DirtonDirt.com Dispatches
Dispatches: Lured by Hell Tour, Erb lands title
Champion Tyler Erb. (Tyler Carr)
Among latest notes and quotes from around Dirt Late Model racing in mid-July including action from the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, DIRTcar Summer Nationals, World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series and more (look for Schaeffer's Southern Nationals in separate stories). Also find a listing of live-streaming video from specials around the country:
Title belongs to Erb
When Tyler Erb set out for the first week of the DIRTcar Summer Nationals, he had no intentions of competing for the overall championship. Even when he was atop the points standings after the third week of the tour, the New Waverly, Texas, driver still had no plans to take the crown.
But no matter how hard he tried to stay away, Erb kept coming back for more. On Sunday at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, Erb clinched the Hell Tour championship with his 11th victory of the season.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had racing in my whole life,” Erb said. “There’s been a year or two in between since I’ve been racing for a living that it just ain’t no fun. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing that sucks. I’m enjoying every bit of this.
“It’s pretty cool because I’ve never won any sort of points in my life. I’ve never been a good points racer because of my approach to racing. My approach to racing is perfect for something like this because everybody works hard but we try to go the extra mile and we like racing every day. Definitely wasn’t on my bingo card but it happened and happy to say I did it.”
Erb started sixth in the 35-lap main event at Wayne County and never cracked the top five for the first 20 laps, riding the high side of the 3/8-mile oval. Then, chaos ensued in front of him. First-half leader Dillon McCowan slipped back and had a flat, then midrace leader Nick Hoffman was bitten by the flat-tire bug a few laps later. Todd Brennan's deep charge from the ninth row put him out front, but Erb was suddenly second and began stalking Brennan.
“It just set me up perfect because then I was on the outside for the restart and the top I could actually see, and it was clean. It gave me an opportunity to make something happen," said Erb, who led the final eight circuits of the 35-lap feature.
“Everything worked out how it was supposed to be, and we were able to win,” Erb said. “It wasn’t my plan. My plan was to win races and whatever happens with that will follow and it did.” — Colby Trotter
Can't stop Pierce
Notching his first career four-race victory streak on the World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series, Bobby Pierce of Oakwood, Ill., dominated the second half of Saturday's 50-lapper at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio.
Third-place finisher Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, didn't mince words in describing the recent dominance of Pierce, who picked up a $10,000 victory Friday at Sharon before Saturday's triumph.
"Obviously it was a butt-whipping by Bobby," Gustin said in victory lane.
WoO points leader Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., was in position to outrun Pierce, but when he got too high in turn two on the 28th lap, Pierce pounced and led the rest of the way.
"Congrats to Bobby again," Sheppard said. "You know, their the guys beat right now for sure. But we're working and we're working our tails off so we just gotta keep plugging away."
Gustin added that "we've just gotta go to work and figure it out" to outrun Pierce. "No matter what tires he's on, he seems to be a little bit better than the rest of us. We'll go to work and try to figure it out."
Pierce, who notched his series-leading eighth victory, is winning WoO races in bunches on a series that he couldn't land a victory until 2021, eight seasons into his Super Late Model career.
"For the longest time I couldn't win one of these things and now, you know, when you start winning, they keep coming, I guess," he said. — Series reports
RTJ's next opportunity
Sheppard Racing and Koehler Motorsports aren't the only new teams Ricky Thornton Jr. will end up racing for this week.
With Saturday's Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., rained out, the reigning DirtonDirt.com Driver of the Year will race for Keith Kunz in this evening's USAC national midget event at Jefferson County Speedway in Fairbury, Neb.
"He texted me (around 2:15 p.m. CT), 'Hey, I'm rained out at Wheatland. Do you have an extra car? I'm already on my way,'" Kunz told DirtonDirt.com in a phone interview Saturday. "I said, 'Oh yeah.' ... As soon as that happened, I called (FloRacing CEO) Michael (Rigsby) to advertise this and get some viewers for tonight."
Saturday will be Thornton's fourth-ever midget start and first that's outside the Chili Bowl Nationals. In January, he missed transferring into his would-be first Chili Bowl Nationals feature by five spots in Saturday's B-main. For Thornton, who's "a big microsprint car and midget fan," he's "extremely thankful" to race for Kunz's powerhouse midget team for a night.
