Dennis Erb Jr. on the winning streak at Davenport Speedway. (Photo by Jim DenHamer)
DAVENPORT, Iowa – Unlike the last time he showed up at Davenport Speedway, everything went as he wished for Dennis Erb Jr. at Wednesday’s quarter-mile oval.
The veteran from Carpentersville, Illinois met little resistance on his way to the $23,023 win at Castrol FloRacing Night in America thanks to his talent for rolling the bottom groove perfectly.
Last August, Erb crashed out on the track at the World of Outlaws event while Tanner English stormed to victory, taking the series title race to less than 100 points with twelve races to go.
In the end, of course, everything went well for Erb, who won his first WoO title last year. With the start of the spring season, Erb’s seemed to have raised the bar even higher this year as he celebrated his second Castrol Series win in eight days on Wednesday.
“We’re just back where we need to be,” said Erb. “It’s good that these races are close to home where we often race. Our car just worked really well. We’ve had some good runs here; a few nights a little free. All in all I think our car is in top form again.”
Additionally, it is now only the third time in his career that Erb has won two races worth at least $20,000 in a single season. Erb accomplished the feat last year by winning the Castrol Series event at Lincoln (Illinois) Speedway (worth $22,022) and at the World of Outlaws at Federated Raceway off I-55 in Pevely, Missouri (im worth $20,000) won. He achieved that same success in 2016 at the $100,000 Dream at Eldora Speedway in Ohio and the $20,000 National 100 at East Alabama Motor Speedway.
Leading 30 laps of 50, Erb passed the red-hot Hudson O’Neal by 1.145s while early leader Mason Zeigler (20 laps ahead) eased off to finish eighth.
“It’s looking good for the summer months and I think we’ll be at the forefront,” added Erb.
Zeigler, who found instant success with a new Rocket chassis, took the lead from the start and looked strong at the helm of Davenport. In fact, Mike Marlar became Ziegler’s first challenger on lap 14, but this only lasted for a brief moment.
Marlar, who was just behind Zeigler on lap 15, ran out of space in the first corner, slowing his race car into the run-off zone and effectively dooming his race.
Marlar improved on this unfortunate turn of events from 0.116s behind Zeigler to 21st place – more than five seconds behind.
All in all, Zeigler was in the lead for the first 18 laps but was quickly fended off by Erb in a duel for the lead that lasted from the 15th to the 21st lap. Erb was 0.047s ahead of Zeigler to lead to 19 before Zeigler countered and took the lead on laps 20 and 21 by 0.254 and 0.020s respectively.
But Zeigler, perhaps running too fast and too fast, couldn’t keep up with Erb, who took the lead within four laps and built a 1.7 second lead by the 25th lap. Erb at times built up a 2.7 second lead, which O’Neal reduced to just 0.764 seconds with three laps to go.
However, Erb just focused on biding his time in the slower traffic and ultimately hitting his targets.
“I adjusted a bit to the right speed and didn’t try to get into the lap traffic early; I have to get really tight so that I can maintain my pace without having to give up a bit,” said Erb. “I started to worry if anyone would try that outside. I’m doing my own thing right there, trying to keep the car under it and listening to see if anyone’s coming. Everything worked out.”
Dennis Erb Jr. (Photo by Mike Ruefer)
O’Neal tried everything he could to win his third straight Castrol Series game and eighth win of the season, but even he was no match for Erb at the bottom.
“That butt was just so good. I tried the middle. I tried the top out a bit,” O’Neal said. “I haven’t really gotten up there in a long time. Though I tried it, I figured it wasn’t very good. I didn’t think third or fourth place would be as good as second. Yes, Dennis did a great job. He came forward early. It was worth being the winner at the end of the race. We are happy with it. We’ll endure anything we can here on this front line. It’s a really good night.”
Bobby Pierce started on the second row on the inside of Erb and couldn’t match his eventual winning speed. Pierce was third.
“Erb killed us down there. He’s really good at it,” Pierce said. “Overall, the tires weren’t really different. … The track was fine tonight. You missed it a little. We all miss it from time to time. Next time we come back I’m sure they’ll have a little more lip so we can ride a little bit better. A really good night, consistent with what you said. We are happy with me. We’re continuing with the World of Outlaws shows in the Northeast and hope to be consistent with that as I’m trying to pick up some points with this deal.”
The end:
Feature (50 rounds): 1. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[4]; 2. 1-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[3]; 4. 76-Brandon Overton[9]; 5. 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr[11]; 6. 40B-Kyle Bronson[18]; 7. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 8. 25Z-Mason Zeigler[2]; 9. B5 Brandon Sheppard[16]; 10. 19R-Ryan Gustin[13]; 11. 20-Jimmy Owens[6]; 12. 25-Chad Simpson[14]; 13. 32S-Chris Simpson[17]; 14. 96V-Tanner English[22]; 15. 39-Tim McCreadie[19]; 16. 46-Earl Pearson Jr[12]; 17. 99JR – Frank Heckenast Jr[20]; 18. 97-Cade Dillard[8]; 19. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 20. 111-Max Blair[10]; 21. 11H-Spencer Hughes[15]; 22. 99M- Devin Moran[21]
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