Tyler Erb triumphs at East Bay
Photo by Mike Ruefer
TAMPA, Fla. — Tyler Erb earned a hard-fought victory on Wednesday night during the 48th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil at East Bay Raceway Park. Erb pulled away from a trio of cars who were battling for second to take a 2.653 second advantage at the finish line for his 21st career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win.
Mike Marlar, who started 23rd edged out Davenport at the finish line for second to earn the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race. Davenport rounded out the Big River Steel Podium finishing third. Daulton Wilson and Dennis Erb Jr. completed the top five drivers.
The action was fast and furious in the first 20 laps of the 40-lap main event as Davenport led the first 11 circuits until Erb rolled around him on the outside to take the lead on lap 12. Erb, Davenport, and Daulton Wilson were battling nearly 3-wide for the lead as Wilson took his only lead of the race on lap 20.
Davenport then came back to hold the point until Erb powered by him on lap 26. From there, Erb stormed away to pick up a convincing victory.
Erb in taking his fifth career East Bay victory fought back after a disappointing race on Tuesday night where he finished sixth after leading in the early part of the race. “I think just racing a little smarter today. I chased JD [Davenport] and was really patient and finally got by him. On the restart they obviously started running the top or something to get such a really good run. I just had to hunker down and fight back. I have got an awesome car and an awesome group of people helping me. I love East Bay it produces some of the greatest racing and it was a really good race.”
“I can’t believe JD left the top open down there in one and two,” said the New Waverly, Texas driver who became the fourth different winner this year on the tour. “His [Davenport’s] car was really good. That was fun, that’s East Bay that’s how it’s supposed to be where you can run all over the place. Honestly the first 20 laps I never really spun my tires, so I knew I had a lot left in the tank. I just had to find the right place on the racetrack to use it.”
Marlar had the drive of the night coming from the inside of the last row to nip Davenport at the line to finish in second. “We have just been struggling the whole trip. We kind of figured out we had a bent rear end in the car. I was kind of bad early in the night, but I got it going for the feature. I want to thank Greg Bruening for giving me this opportunity. I hope we put on a good show there. There at the end I got to rolling the top. They knew I was coming.”
Davenport finished third for the second night in a row. “The lane moved several times there. My guys gave me the best car they could. Congratulations to Tyler [Erb] and Mikey [Marlar]. The last second, I heard him [Marlar], so I turned to the left so hopefully that helped us both in these heat races coming up, so we don’t have a lot to fix.”
The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Bulk Material Lift, Anthony’s Pizza, First Class Septic, Base Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Roberts Bee Company, Integra Racing Shocks, JRR Trucking, and Sani-Weld.
Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Kyle Bronson, and Garrett Smith.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
48th Annual Wieland Winternationals | Night 3
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jensen Ford | 14.281 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 14.221 seconds (overall)