"I think it's going to be a great night," Thornton said.
Kunz has "always wanted to put Ricky in one of my midgets," adding that "it's going to be a neat opportunity at the right time, I think, with everything that's going on."
Kunz is used to high-level racers reaching out to him on the whim requesting to race one of his spare midgets. In January, the powerhouse midget owner fielded a last-minute Chili Bowl Nationals entry for Kyle Larson in Tulsa, Okla.
Thornton's the sixth driver to Kunz's lineup Saturday alongside Jade Avedisian, Cale Drake, Cannon McIntosh, Gavin Miller and Ryan Timms. Kunz has 12 race-ready cars on the fourth and final race of their five-day Midwest swing — two cars apiece for his five full-time drivers — and two spares cars, "so it's not going to interrupt us or anything like that.
"We have plenty of stuff and they're all pretty much race-ready," Kunz said. "You just have to roll them out of the trailer, put a little bit of a setup on them, and go. ... Ricky has a huge, real fan base. He's just a great race car driver with everything he sits in. He'll be fine."
Thornton's expected to arrive at Jefferson County Speedway at 5:45 p.m., which would be 15 minutes before hot laps. As for a car number, Kunz will figure that out as he readies one of his spare midgets for Thornton's one-off start.
"He's definitely the hottest thing out there in the Late Models and pretty much anything he gets in," Kunz said. "He's super good. We've been wanting to get him in a midget for a while now. The opportunity just hasn't arose. Now, here it is. ... We have this extra car for him, so let's see how he does and put on a show." — Kyle McFadden
Course correction
Not even one of Bobby Pierce’s biggest mistakes recently could keep him out of victory lane Friday at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. Starting from the pole of the 40-lap World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series main event, the Oakwood, Ill., backpedaled to fourth by the third lap, an uncharacteristic decline that reminded him of one of his worst finishes of the season.
“I kind of replayed (May 18’s WoO feature at Pennsylvania’s) Marion Center (Raceway) in my mind,” Pierce said in his eventual victory interview, recalling that night’s 13th-place finish. “I lost more spots there in the first two laps than I could count. Kind of the same thing was happening tonight.”
Even then, Pierce surges with so much momentum into the heart of July, he erased his 4.7-second deficit to early leader Ryan Gustin under green-flag conditions lead the final 20 laps of the $10,000-to-win program. It also helped Pierce that his harder tire compound could come alive over the 23-lap green-flag run from laps 3-26.
“Right before the first caution came out, I felt my tires digging,” Pierce said. “I just tried to keep them warm under the yellow (on lap 26 for Max McLaughlin). They got back going again. The top (groove) finally formed a nice cushion up there, but it was a tricky, treacherous cushion to drive, especially in dirty air.”
Pierce added that “you didn’t know where your front-end was going to go” while tightroping Sharon’s technical cushion. And though Pierce “felt like the last 10 laps I really wasn’t that great,” he “just had enough to hang on.
“Yeah, it was really tricky,” Pierce said. “(The cushion) kind of had that crumbliness to it sometimes, and your tires would hit it and take off. When you’re on hard tires like that, it don’t like the crumbs. Pretty tricky race. Really glad I got rolling there. I was nervous for sure at the start.”
Pierce’s victory Friday marked his eighth checkered flag over his last 14 total starts. It’s three victories for him in a row on the WoO tour, too, and two additional podiums to boot over his last five starts since losing two motors on back-to-back nights June 29 at Norman County Raceway in Ada, Minn., and June 30 at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks, N.D.
His 18th overall victory of the season gives him two more wins than Ricky Thornton Jr. atop the nation’s wins list among full-time touring drivers.
“Awesome race car,” Pierce said. “My guys are working their butts off all the time. Just goes to show what you can do when you work really hard and work long hours. It put us in victory lane again. It’s awesome.” — Series reports
All eyes on duo
Hudson O’Neal and Ricky Thornton Jr. didn’t put their new rides in Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory lane Thursday at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, but consider their respective evenings a success.
