set of corners and take the checkered flag.

“Honestly, it kind of reminded me of the last King of America USMTS race we won,” said the former Modified standout. “Just go up there, come back down, try to momentum. Try to hit the brown spots where you can and then propel yourself so you don’t land in the slick.”

Pierce’s quest for his first Series win since August will have to wait until World of Outlaws World Finals after coming home second on the third-straight occasion in World of Outlaws competition at Boothill.

“Gustin hit his marks perfectly on that last lap,” Pierce said. “We were side-by-side at the white flag, we were rubbing down the frontstretch. Went into Turn 1, and I thought I had him when he slid in there. I didn’t really get a great entrance into Turn 1 and there wasn’t really much cushion until you got to Turn 2 and that’s the spot he was in. I got right there, and then he was kind of right where I needed to be.”

Erb crossed the line third for his eighth Series podium of the year, enough to put himself in a tie with Shirley for fifth in the standings going into The Dirt Track at Charlotte.

“It was just off a little bit,” Erb said. “Had a pretty good car, but we needed to work on getting up off the corner a little bit better. I know we went a little softer on tires than everybody else did, but to come home with third, we’re happy with that.”

Cody Overton backed up his Friday podium with a fourth-place showing on Saturday, while Shirley recovered from his spin to finish fifth.

RACE NOTES:

Drake Troutman set the Dirt King Simulators Fastest Hot Lap.

Spencer Hughes won the Simpson Quick Time Award.

Spencer Hughes won Real American Beer Heat 1.

Brian Shirley won STAKT Products Heat 2.

Dennis Erb Jr. won Keyser Manufacturing Heat 3.

Ryan Gustin won Jarrett Rifles Heat 4.

Tanner English and Brandon Sheppard won the Landa Pressure Washers Last Chance Showdowns.

Ryan Gustin won the Bilstein Pole Award.

Kyle Beard won the FOX Factory Hard Charger Award.

Ethan Dotson was the MD3 Rookie of the Race.

Bobby Pierce won the WELD Racing Second-Place Finisher Award.

Cody Overton was the ARP Fourth-Place Finisher.

Brian Shirley was the MSD Fifth-Place Finisher.

Tanner English was the Swift Springs Sixth-Place Finisher.

Nick Hoffman was the VP Racing Fuels Eighth-Place Finisher.

Morgan Bagley was the Lifeline USA Ninth-Place Finisher.

Tyler Erb was the COMP Cams 10th-Place Finisher.

Jake Timm was the Cometic Gaskets 12th-Place Finisher.

UP NEXT: The 2025 World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision season concludes at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in the World of Outlaws World Finals, Wednesday-Saturday, Nov. 5-8, alongside the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series and the Super DIRTcar Series. Get your tickets in advance by clicking here.

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

Feature (70 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce[9]; 3. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[2]; 4. 2-Cody Overton[14]; 5. 3S-Brian Shirley[3]; 6. 96-Tanner English[17]; 7. 86-Kyle Beard[26]; 8. 9-Nick Hoffman[12]; 9. 14M-Morgan Bagley[11]; 10. 1-Tyler Erb[5]; 11. 74X-Ethan Dotson[10]; 12. 49-Jake Timm[16]; 13. 19-Dustin Sorensen[13]; 14. B1-Brent Larson[21]; 15. K3-Spencer Hughes[4]; 16. B5-Brandon Sheppard[18]; 17. 1R-BJ Robinson[19]; 18. 22*-Drake Troutman[22]; 19. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[23]; 20. 11A-Mike Palasini Jr[20]; 21. 157-Mike Marlar[7]; 22. 66-Eli Ross[25]; 23. 25-Shane Clanton[8]; 24. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[24]; 25. 15-Clay Stuckey[15]; 26. 9M-Tim McCreadie[6]