Tyler Erb made a late race pass to earn the win
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series took on the track at East Bay Raceway Park on Tuesday for the second night of the Wrisco Winter Nationals and the tour’s third race overall. At the end of the night it Tyler Erb who made a late charge and took home the winner’s trophy from the Tampa, FL facility. The New Waverly, TX driver earned $5,000 for his victory from a feature that was aired live by MavTV Plus.
Tanner English topped Group A qualifying with a lap of 14.499 seconds around the third-mile clay oval. That effort beat out Billy Moyer Jr., Brandon Overton, Blair Nothdurft, and Kyle Bronson.
Brian Shirley was fastest in Group B time-trials and over with a time of 14.256 seconds to best Brandon Sheppard, Tim McCreadie, Rick Eckert, and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Tanner English earned the pole for the feature when he took the night’s first heat over Blair Nothdurft and Tyler Bruening while Kyle Bronson took the second preliminary ahead of Tyler Erb and Billy Moyer Jr.
Brandon Overton captured the third heat by beating out Mason Zeigler and Devin Moran.
Brian Shirley would start the feature from the outside of the front row by virtue of his win in the fourth heat as he topped Hudson O’Neal and Dennis Erb Jr. then Brandon Sheppard was victorious in the fifth heat over Gregg Satterlee and Ricky Thornton Jr.
Shane Clanton won the sixth and final heat ahead of Tim McCreadie and Johnny Scott.
Mike Marlar and Spencer Hughes transferred to the main event from the first B-main just before Kyle Strickler and Josh Richards made their way into the big show, and finally, Mark Whitener and Jimmy Owens made it to the feature through the final B-main.
On the initial attempt at a start for the 30-lap feature an incident collected Clanton, McCreadie, Bruening, Satterlee, Dennis Erb Jr., and Frank Heckenast Jr. The cars of McCreadie, Satterlee, and Erb were eliminated from competition.
Shirley quickly went to the front when the green flag was finally displayed with English, Sheppard, Bronson, and Overton trailing. The action was slowed on the second lap when Marlar slowed with a flat tire.
On the restart, Overton moved by Bronson to take fourth before another yellow flag waved for a mishap involving Owens, Strickler, Heckenast, and Pearson on lap 3.
On the ensuing restart Shirley continued to lead as Sheppard moved around English for second but English regained the positions one lap later. Overton then moved in and wrested third away from Sheppard on lap 7 just before a caution flag again waved for the smoking car of Clanton.
Overton went on the charge when racing action resumed. The No. 76 machine blasted by Shirley to take the lead on lap 11 while Sheppard, Bronson and English battled just behind the lead duo.
After a lap 14 caution, Tyler Erb took off and began to storm toward the front. Four laps later, Erb went around Sheppard to take third. At the same time, Sheppard closed in on Overton to challenge for the top spot.
Erb took second from Sheppard on lap 23 as the top-3 raced in tight formation among slower traffic. Further back, Richards climbed into the top-5 by passing Bronson.
With just three laps remaining, Erb made the move to get by Overton for the lead. But the issue was not settled yet as a caution waved when Sheppard slowed with a flat tire.
On the final restart, Erb sailed back to the checkered flag to score the tenth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of his career.
“I thought that would have made a great TV thing,” Erb said of the final caution flag during his post-race interview with MavTV Plus. “We were able to pull through. It definitely didn’t hurt my heart none taking the checkered then I seen the yellow and I was not happy. We’ve definitely had to work for everything we’ve got this week.”
When asked the fog that rolled in just before the start of the feature, Erb declared, “The fog definitely made it a little greasy on the bottom from the drop of the green. I was watching Shep(perd) and he could hang down there and I thought he was going to get to the lead if I don’t stay down here with him. There was a big hole getting into one and I was able to capitalize there. Brandon(Overton) was really good but he got into traffic and I was able to make a couple of good moves there.”
Feature Finish: 1. Tyler Erb, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Brian Shirley, 4. Josh Richards, 5. Kyle Bronson, 6. Tanner English, 7. Johnny Scott, 8. Hudson O’Neal, 9. Devin Moran, 10. Tyler Bruening, 11. Mason Zeigler, 12. Frank Heckenast Jr., 13. Tony Jackson Jr., 14. Jonathan Davenport, 15. Blair Nothdurft, 16. Billy Moyer Jr., 17. Wil Herrington, 18. Spencer Hughes, 19. Brandon Sheppard, 20. Ricky Thornton Jr., 21.Kyle Strickler, 22. Stormy Scott, 23. Earl Pearson Jr., 24. Shane Clanton, 25. Mark Whitener, 26. Jimmy Owens, 27. Mike Marlar, 28. Gregg Satterlee, 29. Tim McCreadie, 30. Dennis Erb Jr.
