RPW Exclusive: Tyler Erb Wins 46th Annual Winternationals Opener

Column By: ROBERT SYMONDS / RPW – TAMPA, FL – The first night of the 43rd Annual Winternationals may be a non-point race for the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series but the competition is still fierce. 53 drivers registered for the $5,000 to win event at the East Bay Raceway Park Monday night to compete for the victory.

The track was very fast whether you ran the top or the bottom groove. Tyler Erb found this out quickly as he won heat 1, Hudson O’Neal won heat 2, Josh Richards heat 3, Jonathan Davenport heat 4, Brandon Sheppard heat 5, and Chase Junghans won heat 6. Quickly Rick Schwallie made the call and the show moved quickly to the BMain 12 lap races.

Tim McCreadie started 7th in BMain 1 and was able to get around Billy Moyer Jr in the closing laps to take the checkered flag. In BMain 2 however, Brandon Overton started on the pole and quickly pulled away from the rest of the field to take the win. The cars who did not qualify through the BMain events were put in a Strawberry Dash. Billy Moyer Jr was able to securely win the 8 lap event putting him in the 30 lap AMain.

It would be easy to say, Tyler Erb started on the pole and won it however that is not the full story. Erb did start on the pole but quickly fell back through the field, fell to the back end of the top ten. Jonathan Davenport put his number 49 up to the top side and led the opening 9 laps of the 30 lap event. Davenport was then quickly consumed by both Sheppard and Richards as they ran both the top and the bottom to try and get an edge over each other.

With both Sheppard and Richards getting by Davenport, they continued to race side by side for the race lead. Josh Richards led lap 10 then Brandon Sheppard got by on the bottom to lead lap 11. Meanwhile, Tyler Erb quickly was making his recovery taking back third from Davenport on lap 10 and then getting by Richards for second as Sheppard led lap 12.

Making his way on the topside of turns 3 and 4, Tyler Erb narrowly took the lead on lap 13, then secured his race lead on lap 14 away from BShepp. Though Tyler Erb led by a second over Josh Richards, he still had reason to be concerned. Richards quickly made up ground as Erb sliced through lap traffic to try and maintain the race lead.

One more attempt from Richards came up on lap 20 when he raced side by side with Tyler Erb in turns 3 and 4. A slip up by Richards though put BShepp back up to battle with Richards for the runner up position. With 4 laps to go, Brandon Sheppard ended his chances to try and take the race lead when he made slight contact with Stormy Scott off of turn 4. However neither Richards or Sheppard were able to catch the Best Performance driver Tyler Erb as he won his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature of the year over Josh Richards and Brandon Sheppard.

“I saw Richards under me a few times,” Tyler Erb said in victory lane Monday evening. “If he got by me to win the race, it wasn’t for any lack of effort that’s for sure.”

Josh Richards raced the Best Performance Motorsports car last year and finished runner up to it.

“We made some changes to the car but if we had a more open traffic it might’ve been a little bit different,” Richards explained in his post race interview.

The first night of the Winternationals did not disappoint with a lot of top and bottom racing battles. Multi-grooved and multi-laned track conditions made each lap exciting and surprising as to what would happen.

The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series will be at the East Bay Raceway Park for 5 more nights during the 43rd Annual Winternationals from Tuesday through Saturday nights. Stay tuned here at Race Pro Weekly for more news throughout this whole week.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series – 43rd Annual Winternationals – Night 1 – East Bay Raceway Park

Car Count: 53

Heat 1 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Tyler Erb, Austin Hubbard, Kyle Bronson, Billy Moyer Jr, Zack Dohm, Tim McCreadie, Matt Cosner, Terry Casey, Dan Stone

Heat 2 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Don O’Neal, Jason Jameson, Stormy Scott, Allen Murray, Blake Spencer, Tanner English, Joel Callahan, Chuck Hummer

Heat 3 Results (Top 3 Transfer): Josh Richards, Billy Moyer, Joey Moriarty, Justin Williams, Ryan King, Colton Flinner, Rob Geiger, Jonathan Rowan, Tim Dohm

Heat 4 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Devin Moran, Scott Bloomquist, Brandon Overton, Colton Horner, Brian Shirley, Morgan Bagley, Rusty Schlenk, Kerry King

Heat 5 Results (Top 3 Transfer): Brandon Sheppard, Gregg Satterlee, Freddy Carpenter, Jeff Mathews, Devin Dixon, Shanon Buckingham, Blair Nothdurft, Joe Denby, Devin Gilpin (DNF)

Heat 6 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Chase Junghans, Jimmy Owens, Dennis Erb Jr, Tyler Carpenter, Earl Pearson Jr, Vic Hill, Mike Benedum, John Tweed

BMain 1 Finish (Top 2 Transfer): Tim McCreadie (from 7th), Stormy Scott, Billy Moyer Jr, Ryan King, Allen Murray, Tanner English, Dan Stone, Justin Williams, Joel Callahan, Matt Cosner, Zack Dohm, Blake Spencer, Chuck Hummer, Bob Geiger, Colton Flinner, Terry Casey

BMain 2 Finish (Top 2 Transfer): Brandon Overton, Tyler Carpenter, Earl Pearson Jr, Colton Horner, Devin Dixon, Brian Shirley, Jeff Mathews, Blair Nothdurft, Vic Hill, Rusty Schlenk, Kerry King, Mike Benedum, John Tweed, Shanon Buckingham, Morgan Bagley, Joe Denby, Devin Gilpin (DNS)

Fast Time Provisional: Brian Shirley

Strawberry Dash Winner: Billy Moyer Jr

AMain (30 Laps) LU:
Erb1-Davenport
ONeal71-Sheppard
Richards-Junghans
Hubbard-Moran
ONeal5-Satterlee
Moyer9-Owens
Bronson-Bloomquist
Jameson-FCarpenter
Moriarty-Erb28
McCreadie-Overton
Scott-TCarpenter
Pearson-Shirley
English-Moyer21

43rd Annual Winternationals Night 1 AMain Finish (30 Laps): Tyler Erb, Josh Richards, Brandon Sheppard, Austin Hubbard, Don O’Neal, Billy Moyer, Chase Junghans, Jonathan Davenport, Kyle Bronson, Hudson O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr, Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, Gregg Satterlee, Dennis Erb Jr, Tanner English, Tyler Carpenter, Joey Moriarty, Stormy Scott, Jason Jameson, Freddie Carpenter, Billy Moyer Jr, Brandon Overton, Jimmy Owens, Brian Shirley, Scott Bloomquist.

Fastest Mover: Earl Pearson Jr [+12]