Penske Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 15K-Jensen Ford[1]; 2. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[3]; 3. 14X-Wil Herrington[4]; 4. 4-Amanda Robinson[6]; 5. 25-Tony Jackson Jr[5]; 6. 18-Chase Junghans[9]; 7. 7T-Drake Troutman[8]; 8. 19M-Spencer Hughes[2]; 9. 82B-Jason Milam[11]; 10. 25B-Mike Benedum[10]; 11. 51-Dean Carpenter[12]; 12. 07-Brian Ledbetter[13]; 13. 2*-Logan Hitt[7]
Summit Racing Products Heat Race #2 Finish (8Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18D-Daulton Wilson[2]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 3. 40B-Kyle Bronson[3]; 4. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 5. 6T-Tim Dohm[4]; 6. 12R-Ryan Payne[8]; 7. 1Z-Logan Zarin[7]; 8. 96V-Tanner English[6]; 9. 21-Kenny Howell[12]; 10. 81J-Jack Riggs[9]; 11. 3-Brennon Willard[11]; 12. 15-Blake McClain[10]; 13. (DNS) 21M-Tre Martin
Earnhardt Technologies Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 7-Ross Robinson[1]; 2. 6-Clay Harris[2]; 3. 75-Daniel Adam[3]; 4. 71C-RJ Conley[6]; 5. 97-Cody Overton[7]; 6. S21-Seth Daniels[4]; 7. 214-Haiden Cowan[5]; 8. USA1-Chris Hawkins[8]; 9. 4S-Danny Snyder[12]; 10. 93-Cory Lawler[9]; 11. 42-Terry Casey[10]; 12. 48-Tim Lance[11]
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 49-Jonathan Davenport[1]; 2. 99-Devin Moran[3]; 3. 1-Hudson O'Neal[2]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[4]; 5. 12-Ashton Winger[5]; 6. 187-David McCoy[7]; 7. 47W-Brandon Weigle[6]; 8. 66C-Matt Cosner[9]; 9. 31-Tyler Millwood[11]; 10. 33-Jeff Mathews[8]; 11. K&B-Kerry King[12]; 12. 71R-Rod Conley[13]; 13. (DNS) 111-Max Blair
Lucas Oil Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 76-Brandon Overton[2]; 3. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[4]; 4. 81-Jason Riggs[5]; 5. 10-Garrett Smith[6]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[7]; 7. 8-Dillon McCowan[9]; 8. 27-Michael Lake[8]; 9. 128-Kylan Garner[11]; 10. 29-Larry Grube[10]; 11. 69-Brandon Thirlby[12]; 12. (DNS) 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 20-Jimmy Owens[1]; 2. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[3]; 3. 39-Tim McCreadie[4]; 4. 174-Ethan Dotson[5]; 5. 99B-Boom Briggs[6]; 6. 6H-Ross Bailes[7]; 7. 9-Levi Yetter[12]; 8. 11C-Trevor Collins[10]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[11]; 10. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 11. 30-Ryan Gustin[8]; 12. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner
Fast Shafts B-Main Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[2]; 2. 7T-Drake Troutman[7]; 3. 18-Chase Junghans[5]; 4. 1Z-Logan Zarin[8]; 5. 6T-Tim Dohm[4]; 6. 82B-Jason Milam[11]; 7. 81J-Jack Riggs[14]; 8. 21-Kenny Howell[12]; 9. 12R-Ryan Payne[6]; 10. 3-Brennon Willard[16]; 11. 25B-Mike Benedum[13]; 12. 51-Dean Carpenter[15]; 13. 07-Brian Ledbetter[17]; 14. 15-Blake McClain[18]; 15. 4-Amanda Robinson[1]; 16. (DNS) 25-Tony Jackson Jr; 17. (DNS) 19M-Spencer Hughes; 18. (DNS) 96V-Tanner English; 19. (DNS) 2*-Logan Hitt; 20. (DNS) 21M-Tre Martin
UNOH B-Main Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 71C-RJ Conley[1]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[2]; 3. 12-Ashton Winger[4]; 4. 97-Cody Overton[3]; 5. 47W-Brandon Weigle[8]; 6. S21-Seth Daniels[5]; 7. 66C-Matt Cosner[10]; 8. 187-David McCoy[6]; 9. USA1-Chris Hawkins[9]; 10. 33-Jeff Mathews[14]; 11. 31-Tyler Millwood[12]; 12. 4S-Danny Snyder[11]; 13. K&B-Kerry King[16]; 14. 93-Cory Lawler[13]; 15. 111-Max Blair[19]; 16. (DNS) 214-Haiden Cowan; 17. (DNS) 42-Terry Casey; 18. (DNS) 48-Tim Lance; 19. (DNS) 71R-Rod Conley
