BARBERVILLE, Fla.  They say if you dont win the show, be the show. But if youre Ryan Gustin at DIRTcar Sunshine Nationals, you do both.

Moments after The Reaper crossed the line at Volusia Speedway Park to claim the 11th World of Outlaws Late Models win of his career, the engine under the hood of the No. 19r machine started to turn sour. With smoke billowing out from every corner of the car, Gustin crossed the scales to officially become the first winner of the new season.

It was obviously running hot, Gustin said. Smoke was pouring out on the backstretch and they said keep going, so we burned her down and it paid off. Im glad there werent many more laps, I dont know how many laps the old girl had left in her.

Earlier in the night, Gustin claimed the Simpson Quick Time Award and won his Heat Race to make the Redraw, where he pulled the outside of the front row to start next to Bilstein Pole Award winner Nick Hoffman.

A brilliant start gave Gustin the early lead, but a multi-car pileup on the backstretch quickly erased his advantage. On the following restart, Hoffman nailed the first set of corners to grab the lead back and went to work on building a gap.

Hoffman maintained the top spot for the next 15 laps until he jumped the cushion in Turn 2, letting Gustin get to his inside. That kicked off a back-and-forth tussle for the lead, with both drivers taking their turns at sliders through slower traffic.

It all came to an end for Hoffman just past halfway though, as he squeezed his No. 9 under Gustin entering Turn 1, lost the back end and went around to bring the caution out.

When the race went back green, Gustin found Ethan Dotson and Jonathan Davenport on his tail in second and third. A perfect restart allowed Gustin to extend a sizeable advantage over both of them with the laps ticking down.

Davenport got within four tenths of Gustin in the closing stages, but slid up over the cushion exiting Turn 4 which gave Gustin the opportunity he needed to drive away to the win.

Fridays event marked Gustins first World of Outlaws start with new crew chief Cody Mallory on the wrenches, and theyve already proven themselves to be a lethal duo capable of beating dirt Late Model racings best.

Cody came on here and hes completely redone this thing, Gustin said. Whole different unit than what weve had. This thing is just in the racetrack, fun to drive.

In the final run to the checkers, Davenport got close enough to notice the trouble brewing under Gustins hood, but wasnt able to pull off the winning move for his first Volusia win in seven years.

Congratulations to Ryan there, they did a great job, Davenport said. Saw his motor was running hot and I was pulling up beside him like man, dont burn that thing down, go ahead and give us one here. But anyway, it just wasnt our day.

Rounding out the podium was Cody Overton  with a career-best third-place finish. It certainly didnt come easy, as the second-year Outlaw drove up from his 23rd starting spot to take home the Fox Factory Hard Charger as well.

I was kind of doubting myself after Qualifying, I was like maybe I just cant drive, Overton said. My car owner [Dave Steine] has a lot of faith in me, he has spent tons and tons of money and Im super thankful for him. This is a new car to me, my notebook has got one page in it. Were going to take these notes and grow from there.

Ethan Dotson kicked off his bid for the MD3 Rookie of the Year Award by finishing fourth, good enough for Fridays Rookie of the Race honors. Tim McCreadie completed the top five in his first World of Outlaws start in the Boom Briggs-owned No. 9m.

The finish:

Feature (35 Laps): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin [2]; 2. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[3]; 3. 2-Cody Overton[23]; 4. 74X-Ethan Dotson[5]; 5. 9M-Tim McCreadie[17]; 6. 22*-Drake Troutman[13]; 7. 1-Brandon Sheppard[8]; 8. 40B-Kyle Bronson[25]; 9. 9-Nick Hoffman[1]; 10. 3S-Brian Shirley[11]; 11. 97-Cade Dillard[16]; 12. 76-Brandon Overton[6]; 13. 93-Carson Ferguson[10]; 14. 32-Bobby Pierce[4]; 15. 16-Tyler Bruening[21]; 16. 28-Dennis Erb Jr.[24]; 17. 17SS-Brenden Smith[18]; 18. 19-Dustin Sorensen[12]; 19. B1-Brent Larson[26]; 20. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[27]; 21. 14W-Dustin Walker[28]; 22. 1T-Tyler Erb[14]; 23. 8-Dillon McCowan[29]; 24. 157-Mike Marlar[20]; 25. 11-Austin Smith[30]; 26. 09-Michael Leach[19]; 27. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 28. 111-Max Blair[9]; 29. 60-Dan Ebert[15]; 30. 71-Hudson ONeal[22]