Erb victorious in opening night of Outlaw Invasion at Atomic Speedway
WAVERLY — While many things have changed in the 1,031 days since the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Models last raced at Atomic Speedway, one thing remained the same — Tyler Erb finished on top.
Erb, of New Waverly, Texas, held off a monster challenge from four-time and defending Series champion Brandon Sheppard in Friday’s Feature to win the opening night of Atomic’s Outlaw Invasion.
Through the first 30 laps of Friday’s Feature, Erb couldn’t be touched before Sheppard challenged him late. Sheppard, a four-time Series champion from New Berlin, IL, tried high and low to sneak by Erb, but the Lone Star State competitor stayed one step ahead.
The Texas campaigner stated he loved the banking Atomic offers and ran well on that type of track in the past.
“I really enjoy this place; I don’t know what it is,” Erb said. “I don’t know why it is. Any place that’s got banking like this, I tend to run well. It’s been good to me, and it’s been really good to Devin Moran, too. Hopefully, I’m taking a little money out of the pot.”
Sheppard crossed the line second, but was disqualified after failing the droop check in post-race technical inspection. He’s credited with a 25th-place finish.
Sheppard’s disqualification moved Josh Rice to second — his first top-five with the World of Outlaws in 2022. Rice, of Verona, KY, felt his car’s handling was off, otherwise he would’ve contended for the win.
“We started out really good, I thought we had a shot out there to start,” Rice said. “The left rear was kind of chewed up after that Heat Race, so we grounded it down to make it work the best we could.
“I have to get where I can just steer a bit better [Saturday]. I feel like I have to sling it very hard to get it to turn, and then I’m just free after that.”
The Rookie of the Race, Tanner English, was credited with a third — his first top-five of 2022. English, of Benton, KY, debuted a new Rocket XR1 Friday, a car he was pleased with for its first night out.
“I felt like we were running the same speed as the leaders,” English said. “I felt like we had a car to win, but I got together with another car early in the race and knocked the toe out. I’d like to have known what it was like if that hadn’t of happened.”
Series points leader Dennis Erb Jr. was credited with fourth, his fourth top-five of 2022. The Carpentersville, IL driver stated he needed a better start to the night to help his chances of finding Victory Lane.
“I wish we would’ve started up a little closer tonight, but the car worked real good, and I was able to maneuver up through there,” said Erb, who is not related to the winner despite sharing the same last name. “We’ll take it and go on to [Saturday] night, and hopefully, we can be up there again and hopefully start closer to the front to make it a little easier.”
The fourth-place finish helped Erb gain points in the Series standings. He’s now 42 points ahead of rookie Max Blair.
Jacob Hawkins, from Fairmont, WV, rounded out the top five.
Tyler Erb now has the most wins in World of Outlaws history at Atomic Speedway — a number he’d like to add to. Another win on Saturday gives him two-weekend sweeps — four years apart.
CASE Construction Feature (40 Laps): 1. 1T-Tyler Erb[1]; 2. 11R-Josh Rice[3]; 3. 81E-Tanner English[9]; 4. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[12]; 5. 37-Jacob Hawkins[6]; 6. 111V-Max Blair[15]; 7. 71-Hudson O’Neal[7]; 8. 9-Devin Moran[4]; 9. 29-Darrell Lanigan[10]; 10. 1R-Josh Richards[8]; 11. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 12. 11-Gordy Gundaker[24]; 13. C9-Steve Casebolt[17]; 14. B1-Brent Larson[13]; 15. 99-Chub Frank[19]; 16. 16-Tyler Bruening[23]; 17. 29C-Clint Keenan[16]; 18. 99B-Boom Briggs[11]; 19. 95-Jerry Bowersock[21]; 20. 45-Kyle Hammer[20]; 21. 53C-Andy Bond[14]; 22. 20-Todd Brennan[25]; 23. 44H-Dave Hess Jr[22]; 24. 1AM-Austyn Mills[18]; 25. (DQ) 1-Brandon Sheppard[2]
Fox Factory Hard Charger: Gordy Gundaker +12
Sport Mods 23 cars
Jamey Adams made it a sweep in the C&M Racing Equipment Sport Mods on Friday night as he started the night off by first setting fast time, then after a convincing win in his heat race he used the pole starting position to win the 15 lap A-main. It was not a walk in the park though for Adams as the youngster Miles Cook Jr kept the pressure on Adams for the point position and the always smooth Bob Crace was never far behind in the third position. Toward the end of the event though it was another youngster Landon Barker who came home fourth with an impressive run as he was putting the pressure on the veteran Crace.
1) Jamey Adams, Kyle Payne, Cody Price, Kevin Wills, JD Broughton, Nick McNichols, Matt Stewart, Camden Houser,
2) Miles Cook, Landon Barker, Luke Jordan, Emily Jordan, Jeff Conrad, Adam Jones, Sterling Packer, Brian Williams
3) Davey Akers, Bob Crace, Dave Jamison, Brandon Colley, Aaron Hopkins, Tonka Harris, Michael Stevens
Sport Modified A Main: Jamey Adams, Miles Cook Jr., Bob Crace, Landon Barker, Kyle Payne, Brandon Colley, Davey Akers, Emily Jordan, Luke Jordan, Tonka Harris, Adam Jones, Cody Price, Dave Jamison, Aaron Hopkins, Nick McNichols, Michael Stevens, matt Stewart, Camden, Houser, Sterling Packer, Brian Williams, Kevin Wills, JD Broughton, Jeff Conrad
Fast Time 15.645 Jamey Adams
Hard Charger: Tonka Harris
In the Southern Ohio Legends series, the action was hot and heavy at the front of the field as the constant battle Aaron Pendleton, Steven Partin, Jerren Perdue, Ronnie Niehaus and Bryce Swango until Swango banged the wall coming off of turn 4 leaving the other 4 to battle it out for the top positions. At the finish it was Pendleton coming out victorious.
Legend Cars Heats
1) Steven Partin, Bryce Swango, Blake Skaggs, John Gutman, Scott Chaney, Blake Niehaus, Daryl Bumgardener, Quade Schoonover
2) Aaron Pendleton, Tom Partin, Nick O’Bryant, Jake Givens, Levi Morris, Greg Magill, Ronald Scurlock, Rob Schuler
3) Ronnie Niehaus, Jerren Perdue, Garrett Schuler, Zach Schuler, Anthony Bumgardener, Jason Maybin
Legend Car Feature: Aaron Pendleton, Steven Partin, Jerren Perdue, Ronnie Niehaus, Tom Partin, Blake Niehaus, Anthony Bumgardener, John Gutman, Nick O’Bryant, Greg Magill, Levi Morris, Jason Wetterburn, Daryl Bumgardener, Rob Schuler, Quade Schoonover, Cale Maybin, Bryce Swango, Jake Givens, Ronald Scurlock, Garrett, Scott Chaney
This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Erb victorious in opening night of Outlaw Invasion at Atomic Speedway
