GRANITE CITY, Ill. (July 11, 2019) - Tyler Erb emerged victorious after battling Jimmy Owens and Mike Marlar to win his fifth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event of the season on Thursday night at Tri-City Speedway.

The Hoker Trucking Best in the Business 50 - Presented by Schoenfeld Headers was also Erb's second consecutive Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory. Tim McCreadie came on strong to finish third just ahead of Owens and Earl Pearson Jr.

Erb started the day by setting fast time, then went on to earn the PFC Brakes Pole Award for the main event. Owens grabbed the early lead and held the point for the first 22 laps of the race. The next six laps saw a back-and-forth race for the lead between Owens and Erb. Erb took the lead for the first time on lap 23, but Owens fought back to regain the top spot. The two raced side-by-side with Erb regaining the lead on the 30th circuit.

Marlar took over the second spot on lap 39 after he and Owens had battled side-by-side for several circuits. A caution came out with five laps to go, which gave Marlar one more opportunity to sneak by Erb. On the restart Erb used the clean air in front of him to open up a slight lead, and went on to cross 3/4 of a second ahead of Marlar at the finish line for his sixth career LOLMDS victory.

"I really didn't want to see that last caution because I had gotten into a rhythm," said Erb. "I was kind of kicking myself when Jimmy got back by me for the lead. I knew when Mikey was behind me that things were going to be tough. I could hear Jimmy under me and then the same thing with Mikey. I just kind of let it go for broke in the last four laps. About a month ago I was in the same position and I wasn't going to let what happened last time, happen again."

With the win, the 22-year-old Texan not only keeps his points lead in the Rookie-of-the-Year chase
but also cut into point leader Jonathan Davenport's championship point lead. Davenport finished 18th after pulling off the track due to heavy damage to his racecar.

"That was a pretty exciting race! Thank you to Jimmy and Mikey for racing me clean. We are really looking forward to racing again here tomorrow night. I really like this place. They do a great job preparing it. You can really move around all over it."

For Marlar, the runner-up finish continued his strong run of podium finishes since the first of June in the LOLMDS. "This was an awesome race-track tonight, we could run anywhere on it. I ran the top, but I felt the car working better on the bottom. I have always enjoyed coming here, but I have never had much success here. Glad to come here tonight and get the monkey off of our back."

McCreadie stayed in the top five and grabbed the third spot at the finish. "This was a good run. It's Phillip's [Crew Chief Phillip Snellen] birthday today. We are still working on a lot of things and we are getting closer. We started with a new shock company for the team and they had been out of racing for a long time, but we keep making strides and hopefully we can get a win soon."

The winner's Eric and Kelly Brock-owned, Best Performance Motorsports, Rocket Chassis is powered by a Durham Racing Engine and is sponsored by: Industrial Resourcing Group, Roberts Bee Company, New Point Lighting and Design, Bazell Race Fuels, Sunoco, Franklin Enterprises, Valvoline, Keyser, and KBC Graphix.

Completing the top ten were Devin Moran, Chris Simpson, Hudson O'Neal, Scott Bloomquist, and Stormy Scott.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Hoker Trucking Best in the Business 50 - Presented by Schoenfeld Headers
Tri-City Speedway - Granite City, Ill.

Miller Welders Time Trials
Fast Time Group A: Tyler Erb / 14.543 seconds (overall)
Fast Time Group B: Jimmy Owens / 14.708 seconds

Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tyler Erb ®, Chris Simpson, Stormy Scott, Scott Bloomquist, Daryn Klein, Tony Jackson, Jr., Jonathan Davenport, Jeff Herzog

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Mike Marlar, Kyle Bronson, Devin Moran ®, Billy Moyer, Jr., Tim Manville, Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer, Michael Kloos

Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Jimmy Owens, Tim McCreadie, Michael Norris, Rick Eckert, Rusty Griffaw, Rick Salter, Austin Rettig, Rickey Frankel-DNS

Lucas Oil Products Penetrating Oil Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson, Jr., Josh Richards, Hudson O'Neal, Shanon Buckingham, Gordy Gundaker, Jesse Stovall

Lucas Oil Products Red "N" Tacky Spray Grease B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jonathan Davenport, Tim Manville, Shannon Babb, Billy Moyer, Daryn Klein, Jeff Herzog, Tony Jackson, Jr., Michael Kloos

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Gordy Gundaker, Jesse Stovall, Austin Rettig, Rusty Griffaw, Rick Salter, Mike Hammerle, Rickey Frankel-DNS

Lucas Oil Feature Finish (50 Laps):

 
Race Statistics
Entrants: 31
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Owens (Laps 1 - 22); Tyler Erb (Laps 23 - 26); Jimmy Owens (Laps 27 - 29); Tyler Erb (Laps 30 - 50)
Wrisco Feature Winner: Tyler Erb
Margin of Victory: 0.738 seconds
Cautions: Tim Manville (Lap 2); Josh Richards (Lap 17); Don O'Neal (Lap 19); Jonathan Davenport (Lap 41); Kyle Bronson (Lap 45)
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisionals: Billy Moyer, Daryn Klein
Tri-City Speedway Provisional: Michael Kloos
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Shannon Babb (Advanced 12 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Jonathan Davenport
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Devin Moran
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Tyler Erb
Eibach Springs Rookie of the Race: Tyler Erb
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Randall Edwards (Tyler Erb)
Dirty Girl Racewear Fastest Lap of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Lap #1 - 16.050 seconds)
Hot Rod Processing Tough Break of the Race: Jonathan Davenport
STEEL-IT Most Laps Led: Tyler Erb (25 Laps)
PFC Brakes Pole Award: Tyler Erb
Time of Race: 28 minutes 23 seconds
 
Lucas Oil Championship Point Standings: