“The Reaper,” Ryan Gustin jumped out to the lead Sandy Benson Memorial and paced the field for all 40 laps at Casino Speedway in Watertown, South Dakota in route to his 10th win of the season and 89th of his career.
The box score might make it seem that Gustin had an easy victory, but that was far from the case as Tim Johnson kept him in sight for most of the night before succumbing to Stormy Scott, who finished and Cade Dillard in third.
For his part, Scott kept the points’ battle alive with the second-place finish. He narrowed the margin to 62 points as Jason Hughes slipped outside the top five to sixth. Hughes still has control over his fate as he guns for a third straight championship.
Johnson finished fourth with Rodney Sanders rounding out the top five.
The big mover of the night was Jon Tesch. Making only his second start this year and third in the past two seasons, he maneuvered through the field from 19th to ninth and won the Hard Charger award.
Sandy Benson Memorial; USMTS
| Finish | Start | Driver | Earnings | Heat 1 | B-Main |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Ryan Gustin | $4,500 | 1 | |
| 2 | 4 | Stormy Scott | $1,700 | 1 | |
| 3 | 11 | Cade Dillard | $1,200 | 2 | |
| 4 | 1 | Tim Johnson | $1,000 | 2 | |
| 5 | 9 | Rodney Sanders | $900 | 2 | |
| 6 | 13 | Jason Hughes | $800 | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | 3 | Zack VanderBeek | $700 | 3 | |
| 8 | 8 | Dereck Ramirez | $650 | 1 | |
| 9 | 19 | Jon Tesch | $500 | 5 | 4 |
| 10 | 16 | Jake Timm | $550 | 4 | 2 |
| 11 | 25 | Ricky Thornton Jr | $500 | 6 | 11 |
| 12 | 12 | Brent Dutenhoffer | $450 | 3 | |
| 13 | 23 | RC Whitwell | $425 | 5 | 7 |
| 14 | 15 | Cory Crapser | $400 | 5 | 2 |
| 15 | 10 | Trevor Anderson | $300 | 2 | |
| 16 | 5 | Zane Devilbiss | $350 | 1 | |
| 17 | 24 | Travis Saurer | $400 | 7 | 8 |
| 18 | 14 | Kent Arment | $250 | 4 | 1 |
| 19 | 22 | David Carlson | $250 | 3 | 5 |
| 20 | 18 | Jordan Foster | $250 | 4 | 3 |
| 21 | 6 | Morgan Ward | $250 | 1 | |
| 22 | 21 | Jayson Good | $250 | 4 | 5 |
| 23 | 7 | Luke Lick | $250 | 2 | |
| 24 | 17 | Curt Myers | $300 | 3 | 3 |
| 25 | 20 | Jake O'Neil | $300 | 6 | 4 |
Laps Led: Ryan Gustin, 1-40.