September 13, 2024 | By Billy Rock

Tyler Erb Sweeps Inaugural Hawkeye Land 40 at Cedar County

TIPTON, Iowa — Tyler Erb kept his Lucas Oil MLRA record perfect on the season Thursday night, by winning the inaugural “Hawkeye Land 40” at the Cedar County Raceway. The win marks his second MLRA win of 2024 in as many starts, with the first coming back on May 5th, at the Adams County Speedway in Quincy, IL.

Erb’s perfect night started off with him collecting a special $500 bonus for recording the nights overall Fast Time in MyRacePass qualifying thanks to Pit Crew BBQ, which he then followed up with a heat race victory to place him on the pole for the start of the 40 lapper. Garrett Alberson who also locked up a heat race win took the green alongside on the front row.

As Erb led the field into the Nutrien Ag Solutions start zone for the initial start, a major pile-up occurred in the middle of turn three as the field bunch up behind the front row starters. The incident which brought the race to a stop involved nearly half of the field, but fortunately all but Jimmy Vanzandt were able to continue on.

The opening laps were filled with a number of cautions including a second caution on lap 1 when Matt Ryan came to a stop on the front stretch, ultimately ending his night. After back-to-back cautions on laps 5 and 6 the race would go green until the end. With Erb out front from the drop of the green it appeared that multiple drivers were going to be up to the challenge in the early going, with Garrett Alberson being the first to mount a charge.

Alberson was able to race by off the exit of turn two to take the race lead from Erb, but only momentarily, as the driver of the Best Performance # 1 was able to power back by Alberson before the duo returned to the start finish line. With the top two pulling away, action in the top ten stayed hot with charges from Frank Heckenast Jr. as well as Chris Simpson and Tony Jackson Jr. who charged into the top five from their 7th & 8th row starting spots respectively.

Alberson was able to reel in Erb a couple of times as the leaders worked into heavy lapped traffic, leaving only nine cars on the lead lap at the conclusion of the main event. As the raced passed halfway, Erb began to distance himself from the field, and drove away in the closing laps to a 2.635 second victory over Alberson. “I’m more of a rhythm guy, the more laps I can make I can see where I make mistakes and can do better the next lap,” commented Erb of the long green flag run to end the race. “I like it when it goes all green, especially when you’re leading.”

Alberson recorded his best MLRA finish of the season with a runner up, while Heckenast Jr. capped off a strong podium run in third. Tony Jackson Jr. once again grabbed the nights Swift Springs Move of the Race, for his late race pass that put him in the fourth spot, while Chris Simpson managed a 5th place run after going to a back up car following his qualifying session.

Following the $5,000 victory Erb said of the race, “Garrett was really good. When I got to lapped traffic, I was not running the top as hard as I possibly could have. I seen Garrett underneath me a couple of times and I just knew I had to go and get clear of those lapped cars. It was a good car, I just had to make good decisions in traffic, and I was kind of fortunate they all were on the bottom, so it left the top wide open for me.”

Following his runner up finish Alberson noted, “I think in clean track I was probably as bout as good as he was.  I could run that bottom pretty good and I had good straight-a-way speed when I was down there, but he could maneuver around and carry his speed into his entry around the top a little better to get through that lapped traffic. This was my first time running a super late model here, and it was a good race,” he concluded.

Heckenast Jr. was making just his second MLRA start of the season and he made it a good one. “We went from 6th to 3rd or 4th there pretty quick, and we could reach out and touch Alberson and Tyler for a moment and then about halfway through they picked up the pace and kept going and we faded. But it’s been a little bit since we have been up here with you guys, so this feels pretty good,” he commented of the podium finish.

Lucas Oil MLRA action continues in Iowa for the next two nights, with racing moving to the Davenport Speedway and the inaugural running of the "Corn State Nationals". Friday nights opener at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds 1/4 mile will pay $5,000 to win, while Saturday nights weekend finale will put $10,000 on the line for the victory.


