GREENWOOD, Neb. — Tyler Erb flexed his muscles on Wednesday night, leading all 30 laps to win the Al Belt Custom Homes I-80 Nationals at I-80 Speedway.
The Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series regular picked up his first series win since early last season at East Bay Raceway Park.
Ricky Weiss came home in second after starting in sixth. A hard-charging, wall running, Ricky Thornton Jr. came from the 13th starting spot to finish in third, earning another podium finish at I-80 Speedway. Monday night’s winner, Brandon Overton, finished fourth with Stormy Scott completing the top five.
The race was slowed by three cautions as Erb held off Weiss by 1.03 seconds for the win. Stormy Scott held the second spot until Weiss got by him just before the lap 22 caution for a slowing Scott Bloomquist.
Erb had Weiss breathing down his neck before the yellow flag came out with eight laps to go, allowing Erb to pull way in the final laps for the win.
“Right before they threw the caution, I saw Randall’s stick close up,” Erb said. “I was probably going to move up the lap before the caution and it kind of made it little easier on my mind. Honestly, after last night everyone was racing for second. We worked on our car the best we could. I want to thank Brandon Overton for coming in here and whipping up on us, it makes everyone better.”
Weiss came home in second behind Erb.
“We were really good on the long runs. I think he (Erb) was little bit better on the short runs. I definitely didn’t want to see that caution,” Weiss said. “I am just proud of my guys. Glad to get back up here on the podium and to be consistent again. Last night we held our heads high, and we knew we had to be better and tonight proved it. Tomorrow will be another day and hopefully we can be up here tomorrow night one spot better.”
The finish:
Tyler Erb, Ricky Weiss, Ricky Thornton Jr., Brandon Overton, Stormy Scott, Spencer Hughes, Chase Junghans, Jonathan Davenport, Tyler Bruening, Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Chris Simpson, Brandon Sheppard, Chad Simpson, Shane Clanton, Matt Cosner, Josh Ricahrds, Charlie McKenna, Ben Schaller, Mike Marlar, Scott Bloomquist, Hudson O’Neal, Kyle Bronson, Jake Neal.