OSKALOOSA, Iowa — Tyler Erb made sure the biggest Late Model race in Southern Iowa Speedway history got a little “Rowdy.”
Following last weekend’s rollover crash at Maquoketa Speedway, Erb and his Best Performance Motorsports crew opted to switch chassis to the frame they last ran in the Dirt Late Model Dream. That car was still sporting the Kyle Busch tribute wrap that Erb debuted at Eldora Speedway in June, and it made its first visit to victory lane on Wednesday night.
The speed secrets behind a fast Eldora car can also lead to success at other sweeping half-miles like Southern Iowa, and Erb proved it off the trailer by topping the qualifying chart and collecting his third quick time award of the season.
The New Waverly, Texas, native dropped back to third in his heat, but he made up for it by moving up from seventh to fourth in the first dozen laps of the feature.
The duel out front was between two drivers chasing their first win with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series presented by DIRTVision in Dallon Murty and Dustin Sorensen.
After leading the first 11 laps, Murty started to fade and lost the lead to Sorensen, then let Ethan Dotson by for second soon after.
Sorensen’s hopes of victory were nearly dashed on Lap 14 when Trey Mills flipped entering Turn 3 and collected Sorensen. Series officials determined that Sorensen spun to avoid Mills, which allowed him to retain the lead.
Erb had turned into the fastest car on the track by that point, which meant the ensuing restart spelled trouble for the leaders. The No. 51 disposed of Murty in the first corner, then needed five more laps to catch and pass Dotson for second.
Two laps later, a solid run off the bottom of Turn 2 gave Erb enough momentum down the backstretch to get to Sorensen’s inside and clear him in Turn 3. It was all “Terbo” all the time the rest of the way, as Erb took the checkers 2.1 seconds ahead of the field for his fourth World of Outlaws win of the year and the eighth of his career.
“It’s so hard to be fast, and tonight, from the moment we unloaded, I was like, ‘Alright, I’m fast again,” Erb said. “That’s a good feeling. You lose it for four days, you forget how to do it. Just made some small changes. It’s a lot like Knoxville [Raceway], especially when it gets them slick spots in it, you can about spin out off the corner. Ricky [Kay, track prep specialist] and them redeemed themselves. I dogged on them last week about Maquoketa [Speedway], but this was fun as hell.”
Dotson’s second-place run tied his Hendry County Motorsports Park runner-up on Feb. 20 as his best finish of the season, while Sorensen held on for third to earn a spot on a World of Outlaws podium for the first time in 2026. Daulton Wilson and Bobby Pierce made up the rest of the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[7]; 2. 74X-Ethan Dotson[4]; 3. 19-Dustin Sorensen[2]; 4. 58V-Daulton Wilson[3]; 5. 32-Bobby Pierce[6]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[8]; 7. 9M-Tim McCreadie[13]; 8. 13-Dallon Murty[1]; 9. 19R-Ryan Gustin[5]; 10. 9-Nick Hoffman[20]; 11. 15D-Justin Duty[10]; 12. 20TC-Tristan Chamberlain[16]; 13. 15-Clay Stuckey[11]; 14. B1-Brent Larson[18]; 15. 28-Dennis Erb Jr[19]; 16. 25-Chad Simpson[9]; 17. 1Z-Logan Zarin[15]; 18. 55E-Eli Johnson[21]; 19. 43-Derrick Stewart[14]; 20. 38T-Dylan Thornton[12]; 21. 15C-Curt Schroeder[17]; 22. 53-Andrew Kosiski[22]; 23. (DQ) 14-Trey Mills[23]
