TAMPA, Fla. (February 7, 2024) – Tyler Erb earned a hard-fought victory on Wednesday night during the 48th Annual Wieland Winternationals – Presented by Lucas Oil at East Bay Raceway Park. Erb pulled away from a trio of cars who were battling for second to take a 2.653 second advantage at the finish line for his 21st career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win.
Mike Marlar, who started 23rd edged out Davenport at the finish line for second to earn the Todd Steel Buildings Hard Charger of the Race. Davenport rounded out the Big River Steel Podium finishing third. Daulton Wilson and Dennis Erb Jr. completed the top five drivers.
The action was fast and furious in the first 20 laps of the 40-lap main event as Davenport led the first 11 circuits until Erb rolled around him on the outside to take the lead on lap 12. Erb, Davenport, and Daulton Wilson were battling nearly 3-wide for the lead as Wilson took his only lead of the race on lap 20.
Davenport then came back to hold the point until Erb powered by him on lap 26. From there, Erb stormed away to pick up a convincing victory.
Tyler Erb – Jonathan Davenport — Mike Ruefer photo
Erb in taking his fifth career East Bay victory fought back after a disappointing race on Tuesday night where he finished sixth after leading in the early part of the race. “I think just racing a little smarter today. I chased JD [Davenport] and was really patient and finally got by him. On the restart they obviously started running the top or something to get such a really good run. I just had to hunker down and fight back. I have got an awesome car and an awesome group of people helping me. I love East Bay it produces some of the greatest racing and it was a really good race.”
“I can’t believe JD left the top open down there in one and two,” said the New Waverly, Texas driver who became the fourth different winner this year on the tour. “His [Davenport’s] car was really good. That was fun, that’s East Bay that’s how it’s supposed to be where you can run all over the place. Honestly the first 20 laps I never really spun my tires, so I knew I had a lot left in the tank. I just had to find the right place on the racetrack to use it.”
Marlar had the drive of the night coming from the inside of the last row to nip Davenport at the line to finish in second. “We have just been struggling the whole trip. We kind of figured out we had a bent rear end in the car. I was kind of bad early in the night, but I got it going for the feature. I want to thank Greg Bruening for giving me this opportunity. I hope we put on a good show there. There at the end I got to rolling the top. They knew I was coming.”
Davenport finished third for the second night in a row. “The lane moved several times there. My guys gave me the best car they could. Congratulations to Tyler [Erb] and Mikey [Marlar]. The last second, I heard him [Marlar], so I turned to the left so hopefully that helped us both in these heat races coming up, so we don’t have a lot to fix.”
The winner’s Best Performance Motorsports, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Clements Racing Engine and sponsored by Bulk Material Lift, Anthony’s Pizza, First Class Septic, Base Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Roberts Bee Company, Integra Racing Shocks, JRR Trucking, and Sani-Weld.
Completing the top ten were Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Kyle Bronson, and Garrett Smith.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
48th Annual Wieland Winternationals | Night 3
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
Allstar Performance Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Jensen Ford | 14.281 seconds
Fast Time Group B: Jonathan Davenport | 14.221 seconds (overall)