For O’Neal, his runner-up to Devin Moran aboard the new-look No. 71 SSI Motorsports machine put a smile on his 23-year-old face when breaking down the 50-lap feature to pit reporter Ben Shelton.
“There’s no words to describe it. Like I told those guys, I feel like I won almost,” O’Neal said. “Man, what a week it’s been. What a last few months it’s been in general. My racing career has been a little up and down, up and down. Yeah, just feels good to get back to rolling really good.”
Thornton, meanwhile, earned hard charger honors with his 13th-to-fourth performance debuting with Koehler Motorsports. Getting back to the racetrack set both Thornton and O’Neal in the right frame of mind after a long, whirlwind news week. In a prerace interview, Thornton told Shelton “I’m ready to go” when asked how he felt mentally.
O’Neal, on the other hand, admitted he “nerved up” on his drive over to 34 Raceway.
“We didn’t get to practice, didn’t get to do anything,” O’Neal continued in his postrace interview. “Just turned out to be a great night.”
It looked like O’Neal had something for Moran partway through Thursday’s nonstop feature, but the Martinsville, Ind., driver “just missed a little bit of balance right there in the end.” All in all, O’Neal “felt like I had a really good race car there” in his first night working with accomplished crew chief Anthony Burroughs and team.
“All in all, man, these guys … everybody at SSI, they gave me a great race car to come out here and compete,” O’Neal said. “We’re just thrilled to be standing back up here again.
“I felt like maybe I used my tire a little too much there at the beginning,” O’Neal added. “Then my diamond line I was running down there in three and four, my right-rear gave up and I couldn’t do that anymore. I had to move to the bottom and I wasn’t quite as good. Yeah, no, what a great stepping stone this is to start working in the right direction.”
Despite being released from a race team for the first time in his driving career, Thornton never appeared to let that bother him Thursday. He proceeded to tell Shelton in a prerace interview that “we’ll be one of the best teams out here” even with a team that scrambled together the last few days just to have a race-ready car for him.
Thornton will get through July 20’s Silver Dollar Nationals at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon, S.D. — a seven-race stretch on the Lucas Oil Series — racing Jordan Koehler’s Longhorn Chassis with a No. 20RT decal slapped overtop the team’s No. 114 until new race cars are eventually ready for him. Even under those circumstances, Thornton wasn’t far off Thursday.
“The problem is, it’s not like it’s a one or two race thing,” Thornton said. “We run seven nights the next seven days. I think we have everything together for the most part. Just excited to go out and race. Monday night went to the (Castrol FloRacing Night in America) race there at Lincoln (Ill.) and started off pretty bad, but it ended pretty good in the end.
“I kind of look at it at the same time, even when I owned my own team, it’s you want to go out and perform the best you can. If you don’t win or don’t run well, you’re not making any money. When we roll out, it’ll be full focus. I know (crew chief) Kenny (Payton) really knows his stuff. Like I said, Bilstein and Longhorn have been a huge help in this whole Koehler team this week.” — Series and staff reports
O'Neal's SSI return
Hudson O'Neal has won races this year for two of Dirt Late Model racing's most accomplished car owners, Mark Richards and Kevin Rumley. Now the reigning Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series champion owns the keys to one of the most dominant Dirt Late Model rides since the start of last year.
Late Wednesday night O'Neal spoke out for the first time since SSI Motorsports owner Todd Burns revealed Tuesday that he's bringing back the 23-year-old to the Morgantown, Ind., operation formerly spearheaded by Lucas Oil points leader Ricky Thornton Jr.
O’Neal, who's sixth in Lucas Oil Series points as he pursues a second straight championship, will debut in SSI’s Longhorn Chassis adorned with his usual No. 71 during the national tour's July 11 and 13 events at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (July 12's scheduled event at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, Ill., rained out).
"Sunday evening I received a phone call that I couldn’t pass up," O'Neal posted on Facebook. "Todd Burns called and stated he had let Ricky go that afternoon, and he would like to team up moving forward. As this is exactly what me and my team needed, I had a lot of to-dos before accepting. I wanted to make sure my sponsors, team, and family were on board as all of us has put a lot of time and effort into creating my own deal.