MyRacePass B-Main Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 174-Ethan Dotson[2]; 2. 10-Garrett Smith[3]; 3. 99B-Boom Briggs[4]; 4. 8-Dillon McCowan[7]; 5. 81-Jason Riggs[1]; 6. 17SS-Brenden Smith[5]; 7. 27-Michael Lake[9]; 8. 6H-Ross Bailes[6]; 9. 20B-Todd Brennan[12]; 10. B5-Brandon Sheppard[14]; 11. 9-Levi Yetter[8]; 12. 69-Brandon Thirlby[15]; 13. 128-Kylan Garner[11]; 14. 11C-Trevor Collins[10]; 15. (DNS) 29-Larry Grube; 16. (DNS) 30-Ryan Gustin; 17. (DNS) 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr; 18. (DNS) 4G-Bob Gardner
Wed A-Main (40 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 2. 157-Mike Marlar[23]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 18D-Daulton Wilson[3]; 5. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[12]; 6. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 7. 39-Tim McCreadie[18]; 8. 3S-Brian Shirley[19]; 9. 40B-Kyle Bronson[15]; 10. 10-Garrett Smith[24]; 11. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[16]; 12. 99-Devin Moran[8]; 13. 1-Hudson O'Neal[14]; 14. 174-Ethan Dotson[21]; 15. 14X-Wil Herrington[13]; 16. 7-Ross Robinson[5]; 17. 6-Clay Harris[11]; 18. 75-Daniel Adam[17]; 19. 71C-RJ Conley[20]; 20. 7T-Drake Troutman[22]; 21. 76N-Blair Nothdurft[7]; 22. 15K-Jensen Ford[1]; 23. 58-Garrett Alberson[9]; 24. 76-Brandon Overton[10]
Race Statistics
Entrants: 75
Victory Fuel Pole Sitter: Jensen Ford
Lap Leaders: Jonathan Davenport (Laps 1-11); Tyler Erb (Laps 12-18); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 19); Daulton Wilson (Lap 20); Jonathan Davenport (Laps 21-26); Tyler Erb (Laps 27-40)
Wieland Feature Winner: Tyler Erb
Arizona Sport Shirts Crown Jewel Cup Feature Winner: n/a
Brandon Ford TV Challenge Feature Winner: n/a
Margin of Victory: 2.652 seconds
Dave Warren Powersports Cautions: Earl Pearson, Jr. (Lap 17); Garrett Alberson, Brandon Overton (Lap 17 restart); Devin Moran (Lap 21); Hudson O’Neal (Lap 23); Jensen Ford (Lap 30)
Series Provisionals: n/a
Fast Time Provisional: n/a
Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Track Provisional: n/a
Big River Steel Podium Top 3: Tyler Erb, Mike Marlar, Jonathan Davenport
Penske Shocks Top 5: Tyler Erb, Mike Marlar, Jonathan Davenport, Daulton Wilson, Dennis Erb, Jr.
Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race: Mike Marlar (Advanced 21 Positions)
Wilwood Brakes Lucky 7th Place Feature: Tim McCreadie
Deatherage Opticians Lucky 13th Place Feature: Hudson O’Neal
MD3 Most Laps Led: Tyler Erb (21 Laps)
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tim McCreadie
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Ricky Thornton, Jr.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Rookie of the Race: n/a
Coltman Farms Fastest Lap of the Race: Jonathan Davenport (Lap 1 – 15.590 seconds)
Slicker Graphics Slickest Move of the Race: Tyler Erb
Miller Welders Hard Luck Award: Devin Moran
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Kody Karl (Tyler Erb)
ARP Engine Builder of the Race: Clements Racing Engines
Miller Welders Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Dirt Draft Fastest in Hot Laps: Ricky Thornton, Jr. (14.674 seconds)
Time of Race: 26 minutes 06 seconds
LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES AS OF 2/7/2024
Pos Competitor Points
1 Ricky Thornton Jr 1315
2 Hudson O'Neal 1305
3 Devin Moran 1225
4 Jonathan Davenport 1160
5 Brandon Sheppard 1100
6 Tim McCreadie 1065
7 Daulton Wilson 1065
8 Kyle Bronson 1060
9 Clay Harris 1000
10 Tyler Erb 985
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