Best Performance Motorsports crew chief Randall Edwards with driver Tyler Erb
If things don’t go as planned when playing a video game, the player can simply start over in most games by hitting the re-set button. Unfortunately, real life isn’t that easy and Dirt Late Model racing is most certainly a part of real life.
For Tyler Erb, the early portion of the 2023 racing season had not been going to plan until the last two features held during Georgia-Florida SpeedWeeks. Finishes of fourth at Bubba Raceway Park and fifth at All-Tech Raceway have gone a long way toward turning the season around for the Best Performance Motorsports team.
Prior to those top-5 efforts, the New Waverly, Texas native’s results had been disappointing for this driver and team who won the 2022 season-ending Gateway Nationals held last December inside The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis. Together, Erb and crew chief Randall Edwards have achieved a pair of fifth-place finishes and a sixth in the final Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series standings over the past three campaigns so they are used to posting solid results.
The 26-year-old racer currently sits 9th in the Lucas Oil standings which exemplifies what a remarkable turnaround the team has had in its last two races after not posting a single top-10 in the three races held at Georgia’s Golden Isles Speedway. But keep in mind, each driver only has to count his best five SpeedWeeks finishes toward the overall standings.
With a strong week in the upcoming races at East Bay Raceway Park, Erb could find himself in contention for one of those coveted top-4 positions in the series standings.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series is employing a new system in 2023 to determine its champion. Beginning after the Show-me 100 in May, title contenders will be cut to 15 with successive cuts coming as the season plays out until only four are left to race for the title in the Dirt Track World Championship at Eldora Speedway.
Tyler Erb in the Best Performance Rocket Chassis
Erb was happy to finally turn things in the right direction on Monday night at Bubba. Following an 11th on Sunday night, the No. 1 Rocket Chassis made its first appearance of the season in the top-5 while closing in on the podium finishers as the race wound toward its conclusion.
“It feels good,” Erb told FloRacing.com following that race. “We’ve been so bad, it’s unbelievable. Just happy to make progress here. Had a solid night and was able to make up a little ground there but just couldn’t finish them off but we’re happy with it.”
Best Performance began the season in the Wild West Shootout at New Mexico’s Vado Speedway Park. The results were not what had been hoped for, especially coming off of the Gateway victory. Only two top-10 finishes in six races were accumulated. Now that things seem to be coming together, Erb would love to press that re-set button and start over.
Following the fifth-place finish after charging from his eleventh row starting spot at All-Tech, Erb explained.
“I got mine out of the way early,” he replied when asked how avoided hitting the wall like so many of his competitors had. “I hit the wall the first lap of qualifying and that set us back. When he(promoter) went out and reworked it, I knew it was going to be good. Just super happy. The last night at Bubba’s was good. Tonight didn’t start out good but our car is back where it needs to be. I wish we could go back to Vado and start over.”
Erb and the rest of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will spend the week at Tampa’s East Bay Raceway Park beginning on Monday night.
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Ricky Thornton Jr. continues strong start to 2023 with Lucas Oil win at All-Tech
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