Jimmy Gustin gets 100th IMCA Modified win in Hawkeye Dirt Tour opener

VINTON — Just before halfway in the IMCA Hawkeye Dirt Tour Modified main event at Benton County Speedway on Monday night, Jimmy Gustin seized his opportunity.

On a racing surface that locked down with rubber and limited the fast groove to the bottom lane, passing opportunities were few and far between. So when then-leader John Emerson tried to go around a lapped car on the high side, Gustin stuck the nose of his car underneath, passed them both and didn't look back.

'Jammin' Jimmy,' as he's called, raced to his 100th IMCA Modified victory and took the $1,000 that came with it.

'For us to do it (win 100), we had to start sixth row everywhere (a lot), and I'm proud of this accomplishment,' Gustin said. '(Emerson) got impatient and tried to go around the outside and I just capitalized. I tried to get those lapped cars at the right time the rest of the way.'

Not only was the win satisfying from a career victory standpoint, it also was meaningful from a family standpoint. Gustin's grandfather, Dale DeFrance, died May 22. Late last week, the DeFrances, Gustins and their extended family gathered at Marshalltown Speedway to give 'Mr. D,' one last lap around his hometown track, with his hearse ending up parked in Victory Lane there.

Gustin parked it a week after he lost his grandpa, joining brother Ryan — who won the USMTS main event at Mississippi Thunder Speedway on Friday — in honoring DeFrance with a victory.

'It means so much to win for Mr. D,' Gustin said. 'We definitely have the right guy up there watching us.'

Gustin got the win ahead of Hunter Marriott in second, then Emerson, Kelly Shryock and Joel Rust. Gustin said after the race he didn't think he'd have been able to get the lead without the 'rookie mistake,' from Emerson, who is in his first season driving a Modified in select races for Shawn Ritter.

Emerson said after the race he thought there would still be enough grip to clear the lapped car, and that he thought he had a bigger lead on Gustin than he did. All he could do was offer a laugh in the tech area and that he needed "a rewind button for that.'

He ran Gustin back down as the race wound down, and tried a last-ditch pass of Gustin on the high side with two to go, but it ended up costing him second to Marriott. With only the win being the thing that mattered, the final effort was one he'd do over again.

'It seems like these cars you can pop to the outside and roll by, but it was too dusty for that tonight,' Emerson said. 'I tried to do it again (on Gustin) and I thought I was going to end up in the cornfield. I wasn't going to just settle for second. I wasn't going to wait.'

In Victory Lane, Gustin grinned ear-to-ear as he talked with crew members and family, jokingly shouting 'we don't suck,' to each other.

It was a reference to recent runs that have been frustrating to say the least for the Marshalltown native, as well as to his luck at Benton County Speedway. Gustin said he hadn't come to Vinton to race in around five years because every time he had before, 'it usually cost me a bunch of money,' with wrecks and broken parts.

But Monday night, those demons were exorcised.

And even if he slightly dismissed the 100th win because a few others got there quicker, that didn't stop him from putting the same goal out there as every other 100-time winner.

'We've been struggling and we needed to go racing to figure it out, and I'm glad we did,' Gustin said. 'This is all I needed. I needed some confidence back. Now we've got to chase down 200.'

IMCA HAWKEYE DIRT TOUR

BENTON COUNTY SPEEDWAY RESULTS

1. Jimmy Gustin, Marshalltown; 2. Hunter Marriott, Brookfield, Mo.; 3. John Emerson, Waterloo; 4. Kelly Shryock, Fertile; 5. Joel Rust, Grundy Center; 6. Clay Money, Penokee, Kan.; 7. Kyle Brown, Madrid; 8. Brandon Maitland, Waterloo; 9. Tyler Droste, Waterloo; 10. Troy Cordes, Dunkerton; 11. Scott Hogan, Vinton; 12. Ryan Maitland, Waterlo; 13. Jacob Murray, Hartford; 14. Jesse Hoeft, Forest City; 15. Todd Shute, Des Moines; 16. Corey Dripps, Waterloo; 17. Shane DeMey, Denison; 18. Mitch Manternach, Manchester; 19. Cody Knecht, Whittemore; 20. Racer Hulin, Laurel; 21. Jeff Waterman, Quincy, Ill.; 22. Austin Kaplan, Ankeny; 23. Patrick Flannagan, Cedar Rapids; 24. David Brown, Kellogg.

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