NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (Aug. 2) — Tyler Erb of New Waverly, Texas, captured Friday night's USA Nationals Pole Dash to secure the pole position for Saturday's $50,000-to-win World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series crown jewel at Cedar Lake Speedway.

The 22-year-old Erb rolled off the pole position to lead all eight circuits of the dash that was reserved for the top eight drivers in passing points from the evening’s two rounds of heat races. He kept WoO rookie Cade Dillard of Robeline, La., at arm’s length throughout to reach the checkered flag first in his Best Performance Motorsports XR1 Rocket.

“That’s pretty good. That’s just a good spot,” Erb said of starting Saturday’s 100-lapper from the inside of Row 1. “I think I’ve started 28th through 32nd every time I’ve been here.”

Dillard crossed the finish line 0.432 of a second behind Erb, putting him on the outside pole of the headliner in his first-ever USA Nationals appearance.

After earning the fourth-most passing points in the double-heat qualifying format by finishing third (from eighth) in Round 1 and winning (from second) in Round 2, Erb was flawless in the dash to put himself at the front of Saturday’s field. He will make his fourth career start in the USA Nationals A-main.

“Our first heat we were able to get by those guys quick and not get in any scuffles,” said Erb, who’s previous USA Nationals finishes are ninth (2016), 24th (’17) and 13th (’18). “In the second race me and Shane (Clanton) had a pretty exciting race (for the lead) I thought.

“The track was good tonight. It was smooth and then it got slick. In the second heat I didn’t run the cushion in (turns) three and four and I didn’t in the Dash. I just kind of went through the middle.

“I’ve been here and the first few days it’s like this, and then the third day it could be anything,” he added. “They have to work it or it’ll rubber, so we’ll see what happens. I’m just hoping that come lap 100 I’m headed to the promised land.”

Erb said he’s running an unproven machine that he debuted on Thursday, but it’s performance out of the box has pleased him.

“We didn’t even plan on racing this car,” Erb related. “We had a little issue with the one from Fairbury (Speedway’s Prairie Dirt Classic last week, when he rolled it onto its side in a B-main). We fixed everything and then showed up and in hot laps we had an issue. This car hasn’t even seen dirt. This is the first time it’s been out, so it just shows our Rocket Chassis is really good.”

Maybe even good enough to reach victory lane.

“This would be a great place to get a big win,” said Erb, who scored the richest win of his career earlier this season when he topped the $15,000 Thaw Brawl at La Salle (Ill.) Speedway. “I feel really comfortable here. I raced really hard in that first and second heat and then in that dash I could just kind of make my own lane and drive by myself, so I’m excited.”

Dillard, 28, continued his surge of strong outings on the WoO over the past several weeks with his Friday results. He snuck into the top eight in passing points with heat finishes of fourth (from eighth) in Round 1 and second (from second) in Round 2 and then behind Erb for the entirety of the Pole Dash.

“Everything’s going really smooth,” said Dillard, whose only previous experience at Cedar Lake came driving an open-wheel modified. “Just the thought of having the opportunity to start up front in this deal is pretty cool.

“We weren’t the best in the heat races, but we got some lucky breaks and were able to make it in the dash. We tried a few things in that and I felt like I was really comfortable with and I felt like we could drive it really straight and ride. I’m really confident in my equipment right now.”

The only driver to win two heat races during the qualifying program was Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., who advanced from fourth to capture his first round prelim and from sixth to top his Round 2 race. He sat atop the passing points results but drew the third starting spot for the Pole Dash and ran in the position from start-to-finish.

Heckenast, 31, was thrilled with the speed in his XR1 Rocket.

“You hear guys say, like (Scott) Bloomquist and people, ‘The thing’s a dream to drive,’ and it really was,” said Heckenast, whose best finish in six career USA Nationals feature starts is fifth, in 2012. “I was having a lot of fun. I was smiling … not that I don’t enjoy racing, but tonight, when your car’s that good, you’re just, like … you can’t wait for the next time to go on the track.

“We won the first one (heat), and then the second one starting sixth I was like, ‘If we could run third I’d be really happy with this.’ Then the car felt really good I was like, ‘Man, maybe we have something here.’”

Joining Heckenast and Erb as heat winners were Chris Madden of Gray Court, S.C., Dennis Erb Jr. of Carpentersville, Ill., Brian Shirley of Chatham, Ill., and Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., in Round 1 and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., Jimmy Mars of Menomonie, Wis., and Ricky Weiss of Headingley, Manitoba, in Round 2. The only heat winner who didn’t crack the top 16 in passing points to lock into Saturday’s USA Nationals finale was Mars.

Preliminary results and notes:

NASCAR Late Model feature

Taking advantage of a lap-37 caution flag that wiped out Jake Redetzke’s commanding lead, John Kaanta surged past the race’s dominant figure on the restart and held on to win the 40-lap NASCAR Late Model feature that closed Friday night’s action at Cedar Lake.

Don Shaw also overtook Redetzke on the final lap to grab the runner-up spot, leaving Redetzke a disappointed third in the final rundown.

Finish: 1. John Kaanta, 2. Don Shaw, 3. Jake Redetzke, 4. Jesse Glenz, 5. Jimmy Mars, 6. A.J. Diemel, 7. Rick Hanestad, 8. Travis Budisalovich, 9. Darrell Nelson, 10. Chad Mahder, 11. Tim Isenberg, 12. Greg Nippoldt, 13. Ryan Corbett, 14. Mike Nutzmann, 15. Jim Carlson, 16. Trevor Walsh, 17. T.J. Adams, 18. Joel Collins, 19. Kevin Eder, 20. Dustin Bluhm, 21. Buddy Hanestad, 22. Pat Doar, 23. Ben Hanke (DNS) Jame Giossi.

