MINERAL WELLS, W.Va. — Tyler Erb had to wait until the 26th race of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series season to get his first win, but he only needed three more to earn his second.
Two weekends after the biggest win of the New Waverly, Texas, driver's career, a $100,000 score at Mansfield (Ohio) Speedway, Erb returned to victory at West Virginia Motor Speedway to collect $30,000 more in the Racefest Summer Championship.
It was a dominant performance from the driver of the Ohio-based Best Performance Motorsports No. 1, as Erb led all but one of the 60 laps. That one lap he missed out on was the first one, which was led by Erb’s fellow Rocket Chassis pilot and polesitter, Brandon Sheppard
After Sheppard took the lead exiting turn two on the opening lap, Erb dove to the bottom of turns three and four and tried to slide up in front of Sheppard off the corner, but he wasn’t clear and let Sheppard slip back by. Erb did the same thing going into turn one, and that time, he made the move stick. Sheppard gave the low line a try in the next set of corners, but Erb defended the slider line in what turned out to be the winning move.
It was all Erb the rest of the way, as he remained committed to the top through to the finish whether he was in clean air or stuck in thick traffic. Several other competitors, including Sheppard, Hudson O’Neal and Drake Troutman kept Erb honest and got several restarts to take a shot at him, but none were able to find a way around. The new short-track layout at West Virginia put on some excellent racing for second on back, but Erb maintained a comfortable margin at the front to claim the sixth World of Outlaws win of his career.
“That was a lot of fun,” Erb said. “Elbows up, hard racing. It really worked out into our favor. Last night, I felt really good, just probably wasn’t as committed to the top as I was tonight. Just was able to get the lead, Shepp kind of beat me there and then I slid him. I ran really hard, I felt like, for a minute, just trying to get going. Once we hit lapped cars, I was like, ‘Well, the lapped cars are on the bottom, that’s good, they can’t pass me down there.’ It definitely makes you feel a little bit easier just having clean air, not having to worry about anybody doing anything crazy.”
Troutman came out ahead of O’Neal in their battle for second in the closing laps. Behind them, Bobby Pierce and Ethan Dotson completed the top five.
The World of Outlaws opens a three-week northern swing with a two-night visit to 141 Speedway on Friday and Saturday, June 19-20. — Spence Smithback
Feature lineup
(60 laps)
Row 1: Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Drake Troutman, Hudson O'Neal
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Bobby Pierce
Row 4: Tim McCreadie, Daulton Wilson
Row 5: Tristan Chamberlain, Brenden Smith
Row 6: Ethan Dotson, Josh Rice
Row 7: Ryan Montgomery, Ryan Gustin
Row 8: Luke Morey, Nick Hoffman
Row 9: Carson Ferguson, Chris Ferguson
Row 10: Eli Johnson, Tyler Carpenter
Row 11: Dustin Sorensen, Brent Larson
Row 12: Trey Mills, Logan Zarin
Row 13: Colten Burdette, Rod Conley
Row 14: Seth Daniels
Consolation race results
(10 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation: Carson Ferguson, Eli Johnson, Dustin Sorensen, Eddie Carrier Jr., Logan Zarin, R.J. Conley, Zack Dohm, Henry Hornsby III, Troy Frazier, Trey Mills, Brandon Weigle. Scratched: Kyle Hardy.
Second consolation: Chris Ferguson, Tyler Carpenter, Brent Larson, Miles Cook II, Seth Daniels, Rod Conley, Travis Carr, Allen Clark, Dave Loudin, Colten Burdette. Scratched: Freddie Carpenter.
Heat race results
(Eight laps; top four transfer)
First heat: Hudson O'Neal, Tim McCreadie, Tristan Chamberlain, Ryan Montgomery, Eddie Carrier Jr., Dustin Sorensen, Logan Zarin, Trey Mills, Brandon Weigle, Kyle Hardy.
Second heat: Brandon Sheppard, Dennis Erb Jr., Ethan Dotson, Luke Morey, Carson Ferguson, Eli Johnson, Zack Dohm, Henry Hornsby III, R.J. Conley, Troy Frazier.
