Dennis Erb Jr. earned his first feature win of 2023
Dennis Erb Jr. emerged from a late-race battle with Bobby Pierce to claim his second career Castrol FloRacing Night in America win. The triumph on the opening night of Illinois SpeedWeek at Spoon River Speedway was the first of the 2023 season for the ‘One Man Band’.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Carpentersville, Illinois earned $23,023 for his victory at the track located in Canton, Illinois in a race shown live by FloRacing.com.
A total of 48 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Bobby Pierce(13.002), 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Brian Shirley, 4. Mike Marlar, 5. Drake Troutman, 6. Ryan Gustin, 7. Chase Junghans, 8. Rich Dowson
Group B Results- 1. Jonathan Davenport(12.887), 2. Garrett Alberson, 3. Hudson O’Neal, 4. Mike Harrison, 5. Kolby Vandenbergh, 6. Tanner English, 7. Gordy Gundaker, 8. Brandon Sheppard
Heat 1 Results: 1. Bobby Pierce, 2. Brian Shirley, 3. Drake Troutman, 4. Tyler Erb
Heat 2 Results: 1. Mike Marlar, 2. Dennis Erb Jr., 3. Devin Moran, 4. Ryan Gustin
Heat 3 Results: 1. Jonathan Davenport, 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Kolby Vandenbergh, 4. Gordy Gundaker
Heat 4 Results: 1. Garrett Alberson, 2. Mike Harrison, 3. Tanner English, 4. Brandon Sheppard
B-main 1 Finish: 1. Chase Junghans, 2. Garrett Smith, 3. Ross Robinson
B-main 2 Finish: 1. Tim McCreadie, 2. Shannon Babb, 3. Ashton Winger
Feature Re-cap: The 50-lap feature got underway with Pierce showing the way over Davenport, Shirley, O’Neal and Marlar. Shirley got by Davenport for second and the third circuit just before a lap 4 caution when Alberson suffered heavy damage after a spin and collecting another car.
Davenport went back to second on the restart but Shirley would again pass the No. 49 as both cars stayed right behind leader Pierce until a lap 11 caution for debris slowed the action.
Davenport would again go to the runner-up position on the restart but Shirley continued to apply pressure. Just behind that fight, Erb slipped into the top-5 and looked to join the fray. On lap 21, Erb moved around Davenport for third behind Pierce and Shirley.
Just after halfway, the top-3 ran in tight formation with each seeming to choose a different groove on the race track. Traffic became a factor on lap 32 as Pierce moved to the top lane while Shirley and Erb chose the bottom. Erb’s persistence would pay off on lap 36 when he passed Shirley for second.
Davenport looked to get back in the mix on lap 42 when he took third from Shirley. But just ahead, Erb was working on Pierce. Lap 46 provided an opportunity for the veteran driver when Pierce got caught up behind a slower car which proved to be just enough to bring about a lead change.
From that point, Erb pulled away before sailing under the checkered flag to score the win.
Feature Results: 1. Dennis Erb Jr., 2. bobby Pierce, 3. Jonathan Davenport, 4. Brian Shirley, 5. Tanner English, 6. Hudson O’Neal, 7. Ryan Gustin, 8. Brandon Sheppard, 9. Gordy Gundaker, 10. Ashton Winger, 11. Tim McCreadie, 12. Mike Marlar, 13. Chase Junghans, 14. Ross Robinson, 15. Garrett Smith, 16. Devin Moran, 17. Mike Harrison, 18. Garrett Alberson, 19. Tyler Erb, 20. Kolby Vandenbergh, 21. Shannon Babb, 22. Garrett Alberson
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