"Being an owner it was really rewarding, but financially and equipment-wise, it was a no-brainer to partner up with the SSI team. I am very thankful and fortunate Todd and Vickie want me back wheeling a blue SSI No. 71 car. They helped me start my career in 2015 in Crates and have been nothing short of supportive through the years.
"I think a lot of them and their family, and I’m super excited to be back."
The Martinsville, Ind., native entered the Super Late Model ranks driving for Burns in 2016 and developed into one of the sport’s top prospects with SSI before his release late in the ’19 season. Thornton joined the team full-time May 2020 and amassed more than 60 victories in the Anthony Burroughs-prepared machine over his ultrasuccessful four-year tenure.
In a deep-dive story from DirtonDirt.com's Kevin Kovac, Burns said "we thought about starting a two-car team" with Thornton and O'Neal potentially at the wheel "but there were some issues that didn’t work out.
“It didn’t work out, and that’s OK,” Burns told Kovac. “But I don’t want something written up about Hudson coming in here and undermining, because that was absolutely not the case. In fact, when I made the phone call to Hudson after the fact (releasing Thornton on Sunday), I mean, he had to think about (the ride offer). He didn’t jump at the chance right off the get-go on Monday. He had to think things through before he made a decision.”
Sub-Surface of Indiana, Big River Steel, Dyno-One, Wheeler Metals, Professional Concrete Cutting and Drilling, O’Neal Salvage, Merrill Bonding, Bobcat of Batesville, Bob & Tammy Burton, Paragon Speedway (IN), USSSA of Indiana, Bilstein, Sunoco, High Performance Lubricants, West Side Tractor Sales, and Longhorn Chassis are among O'Neal's sponsors. — Kyle McFadden
Looney's goals remain
No matter how much or how little Payton Looney races, he always will have a cherished trophy on his Late Model resume: Show-Me 100 champion.
The Republic, Mo., driver scored the popular victory for southwest Missouri fans in 2020 in capturing the Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., becoming only the second Missourian to bag the crown-jewel event. He went on to lead the Lucas Oil Midwest LateModel Racing Association championship chase most of that season before falling just shy of the title. Since that time, Looney has dialed back his racing schedule, focusing on family and work commitments. Not that his passion for racing has waned when the chances arise.
Any time he goes to the track, Looney believes he can run up front. That will be no different Saturday when the 30-year-old enters the 18th annual CMH Diamond Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Lucas Oil Speedway.
"The goal never changes and if it does, I need to find a different hobby," Looney said of his desire of contending for a victory with the biggest names of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and MLRA.
Achieving that goal is more challenging as a part-time competitor. Looney has run his lightly raced Capital Race Car only a handful of times since trading his Show-Me 100-winning car for it last season. Luck has not been an ally in 2024 as Looney has entered three Super Late Model events and left two with mechanical issues.
Looney didn't make the Show-Me 100 starting field in May after a first-night steering issue buried him in qualifying points. Last weekend at Monett Speedway, in a POWRi Revival Dirt Late Model Series event, he was felled by rear-end gear issues.
Asked how frustrating the season has been so far, Looney laughed and said: "I don't race enough to get super down. Yeah, it is frustrating, but hopefully we get it turned around (Saturday) at a place where we've had a lot of success in the past."
As for the gap that widens a bit more each season against those who race for a living, Looney said it's reality of the situation. That would be different if he was still keeping a regular Late Model racing schedule, but Looney is happy about where he's at in life. He and wife Emilee are raising son Baylor (6) and daughter Elliott (4). Baylor is playing multiple sports and has a youth baseball tournament on Saturday.
"I can watch the early games before we leave for the races," he said. "The kids are good, the wife is good. We are living a good life. I always look forward to racing (at Wheatland) in front of friends and family. Hopefully we can have a good showing and make the race and be competitive."
Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., won last year's Diamond Nationals and will be shooting for his fifth victory in the $20,000-to-win event. Davenport has eight feature victories at the track over two seasons. — Lyndal Scranton
Gustin riding hot streak
World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series regular Ryan Gustin of Marshalltown, Iowa, has been among the sport's top drivers in recent seasons — he's currently 11th in DirtonDirt.com's weekly power rankings — but consistency hasn't been his strong suit.