Third heat: Drake Troutman, Daulton Wilson, Brenden Smith, Ryan Gustin, Rod Conley, Tyler Carpenter, Brent Larson, Seth Daniels, Travis Carr, Allen Clark.
Fourth heat: Tyler Erb, Bobby Pierce, Josh Rice, Nick Hoffman, Chris Ferguson, Miles Cook II, Dave Loudin, Colten Burdette. Scratched: Freddie Carpenter.
Time trials
Group A
Driver (car no.), hometown, time (unofficial)
1. Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 14.215
2. Carson Ferguson (93), Lincolnton, N.C., 14.263
3. Tristan Chamberlain (20tc), Richmond, Ind., 14.373
4. Brandon Sheppard (1s), New Berlin, Ill., 14.404
5. Tim McCreadie (9m), Watertown, N.Y., 14.426
6. Dennis Erb Jr. (28), Carpentersville, Ill., 14.445
7. Trey Mills (14), St. Augustine, Fla., 14.452
8. Eli Johnson (55E), Clewiston, Fla., 14.453
9. Eddie Carrier Jr. (75), Salt Rock, W.Va., 14.478
10. Luke Morey (49), Zeeland, Mich., 14.482
11. Ryan Montgomery (12), Fairmont, W.Va., 14.493
12. Ethan Dotson (74x), Bakersfield, Calif., 14.515
13. Brandon Weigle (47w), Middlebourne, W.Va., 14.523
14. Zack Dohm (17), Cross Lanes, W.Va., 14.583
15. Logan Zarin (1z), Moon Township, Pa., 14.598
16. Henry Hornsby III (39), Beckley, W.Va., 14.666
17. Dustin Sorensen (19), Rochester, Minn., 14.676
18. R.J. Conley (71c), Wheelersburg, Ohio, 14.841
19. Kyle Hardy (99H), Stephens City, Va., 14.992
20. Troy Frazier (0), Mount Claire, W.Va., 15.116
Group B
1. Drake Troutman (22*), Hyndman, Pa., 14.269
2. Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 14.293
3. Daulton Wilson (58v), Fayetteville, N.C., 14.342
4. Josh Rice (11), Crittenden, Ky., 14.373
5. Brenden Smith (17ss), Dade City, Fla., 14.504
6. Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 14.576
7. Ryan Gustin (19R), Marshalltown, Iowa, 14.577
8. Nick Hoffman (9), Mooresville, N.C., 14.598
9. Rod Conley (71R), Wheelersburg, Ohio, 14.743
10. Chris Ferguson (22), Mount Holly, N.C., 14.792
11. Brent Larson (B1), Lake Elmo, Minn., 14.838
12. Miles Cook II (18c), Bucyrus, Ohio, 14.847
13. Tyler Carpenter (28c), Parkersburg, W.Va., 14.857
14. Dave Loudin (12L), Volga, W.Va., 14.896
15. Seth Daniels (s21), Jackson, Ohio, 14.948
16. Colten Burdette (53c), Parkersburg, W.Va., 14.973
17. Travis Carr (6), Stoutsville, Ohio, 14.976
18. Freddie Carpenter (c4), Parkersburg, W.Va., 15.120
19. Allen Clark (11a), Moundsville, W.Va., 15.281
Saturday’s schedule
(All times local)
11 a.m. - Pits open
1 p.m. - Grandstands open
4 p.m. - Church outreach service
4:30 p.m. - Driver autograph session
6 p.m. - Drivers’ meeting
7 p.m. - On-track activity
- Late Model hot laps
- Street stock group qualifying
- Late Model time trials (2 laps)
- Modified group qualifying
- Sport mod group qualifying
Opening ceremonies
- Late Model heats (8 laps)
- Street stock heats (8 laps)
Intermission/WoO redraw
- Modified heats (8 laps)
- Late Model consolations (10 laps)
- Sport Mod heats (8 laps)
Feature events
- Late Models (60 laps)
- Street stocks (20 laps)
- Modifieds (25 laps)
- Sport mods (20 laps)
