September 18, 2021

KNOXVILLE.. TYLER ERB WINS AGAIN

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Turbo Charged! Tyler Erb Wins Again Tim McCreadie on the Pole for Saturday’s Championship!

by Bill Wright

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 17, 2021) – Tyler Erb topped the podium for the second night in a row at the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Presented by BRANDT Professional Agriculture. The New Waverly, Texas driver took the lead early for the second night in a row and was never seriously challenged. His win was worth $7,000, and was his third at the famous Knoxville Raceway. Tim McCreadie emerged as the top point man, and will start on the pole of Saturday’s 100-lap $50,000 to win championship event. The top 24 in points locked themselves into the finale (lineups below).

Photo: The podium from night #2 at the Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals: Winner Tyler Erb is flanked by Brandon Sheppard (2nd) and Tyler Bruening (3rd) (Ken’s Racing Pix)

Brandon Sheppard led the 25-lap main event early over Tyler Bruening, Erb, Shannon Babb and Mike Marlar. Erb shot from third to first to lead lap three and never looked back. Bruening moved into second early, while Marlar took over fourth on lap eight.

Kyle Strickler moved into the top five by the eleventh lap. The leader entered lapped traffic with eight to go. Shortly after, Logan Martin slowed, bringing out the first caution of the feature. On the restart, Sheppard claimed second from Bruening and Tim McCreadie moved into the top five. McCreadie climbed to fourth with six to go, right before Strickler tagged the turn three wall while running sixth.

Erb pulled away again on the restart, and survived a third one for a stopped Shannon Babb with two to go. Following Erb across the line were Sheppard, Bruening, McCreadie and Marlar. Ricky Thornton Jr., Jimmy Owens, Hudson O’Neal, Kyle Bronson and Frank Heckenast Jr. rounded out the top ten. Jonathan Davenport and Tad Pospisil set quick time in their respective groups. Davenport, Sheppard, Owens, Heckenast, Shane Clanton and McCreadie won heats. Hudson O’Neal and Logan Martin claimed the B mains.

“You never want to see a caution at the end like that, but we ran well enough last night that I didn’t want to commit myself to run the cushion,” said Erb in Victory Lane. “I could tell somebody was getting a good run on the outside and I figured it was Shepp, but if I stayed on the inside of three and drove across it was going to be hard to get by me. I’m pumped to win here. I have a great car and a great crew. Racing is really fun when you have a great car and you can kind of maneuver. Once I got out front, I could set my pace and I felt the longer we went green the better I’d get.”

“I was good for a lap or two on the restarts, and then he would run away from me there,” said Sheppard of Erb. “He did a really good job. He’s been tough all weekend, and he’s going to be tough to beat tomorrow for sure. It was definitely a wild night for us. Thanks to everyone who helped us get back in the heat race. There’s a lot of good guys in this pit area.”

“I heard Brandon say he was good for a couple of laps after those restarts, and I felt the same way,” said Bruening. “I think Tyler was just a little bit better than everyone tonight and he deserved the win. We were super good tonight. The car has been good all weekend and I think we have something for them in that 100 laps tomorrow night.”

The 17^th running of the Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Presented by BRANDT Professional Agriculture finishes up Saturday, September 18 with the $50,000 to win finale! For more information, visit or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.

17^th Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals Presented by BRANDT Professional Agriculture Results

Time Trials Group A (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 49, Jonathan Davenport, Blairsville, GA (2), 17.486; 2. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (19), 17.806; 3. 71, Hudson O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (14), 17.834; 4. 18J, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (7), 17.949; 5. 41, Jeremiah Hurst, Dubuque, IA (3), 17.959; 6. 7W, Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB, Can. (20), 17.96; 7. 1T, Tyler Erb, New Waverly, TX (13), 17.966; 8. 1S, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (10), 18.049; 9. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (24), 18.196; 10. 30, Todd Cooney, Des Moines, IA (5), 18.218; 11. 14, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (22), 18.447; 12. 56JR, Tony Jackson Jr., Lebanon, MO (21), 18.465; 13. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (1), 18.525; 14. 33, Nick Marolf, Moscow, IA (6), 18.536; 15. 22M, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (16), 18.706; 16. 51, Matt Furman, Iowa City, IA (15), 18.778; 17. 80, Allan Hopp, Harlan, IA (17), 18.811; 18. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (4), 19.134; 19. 10K, Shawn Kirwin, Morris, MN (8), 19.145; 20. 10, Junior Coover, Norfolk, NE (11), 19.688; 21. 14M, Reid Millard, Jefferson City, MO (23), 20.019; 22. 248, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (9), 21.465; 23. 22H, Daniel Hilsabeck, Adel, IA (18), NT; 24. 53, Andrew Kosiski, La Vista, NE (12), NT