The 33-year-old enters this weekend's WoO action with five consecutive top-five finishes, including a WoO preliminary last week at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., and Sunday's XR Super Series victory in Fairmont, Minn.
That's his longest stretch of top-five finishes in Super Late Model action going all the way back to June 6-25 2015, when he enjoyed a stretch five consecutive top-fives in regional touring competition that included a National Championship Racing Association victory at Thunder Hill Raceway in Mayetta, Kan.
He'll try to keep his hot streak rolling on the World of Outlaws beginning Thursday at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway's $15,000-to-win Billy Winn Classic before heading to Friday-Saturday action at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. Gustin will be making his debut at Bedford's monster 5/8-mile oval, but he's familiar with Sharon.
“Sharon Speedway is one of my favorite tracks in the country,” Gustin said. “Any time we go to Sharon, I got a lot of friends that make it feel like home. The promoter and the family out there welcome us with open arms. It makes you feel really good.
"On top of that, they have one of the best racetracks in the country, in my opinion. It’s always smooth, slick, you can race from top to bottom. Any time I’ve been there, it’s never been one-lane. It’s one of the better tracks we go to, and I’ve only finished outside of the top three once since I’ve raced there. It’ll be fun to go back.”
This will mark his first visit to Sharon in his Infinity Chassis by Wells Motorsports, the first-year chassis produced by the Hazard, Ky.-based race shop of Eric Wells and driven by only a few drivers including former WoO regular Brandon Overton of Evans, Ga. Gustin has five victories in his Infinity car.
“It’s been great to work with Eric Wells, Brandon Overton and all their guys,” Gustin said. “It’s been an open notebook between Brandon and I. We’re kind of opposites on a lot of things: What works for me doesn’t work for him. But I feel like we learn from each other about the car. With Eric, anything we want changed, he can do it the way he wants. So, it’s been working out well for us.”
He'll soon see how it works at Bedford and Sharon.
“I feel like we’ve had a really fast car the last two months, we just haven’t had the results to show it,” Gustin said. “We’ve been battling some gremlins here and there, just stuff out of our control happening, but we’ve been in the hunt. The confidence is very high right now and I feel like we’ll be a force to be reckoned with to come.” — Matt Skipper and staff reports
Streaming schedule
Among upcoming Dirt Late Model special and sanctioned events available via live streaming:
Thursday, July 11
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa (FloRacing)
• World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway (DIRTVision)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Butler Motor Speedway in Quincy, Mich. (DIRTVision)
• WISSOTA Late Models at Grand Rapids (Mich.) Speedway (WISSOTA TV)
Friday, July 12
• WISSOTA Late Models at Hibbing (Minn.) Raceway (DRC TV)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Beckley (W.Va.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• World of Outlaws Case Late Models at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio (DIRTVision)
• Crate Racin’ USA 604 Late Models at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. (Crate Racin’ USA TV)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Crystal (Mich.) Motor Speedway (DIRTVision)
• Coltman Farms Southern All Star Series at Penton (Ala.) Raceway (SASdirt TV)
Saturday, July 13
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. (FloRacing)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Wythe Raceway in Rural Retreat, Va. (FloRacing)
• World of Outlaws Case Late Model Series at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio (DIRTVision)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Oakshade Raceway in Wauseon, Ohio (DIRTVision)
• Coltman Farms Southern All Star Series at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Summertown, Tenn. (SASdirt TV)
• Crate Racin’ USA 604 Late Models at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. (Crate Racin’ USA TV)
• DIRTcar Super Late Models at Fairbury (lll.) Speedway (FloRacing)
• Weekly Super Late Models at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway (FloRacing)
Sunday, July 14
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. (FloRacing)
• DIRTcar Summer Nationals at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio (DIRTVision)
Monday, July 15
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Eagle (Neb.) Raceway (FloRacing)
Tuesday, July 16
• Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Shelby County Speedway in Harlan, Iowa (FloRacing)
• Schaeffer’s Southern Nationals at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn. (FloRacing)
