Dennis Erb Jr. (Carpentersville, Ill.) was the winner of Saturday night's 40-lap World of Outlaws Late Model feature at Jackson Motorplex.
According to a story on the WoO website, he's not someone who’s known for showing emotion. But you wouldn’t have known it after winning his second feature of the season. He climbed to the roof of his car, throwing two fist pumps into the sky to celebrate his triumph.
But those joyful emotions quickly turned to tears in Victory Lane, as Erb was racing with a heavy heart.
“I lost my uncle a week ago there, and I lost my dog here this week that’s been going up and down the road going to all of these races with us,” Erb said. “It’s definitely a good win for us tonight.”
He dominated much of the race, but several late-race cautions kept the field close together.
Erb held off challenges from Frank Heckenast Jr. (Frankfort, Ill.) and Brandon Sheppard (New Berlin, Ill.) on a restart with three laps to go. Sheppard threw a slide job to take the lead away but couldn’t hold on as Erb dove to the bottom to wrestle the position away for good.
“I went into the corner on that last restart and hit a hole and it turned me a little bit,” Erb said. “I slid up the track but knew I had to keep my speed up because they were going to be up top too and it all worked out for us.”
Heckenast Jr. backed up his win on Friday with a second on Saturday.
Sheppard finished third, with Chris Madden (Gray Court, S.C.) and Cade Dillard (Robeline, La.) rounding out the top five.
Sheppard and Dillard were heat winners.
Bryce Sward (Nelson) was the winner of the Tri-State Late Models 20-lap feature.
Nate Beyenhof (Rock Rapids) was second, followed across the line by Justin Zeitner (Malvern, Iowa), Chad Olsen (Hendricks) and Blair Northdurft (Renner, S.D.).
Next up at Jackson Motorplex will be Friday for the Barb Wieskus Memorial with the Midwest Sprint Touring Series/Midwest Power Series and RaceSaver Sprint Car Series.
Huset's
The Northern Outlaw Sprint Association is making its fourth appearance of the season at Huset’s Speedway in Brandon tonight. RaceSaver Sprint Car Series and late model street stocks will also compete.
Austin McCarl has four 410 wins at Huset's this season, including two of the three NOSA races.
Meanwhile, Carson McCarl holds a slim two-point advantage over Justin Henderson in the track championship standings.
Jade Hastings (Grand Forks) owns an 15-point lead over Wade Nygaard (Grand Forks) in the NOSA point standings.
And good news! The DeWall Racing group announced on Facebook that the No. 16 car will be on the track tonight. And more good news! Brooke Tatnell will be back at the helm.
Knoxville
Rain canceled Saturday night’s Corn Belt Clash featuring the AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series event at Knoxville Raceway. It will not be made up.
Fairmont
There was no racing on the big track at Fairmont Raceway again this weekend, but the Beemer Bullring will be busy this afternoon.
On the docket are Rookie, Junior 1, Junior 2, Adult Clone - Lean, Adult Clone - Buff, Adult - Predator, BP Wing, R-Box Wing, Bomber, Putt Putt, Adult 206 and Junior - Predator.
They'll be back on the big track Friday.