Cedar County Raceway Contingencies 9/12/24

Lap Leaders – Tyler Erb (1 - 40)

Cautions – 4

MyRacePass “Overall Fast Time Award" – Tyler Erb (13.145 sec.)
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race – Cody Karl
MD3 "Most Laps Led" – Tyler Erb (40)
Swift Springs “Move of the Race” – Tony Jackson Jr.
Sunoco Race Fuel “Rookie of the Race” – Aaron Marrant
PEM Racing "4th Place Finisher" – Tony Jackson Jr.
Fluidyne: "5th Place Finisher: – Chris Simpson
Sunoco "Engine Builders Challenge" – Clements
Midwest Sheet Metal "Points Leader Spoiler Challenge" – Chad Simpson
MSD Performance Holley: “1st B-Main NON-Qualifier” – Glen Powell
MD3 Final Finisher: – Jimmy Vanzandt


Hawkeye Land 40 A Main40 Laps | 00:40:27.333 | 0
1. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 58-Garrett Alberson[2]; 3. 99F-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[15]; 5. 32-Chris Simpson[14]; 6. 8-Dillon McCowan[4]; 7. 38T-Dylan Thornton[8]; 8. 25-Chad Simpson[17]; 9. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[10]; 10. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[5]; 11. 11-Jeff Herzog[3]; 12. 17SS-Brenden Smith[9]; 13. 29D-Spencer Diercks[7]; 14. 78S-Steve Stultz[13]; 15. 22H-Dustin Hodges[11]; 16. 17-Tim Simpson[24]; 17. 25K-Bryan Klein[21]; 18. 99-Sawyer Specht[16]; 19. (DNF) 42-Johnathan Huston[12]; 20. (DNF) 15C-Curt Schroeder[20]; 21. (DNF) 44W-David Webster[23]; 22. (DNF) 10P-Paul Parker[19]; 23. (DNF) 07-Matt Ryan[18]; 24. (DNF) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[22]

B1- FAST Shafts12 Laps | 00:08:47.760
1. 25-Chad Simpson[2]; 2. 07-Matt Ryan[1]; 3. 10P-Paul Parker[4]; 4. 15C-Curt Schroeder[3]; 5. 25K-Bryan Klein[6]; 6. 67-Jimmy Vanzandt[12]; 7. 26G-Glen Powell[11]; 8. 44W-David Webster[5]; 9. 4X-Dalon Helm[10]; 10. 17-Tim Simpson[9]; 11. 41-Matt Menzie[8]; 12. 15K-Justin Kay[7]

H1-Flo Sports8 Laps | 00:02:16.000
1. 1-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 1XM-Aaron Marrant[2]; 3. 17SS-Brenden Smith[3]; 4. 78S-Steve Stultz[5]; 5. 07-Matt Ryan[6]; 6. 44W-David Webster[7]; 7. (DNS) 32X-Jason Rauen; 8. (DNS) 67-Jimmy Vanzandt

H2-Simpson Race Products8 Laps | 00:02:28.000
1. 11-Jeff Herzog[2]; 2. 29D-Spencer Diercks[1]; 3. 22H-Dustin Hodges[3]; 4. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 5. 15C-Curt Schroeder[5]; 6. 15K-Justin Kay[7]; 7. 17-Tim Simpson[6]

H3-Earnhardt Technologies8 Laps | 00:03:54.000
1. 58-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 99F-Frank Heckenast Jr[2]; 3. 22-Daniel Hilsabeck[3]; 4. 32-Chris Simpson[5]; 5. 25-Chad Simpson[7]; 6. 25K-Bryan Klein[4]; 7. 4X-Dalon Helm[6]

H4- Lucas Oil8 Laps | 00:03:12.000
1. 8-Dillon McCowan[1]; 2. 38T-Dylan Thornton[5]; 3. 42-Johnathan Huston[3]; 4. 99-Sawyer Specht[4]; 5. 10P-Paul Parker[2]; 6. 41-Matt Menzie[6]; 7. 26G-Glen Powell[7]

For all of the latest news and information, including the full 2024 schedule, fans are encouraged to visit the series website at www.MLRARacing.com.