Eldora Speedway
Erb rules UMP's Race of Champions at Eldora
By Kevin Kovac
UMP DIRTcar Racing
Erb captures the Race of Champions (Split Second Sports)
ROSSBURG, Ohio (Oct. 3) — Dennis Erb Jr.’s coronation as the 2008 UMP DIRTcar Super Late Model champion began in fine fashion Friday night at Eldora Speedway. Racing without points pressure after clinching his second consecutive national title several weeks ago, the 36-year-old from Carpentersville, Ill., rolled to a $1,000 victory in the 12-lap Race of Champions event that closed the opening night of the Moser UMP DIRTcar Nationals.
Erb also was the fastest qualifier in one of the six group time-trial sessions for the 69-car Late Model field, giving him a fourth-place starting spot in the sixth heat race on Saturday night. He’ll shoot for his first career feature triumph at the famed half-mile oval in Saturday’s 40-lap UMP DIRTcar Nationals headliner, which offers a $5,000 winner’s prize.
“A win would be a great way to top (the season) off,” said Erb, who will earn $20,000 for his UMP DIRTcar national crown. “Winning both UMP championships (he also captured the Summer Nationals title) and the season finale would be a pretty big accomplishment for us.”
The driver had his Thomason Transportation Rayburn purring perfectly in the Race of Champions sprint, which included 11 drivers who won UMP state, regional or series titles or were a chassis builder’s highest-ranked representative in the national points standings. He slid inside Wes Steidinger of Fairbury, Ill., through turns three and four to assume command on lap five and never looked back.
“I feel pretty good about our chances (on Saturday),” said Erb, whose lap of 16.221 seconds was the fifth-fastest time overall of Friday’s qualifying session. “We changed some things around on the car and it worked pretty well I guess.”
Erb crossed the finish line a half-straightaway ahead of Pinconning, Mich.’s Jeep Van Wormer, who started ninth. Jason Feger of Bloomington, Ill., whose time-trial lap of 16.007 seconds was the fastest overall in the qualifying session, placed third, followed by Michael Kloos of Trenton, Ill., and Brian Ruhlman of Clarklake, Mich. Steidinger, meanwhile, dropped out of the special event with mechanical trouble while running in third place. The second-place driver in the UMP DIRTcar national points standings also experienced problems during time trials, saddling him with the 10th starting spot in Saturday’s sixth heat.
Joining Erb as Super Late Model group fast-timers were Chris Ross of Wallaceburg, Ontario (16.553 seconds), Curt Spalding of Hartford, Mich. (16.755), Van Wormer (16.192) and Jerry Rice of Verona, Ky. (16.793).
UMP Race of Champions: (1) Dennis Erb Jr., (2) Jeep Van Wormer, (3) Jason Feger, (4) Michael Kloos, (5) Brian Ruhlman, (6) Dan Walden, (7) Mike Schulte, (8) Kyle Logue, (9) Wes Steidinger, (10) Dusty Moore, (11) Rusty Schlenk.
