Tyler Erb led all 53 laps for the win
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series continued one of its most lucrative weeks of the season at I-80 Speedway on Thursday evening. After a dominating night of racing in a feature that ran caution free, it was Tyler Erb who scored a big win at the Greenwood, Nebraska track. The New Waverly, Texas driver earned $30,000 for his efforts in a race shown live by MavTV Plus.
A total of 44 cars were signed in for competition.
The top-18 starters for the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals were determined from the results of Tuesday and Wednesday’s preliminary events. With that being the case, Tyler Erb, Ricky Weiss, Brandon Overton, Shane Clanton, Spencer Hughes, Hudson O’Neal, Ricky Thornton Jr., Stormy Scott, Frank Heckenast Jr. Jonathan Davenport, Chase Junghans, Jimmy Owens, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Brandon Sheppard, Chris Simpson, Tyler Bruening and Mike Marlar made up the first nine rows on the starting grid.
Josh Richards and Chad Simpson won the two B-main races used to fill out the starting lineup for the main event.
At the start of the 53-lap feature it was Erb who shot to the early lead with Hughes, Weiss, Clanton, O’Neal and Overton trailing. Clanton and O’Neal were able to move by Weiss for third and fourth respectively on the third lap then O’Neal took third from Clanton three laps later.
Erb built his lead to almost two seconds over Hughes by the end of the 10th lap. Further back, Clanton, Weiss and Overton ran in tight formation as they feverishly contested positions 4-6 for numerous laps. Finally on lap 22, Overton was able to pass by both Weiss and Clanton to assume the fourth spot then Weiss also got by Clanton to take fifth.
At the halfway mark as the race remained under green flag conditions, Erb stretched his lead to more than four seconds as O’Neal closed in on Highes to contest the runner-up position. O’Neal took that spot away from the car he drove during much of 2020 on lap 29.
Hughes then fell back into a fight with Overton for third as the dominant No. 1 Best Performance Motorsports car continued to show the way. Overton, who had been the hottest driver in Dirt Late Model racing coming into the week, eventually would pass Hughes on the last lap for third.
But in the end, there was no match for Tyler Erb as he cruised under the checkered flag to score his second consecutive victory at I-80 after also taking the checkered flag on Wednesday night.
Feature Finish: 1. Tyler Erb, 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Brandon Overton, 4. Spencer Hughes, 5. Ricky Thornton Jr., 6. Ricky Weiss, 7. Stormy Scott, 8. Jimmy Owens, 9. Jonathan Davenport, 10. Shane Clanton, 11. Chris Simpson, 12. Brian Shirley, 13. Brandon Sheppard, 14. Tim McCreadie, 15. Kyle Bronson, 16. Chase Junghans, 17. Frank Heckenast Jr., 18. Josh Richards, 19. Chad Simpson, 20. Tyler Bruening, 21. Mike Marlar, 22. Scott Bloomquist, 23. Tad Popisil, 24. Matt Cosner, 25. Earl Pearson Jr., 26. Jake Neal, 27. Ben Schaller, 28. Charlie McKenna, 29. Chris Ferguson, 30. Bill Leighton, 31. Daniel Hilsabeck