Time Trials Group B (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 04, Tad Pospisil, Norfolk, NE (19), 17.791; 2. 36, Logan Martin, West Plains, MO (15), 17.937; 3. 39, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (3), 18.007; 4. 20RT, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, AZ (7), 18.190; 5. 18, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (14), 18.208; 6. 16, Tyler Bruening, Decorah, IA (20), 18.251; 7. 32S, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (2), 18.295; 8. 45, Kyle Hammer, Clinton, IL (17), 18.325; 9. 46, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (18), 18.367; 10. 11H, Spencer Hughes, Meridian, MS (16), 18.385; 11. 8, Kyle Strickler, Mooresville, NC (9), 18.398; 12. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (1), 18.405; 13. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Orland Park, IL (23), 18.458; 14. 59, Garrett Alberson, Las Cruces, NM (6), 18.479; 15. 19R, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (10), 18.551; 16. 66, Kyle Bronson, Brandon, FL (12), 18.556; 17. 25, Shane Clanton, Zebulon, GA (21), 18.703; 18. 1C, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (11), 18.753; 19. 21M, Luke Merfeld, Dubuque, IA (13), 19.044; 20. 93, Mason Oberkramer, Broseley, MO (8), 19.219; 21. 29D, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (22), 19.654; 22. 6H, Al Humphrey, Giltner, NE (5), 20.032; DQ (No Report for Scales) 1X, Aaron Marrant, Orrick, MO (4).

Heat one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Jonathan Davenport (6); 2. Tyler Erb (4); 3. Rich Bell (2) / 4. Chase Junghans (5); 5. Matt Furman (1); 6. Shawn Kirwin (7); 7. Todd Cooney (3) DNS – 8. Tim Lance

Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Brandon Sheppard (4); 2. Mike Marlar (6); 3. Josh Richards (3) / 4. Nick Marolf (2); 5. Allan Hopp (1); 6. Jeremiah Hurst (5); 7. Junior Coover (7); DNS – 8. Daniel Hilsabeck

Heat three (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Jimmy Owens (4); 2. Jason Feger (1); 3. Tony Jackson Jr. (3) / 4. Hudson O’Neal (6); 5. Charlie McKenna (2); 6. Reid Millard (7); 7. Ricky Weiss (5) DNS – 8. Andrew Kosiski (8)

Heat four (started), 12 Laps, 3:59: 1. Frank Heckenast Jr. (2); 2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (5); 3. Kyle Bronson (1) / 4. Spencer Hughes (3); 5. Chris Simpson (4); 6. Tad Pospisil (6); 7. Luke Merfeld (7); 8. Al Humphrey (8)

Heat five (started), 12 Laps, 4:02: 1. Shane Clanton (1); 2. Kyle Strickler (3); 3. Shannon Babb (5) / 4. Kyle Hammer (4); 5. Logan Martin (6); 6. Garrett Alberson (2); 7. Aaron Marrant (8); 8. Mason Oberkramer (7)

Heat six (started), 12 Laps, 4:04: 1. Tim McCreadie (6); 2. Chad Simpson (1); 3. Tyler Bruening (5) / 4. Earl Pearson Jr. (4); 5. Ryan Gustin (2); 6. Jason Rauen (3); 7. Spencer Diercks (7)

B Main Group A (started), 15 Laps, 5:09: 1. Hudson O’Neal (1); 2. Chase Junghans (2); 3. Jeremiah Hurst (3) / 4. Matt Furman (6); 5. Charlie McKenna (5); 6. Nick Marolf (4); 7. Todd Cooney (10); 8. Shawn Kirwin (8); 9. Tim Lance (11); 10. Allan Hopp (7); 11. Reid Millard (9); DNS – 12. Junior Coover; 13. Ricky Weiss; 14. Daniel Hilsabeck; 15. Andrew Kosiski

B Main Group B (started), 15 Laps, 5:13: 1. Logan Martin (2); 2. Earl Pearson Jr. (5); 3. Chris Simpson (3) / 4. Tad Pospisil (1); 5. Kyle Hammer (4); 6. Jason Rauen (7); 7. Ryan Gustin (9); 8. Spencer Hughes (6); 9. Aaron Marrant (11); 10. Spencer Diercks (12); 11. Mason Oberkramer (14); 12. Garrett Alberson (8); 13. Luke Merfeld (10); 14. Al Humphrey (13)

A main (started), 25 Laps, NT: 1. Tyler Erb (3); 2. Brandon Sheppard (1); 3. Tyler Bruening (2); 4. Tim McCreadie (8); 5. Mike Marlar (5); 6. Ricky Thornton Jr. (6); 7. Jimmy Owens (9); 8. Hudson O’Neal (19); 9. Kyle Bronson (14); 10. Frank Heckenast Jr. (12); 11. Chase Junghans (21); 12. Earl Pearson Jr. (22); 13. Shane Clanton (16); 14. Jonathan Davenport (7); 15. Chris Simpson (24); 16. Josh Richards (11); 17. Jason Feger (17); 18. Rich Bell (15); 19. Jeremiah Hurst (23); 20. Tony Jackson Jr. (13); 21. Shannon Babb (4); 22. Kyle Strickler (10); 23. Chad Simpson (18); 24. Logan Martin (20). Lap Leaders: Sheppard 1-2, Erb 3-25. Hard-charger: O’Neal.

17^th Lucas Oil Late Model Knoxville Nationals Presented by BRANDT Professional Agriculture Championship Lineups

A main

Tim McCreadie, 490