Erb Survives For Big LaSalle Payday

LaSalle, Ill. (March 29, 2014) – After a brutal winter, race fans, drivers, and the LaSalle Speedway track staff were anxious to get the 2014 race season underway. Race fans packed the stands, as 29 A.L.M.S. competitors from five states came to battle in the $15,000 to win, Third Annual Thaw Brawl.

 Pole Sitter Brian Shirley led the field to the green flag. Shirley surrendered the lead to Dennis Erb Jr. on the second lap and Erb pulled away from the competition. Rough track conditions, due to the weather, had drivers trying various grooves, in order to avoid ruts. By the 15^th lap, Erb began to lap slower traffic, giving Shirley and Ryan Unzicker the chance to close up on Shirley. After a lap 21 caution, Unzicker and Shirley hit a hole and made contact. The incident also involved Jason Feger, Jason Riggs, Brandon Thirlby, and Scott Schmitt. Schmitt had extensive damage and parked for the night. When the track went green, Erb, again jumped to the lead, but the smoking car of Jeep Van Wormer stalled to bring out a caution. Another caution fell as the green flag waved for Shirley, who had to pit for a flat tire. Matt Furman had been running in the top five found his self in second, as the pack returned to green. Erb held a ten car length lead, as Unzicker and Scott Bloomquist raced for third, and Jason Riggs alone in fifth. Last year’s race winner, Brian Birkhofer brought out a caution on lap 36, as his car stalled on the front stretch. When the cars went to green, Erb led Furman, Bloomquist, Unzicker, Feger, Riggs, Billy Drake, McKay Wenger, Bobby Pierce, and Rusty Schlenk. Erb checked out to a straight away lead, while Furman faced the challenge from Bloomquist. On lap 44, Richie Bell spun out and Erb narrowly missed Bell. While under caution, Furman pulled into the pits and joined the field just before the green. Bloomquist tried for several laps to get by Erb, but Erb was able to turn back the hall of famer. Erb held a straight away lead with 25 laps to go and worked the lap traffic to perfection. Bloomquist’s bid for the win ended as he had a tire go flat on two different occasions in the closing laps. After losing a lap early in the race, Pierce got his lap back, and took second from Unzicker in the closing laps. When the checkered flag waved, Erb, a former track champion at LaSalle, took his second win of the year and fourth career A.L.M.S series win. “I am glad we got the race in. The Izzo family put a lot of work into this race. We knew with the way the weather has been, the track conditions might not be ideal. We just had to deal with it,” commented Erb. Starting 19^th, Pierce finished second, with Unzicker, Feger, Bloomquist, and Jason Riggs completing the top five. The rest of the top ten went to Billy Drake, Matt Furman, McKay Wenger, Jason Jaggers, and Jason Feger. Kevin Weaver was the events race qualifier. Erb, Unzicker, Van Wormer, and Shirley won heat races and Devin Moran took the semi feature.

 In a hotly contested race,   Nick Allen out dueled Jamie Lomax and Jeff Curl to win the 30 lap, $1500 to win, UMP Modified race. When the race went green after a caution with two laps to go, the three drivers went three wide for the lead. Allen held a narrow margin to the finish line, with Lomax, Tyler Nicley, Curl, Travis Kohler, Allen Weisser, Travis Steraler, Jeff Leka, Frank Marshall, and Mike McKinney completing the top ten.

 Alex Clubb held off the repeated challenge from 2013 track champion, Mike Hughes to win the 15 lap, UMP Street Stock race.

 Weekly racing will begin on April 12, as LaSalle Speedway will host Late Models, Modified, Street Stocks, and Hornets.

Category: Illinois, La Salle Speedway