Tyler Erb is back to championship form.
Chasing his second title with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models in 2025, the New Waverly, TX driver closed back in on Jason Feger towards the overall points lead with 11 races remaining with a masterclass around Spoon River Speedway.
Erb rolled off from the front row alongside Rodney Melvin for the Wednesday night Feature, with Melvin taking the lead from the bottom lane.
Erb’s Rocket Chassis worked to find his pace on the cushion through the early stages, which helped him gain enough momentum to make a charge for the lead at the finish line. “Terbo” had enough clearance on Melvin into Turn 1 to slice down to the bottom lane to block Melvin’s move and secure the lead.
The Best Performance Motorsports No. 1 was able to grow the bubble between the car and the field as Bob Gardner and Tyler Millwood battled Melvin for the podium positions.
As the lapped traffic interrupted Erb’s three-second lead, Gardner and Millwood steadily reeled back into the chase for the win.
While Gardner and Millwood got to within one second of the lead, they were unable to reach Erb in time as he took the 20th checkered flag of his Hell Tour career.
“Just be patient,” Erb said. “Obviously, to pull out of line and pass a lap car would have been tough. If they make a mistake, you gotta capitalize and try to get by them. You get a chance to win races like this when you qualify good, and win your Heat race, we did everything correct tonight. It was a really good night for our team, and really fun.”
Up Next: The DIRTcar Summer Nationals Late Models and DIRTcar Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals return to LaSalle Speedway for the first time since 2021 in the Freedom 40 on Thursday, July 3.
If you can’t make it to the track, you can watch all the action live on DIRTVision – either online or by downloading the DIRTVision App.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[2]; 2. 4G-Bob Gardner[3]; 3. 31M-Tyler Millwood[5]; 4. 27M-Rodney Melvin[1]; 5. 5-Mark Whitener[4]; 6. 25F-Jason Feger[7]; 7. 14-Haiden Cowan[6]; 8. 18-Shannon Babb[9]; 9. 29-Christian Hanger[8]; 10. 28B-Carson Brown[10]; 11. 33-Mike Harrison[13]; 12. 89-Mike Spatola[16]; 13. 17SR-Brody Smith[11]; 14. 17SS-Brenden Smith[12]; 15. 14JR-Trey Mills[15]; 16. 15-Clay Stuckey[19]; 17. 55-Eli Johnson[14]; 18. 388-Jackson Hise[22]; 19. 75-Dillon McCowan[18]; 20. 13-Dylan Thornton[17]; 21. (DNF) 44-Blaze Burwell[20]; 22. (DNF) A9-AJ May[21]
