Motorsport News

Tyler Erb Rockets to Win in Lucas Oil Winternationals Opener

Tyler Erb

Winning Moment: Tyler Erb drove away from the field at East Bay Raceway Park on a restart with six laps to go Monday night (Feb. 6), scoring the victory on the opening night of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series residency at the Winternationals.

Asked in victory lane if the victory meant the return of “Terbo” after the driver and his Best Performance Motorsports team endured a woefully disappointing January, Erb remarked “I never left.”

Dramatic Moment: Though Erb had to weather a number of later restarts to secure his victory, arguably the deciding move of the race came on a lap 13 restart where he used every inch of racetrack without making contact to blunt a fierce charge from Ashton Winger.

In a Nutshell: Another night, another great show at East Bay. As Bob Dillner puts it, “there will never be another Clay by the Bay.”

What They’ll Be Group Chatting About This Morning

About half the NASCAR garage showed up at Volusia Speedway Park Monday night to race modifieds. It literally took a second article.

It wasn’t five minutes after Erb’s block on Winger that social media was ablaze with dirt racing fans and competitors alike lamenting the use of signal sticks, a practice that the LOLMDS continues to allow despite its rival World of Outlaws late model tour having banned it.

My take on this is there’s no point crying over spilled milk. Go ahead and ban signal sticks, there’s nothing stopping race teams from using colored gloves, hand signals, gestures, whatever, to send signals to drivers in competition. The beauty of this sport (that I hope never changes) is that pit passes are available to all. That means race fans and competitors alike can venture wherever they want, be it in the grandstands or in the pits. As long as that’s the case, drivers and teams will find ways to communicate. Banning sticks won’t change that.

Longhorn Chassis’s undefeated streak in super late model competition went nearly a month, but ended Monday night with Erb taking a Rocket Chassis to victory lane at East Bay. Let’s tell the whole story though – East Bay’s Winternationals saw more opt-outs for Monday night’s show than in recent memory. For those that don’t follow the LOLMDS closely, the first three nights of competition at East Bay this week will not count for series points.

As a result, a number of heavy hitters were nowhere to be found Monday, including defending series champion Tim…

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