The World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Models presented by DirtVision spent Monday night in Wisconsin at Wilmot Raceway. Ryan Gustin led wire to wire from the pole and took the win. For Gustin, it’s almost been a tale of two seasons in 2025. The first part of the season was feast or famine for the driver of the 19R, with two wins in the first ten races of the season, but also five finishes of 10th or worse during that same period. Things turned around starting in May, and the Reaper has been solid since. Coming into Wilmot, he had scored five top 5 finishes in the last ten races, including two 2nds, but no wins since March 22nd at Swainsboro. That all changed Monday night. Gustin qualified 11th and ran 2nd in his heat race, but drew the pole position. From there, he went on to dominate the feature and hold off a late charge by points leader Bobby Pierce. Dennis Erb Jr. rounded out the podium.
Nick Hoffman’s night went south after getting caught up in a chain-reaction incident involving Boom Briggs and Ethan Dotson and suffering serious right-front damage with five laps to go. Hoffman would go on to finish 17th and now sits 118 points behind Pierce in the season standings.
Stewart Friesen hospitalized
Stewart Friesen, who currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and sits 13th in the season standings, was injured in a horrific crash last night during a Super DirtCar Series race at Autodrome Drummond Speedway in Quebec. The accident started when Friesen went wide over the backstretch cushion and struck the end of the retaining wall at turns three and four, sending his modified flying through the air before landing and being struck by multiple cars on the racetrack. Track officials stated that Friesen was alert and speaking with safety crews who worked to remove him from the car. Friesen’s wife, Jessica, posted the following update on social media early Tuesday morning:
“Stewart suffered an unstable/open-book pelvic fracture, meaning his pelvis is broken in two or more places, with a large hematoma on the area,” the statement read. “Stewart also has a fractured right leg. Both of these injuries will require surgery. Stewart was transferred to a larger hospital this morning for these procedures.”
Jessica Friesen via social media
Halmar Friesen Racing, which Friesen co-owns with Halmar CEO Chris Larsen, has not made an announcement yet as to how the team will proceed going forward, but it’s likely that Friesen will be out for the remainder of the season. The team is still competing for an owner’s championship. Bigger picture, we’re all just thankful that he’s still with us.
Image Credit: Clay Guthrie/ Seriously Fast Motorsports