Since 2016, Tyler Erb has made several national dirt late model circuits his home for racing. In 2024, he found a new home with the DIRTcar Summer Nationals.
Eleven Feature wins. Seventeen top-fives. Eighteen top-10s in 19 races. In his first season following the Hell Tour, the 27-year-old from New Waverly, Texas, clinched the overall points championship, becoming the 17th different driver to do so and the first driver from the Lone Star State.
Though he was all smiles in victory lane after winning the season finale at Wayne County Speedway, Erb has never been in need of praise for his accomplishments. He came, he saw, he conquered, and that’s all he wanted out of his new summer race place — or, “The Fun Tour,” as he so often refers to it.
“It’s called ‘The Hell Tour’ but it really wasn’t Hell for us — it was fun, and we had a blast,” Erb said. “We won a lot of races, so that was the whole goal and what we were trying to accomplish.”
Despite his national tour experience, the 39th DIRTcar Summer Nationals was no easy task for Erb. Several weeks on the road, limited time with family, a list of rival drivers with hurt feelings … it’s all in a month’s work for Erb — a month he’ll likely spend on the road again next year.
“We have found our home.”
Growing up around the local dirt tracks of Texas and Louisiana, Erb began his racing career as a late bloomer, first racing a hobby stock at 14 years old. At 15, he got his first opportunity in super late models, driving his late father’s car in local and regional events.
After multiple seasons winning around home, Erb made the jump to the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series in 2016 for his rookie season on the national super late model circuit, and in 2019 found his current home with Ohio-based Best Performance Motorsports.
Together, Erb and Best Performance have strung together several competitive seasons, compiling 19 feature wins and three top-five championship points standings finishes in five years with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series. But after a 2023 season that produced only one Feature win and an eighth-place finish in the tour’s points standings, Erb began to feel the need for change — the biggest since the birth of his career.
“We raced on a national tour for nine years, and we weren’t terrible at it, we just never won the whole shebang,” Erb said. “I had an idea of what we needed to do; I just was never able to put it in place.
“The Hell Tour’s the same thing, just really condensed. If you don’t wear yourself out and your guys stay pumped up, you can take it just like you’re running a national tour, just in a shorter amount of time.”
In May, Erb announced his departure from the full-time national late model roster in favor of a more open, “true outlaw” style schedule. He made spotted starts with the World of Outlaws, Northern All Star Late Models, MARS Championship and other sanctions, but settled on the Hell Tour when it came to his summer racing plans.
“To be able to pick and choose and do whatever we wanted to do — that’s what I tend to do better at,” Erb said. “It just kind of lights a new fire, because I just kinda realized that I’m not set up to win a national tour, so it’s not in my best interest.
“The Hell Tour was doable, it was something we could accomplish, and we did. It all worked out.”
Erb contested four of the five weeks on the 2024 Summer Nationals schedule and collected two weekly points championships, racing an average of five to six days per week. This was a new frequency for Erb, but he made the adjustment well and sharpened his skills in several different areas that he hadn’t yet mastered racing each weekend on a national tour.
“Maturing, getting older and kinda learning how to race more,” Erb said. “What we need to do, personnel and team, me not making terrible decisions every night. Sometimes you’ve just gotta take your losses and move on. Nights you can capitalize on, don’t screw ’em up.”
His summer success turned not only the heads of his competitors but nearly an entire world of dirt late model fans. At times, his social media posts featured several comments from naysayers with claims of “cherry picking” due to his former status as a national tour regular attending and winning regional-level events.
But to those people, his response is simple.
“Come get some. Come do it. If it’s that easy, come do it,” Erb said. “Obviously, there isn’t the guys on Lucas and Outlaws — there’s a really good group of guys on both of them. But it’s one of those deals where, when it’s going your way, you can capitalize, and everything can go good and you can make some money.
“If it goes bad quick, you don’t have any time to rebuild and start over. You just have to start and be really smart and be on your game from the jump. You don’t have two weeks off here or there to rebuild and restart.”
One of Erb’s brightest moments happened early in Week 1, when he topped a 49-car field at Fairbury Speedway for his first career feature win at the famed quarter-mile bullring. With former Summer Nationals champions in the field such as Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Brian Shirley and Jason Feger, Erb came out on top of the 50-lap main event, proving he could beat the former national tour regulars in their own backyard.
But again, Erb is not one for extensive praise of his accomplishments. He’s savored his checkered flags, the championship trophy and checks. Now, he’s looking forward to what’s next.
“Right now, it doesn’t make me feel any different about what I’m doing or how the night goes; it doesn’t change the outcome at the end of the night,” Erb said. “It’s very cool to be a part of it and say that I’ve done it, and now it’s on to the next thing.”