FANSFund Dash

Racing unchallenged from start-to-finish, Jason Feger rolled to victory in the 12-lap FANSFund Dash reserved for drivers who accepted invitations to participate in the USA Nationals through the program that raises travel money through fan and sponsor donations.

Feger earned $2,500 for his triumph over Chris Simpson, who finished 2.326 seconds behind the victor. Ricky Weiss finished third, followed by Chris Ferguson and Brian Shirley.

Finish (12 laps): Jason Feger, Chris Simpson, Ricky Weiss, Chris Ferguson, Brian Shirley, Paul Parker, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell, Brian Birkhofer, Brandon Overton, Kolby Vandenbergh, Rece Vaught.

Pole Dash

Polesitter Tyler Erb led all 8 laps of the Pole Dash, keeping Cade Dillard at arm’s length throughout to secure the number one starting spot in Saturday night’s 100-lap USA Nationals feature.

Dillard crossed the finish line 0.432 of a second behind Erb, putting him on the outside pole of the headliner in his first-ever USA Nationals appearance.

Finish (8 laps): Tyler Erb, Cade Dillard, Frank Heckenast Jr., Dennis Erb Jr., Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Ricky Weiss, Mason Zeigler.

USA Nationals Pole Dash lineup

(8 laps; finish determines top 8 starters in 100)
Row 1: Tyler Erb, Cade Dillard
Row 2: Frank Heckenast Jr., Mason Zeigler
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Ricky Weiss
Row 4: Brandon Sheppard, Chris Madden

FANSFund Dash lineup

(12 laps)
Row 1: Rece Vaught, Jason Feger
Row 2: Paul Parker, Chris Simpson
Row 3: Chris Ferguson, Ricky Weiss
Row 4: Brian Shirley,Kolby Vandenbergh
Row 5: Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell
Row 6: Brandon Overton, Brian Birkhofer

Passing points totals

(top 16 locked into USA Nationals feature)
1. Frank Heckenast Jr. 132.08
2. Chris Madden 120.56
3. Brandon Sheppard 120.56
4. Tyler Erb 120.56
5. Ricky Weiss 120.56
6. Dennis Erb Jr. 114.80
7. Mason Zeigler 114.80
8. Cade Dillard 109.04
9. Tim McCreadie 105.04
10. Brian Shirley 103.28
11. Earl Pearson Jr. 103.28
12. Chris Simpson 99.28
13. Shannon Babb 98.80
14. Darrell Lanigan 97.52
15. Dale McDowell 97.52
16. Jimmy Owens 97.04
17. Shane Clanton 93.52
18. Brandon Overton 93.52
19. Chris Ferguson 93.52
20. Kyle Bronson 93.52
21. Scott Bloomquist 93.52
22. Terry Casey 91.76
23. Billy Moyer 91.76
24. Brian Birkhofer 91.76
25. Jimmy Mars 87.76
26. Brent Larson 87.76
27. Jonathan Davenport 87.28
28. Bobby Pierce 86.00
29. Chase Junghans 83.76
30. Lance Matthees 82.00
31. Nick Anvelink 79.76
32. Boom Briggs 78.00
33. Mitch McGrath 78.00
34. A.J. Diemel 78.00
35. Jason Feger 75.28
36. Kolby Vandenbergh 74.00
37. Jake Timm 74.00
38. Tyler Bruening 71.28
39. Pat Doar 66.00
40. Blake Spencer 62.00
41. Chad Williamson 62.00
42. Paul Parker 58.00
43. Rece Vaught 58.00
44. Steven Roberts 58.00
45. Jeremy Grady 58.00

Fifth heat

Ricky Weiss vaulted from fourth to first on the opening lap and went on to score a wire-to-wire win. Brandon Sheppard made a solid advance from the seventh starting spot to finish second, A.J. Diemel lost a spot in finishing third and Mason Zeigler moved forward from eighth to a fourth-place finish.

Finish (12 laps): Ricky Weiss, Brandon Sheppard, A.J. Diemel, Mason Zeigler, Billy Moyer, Chris Simpson, Chad Williamson, Jeremy Grady, Tyler Bruening.

Fourth heat

Outside polesitter Jimmy Mars cruised to a flag-to-flag victory, beating sixth-starter Tim McCreadie by 2.401 seconds. Chris Madden advanced from eighth to finish third, giving him another nice passing-points total after sitting third in the standings after the first round.

Finish (12 laps): Jimmy Mars, Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden, Brandon Overton, Bobby Pierce, Dale McDowell, Chris Ferguson, Rece Vaught, Blake Spencer.

Third heat

Earl Pearson Jr. came off the outside pole to beat the polesitting Scott Bloomquist by 0.284 of a second after a final-lap restart. Terry Casey started and finished third while Cade Dillard advanced from eighth to place fourth. The race’s two caution flags flew on lap eight when Jake Timm spun between turns three and four and lap 11 when Chase Junghans went around in turn four after contact with Terry Casey.

Finish: Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Terry Casey, Cade Dillard, Darrell Lanigan, Jake Timm, Chase Junghans, Nick Anvelink, Paul Parker.

Second heat

Outside polesitter Tyler Erb overtook front-row mate Shane Clanton for the lead on lap four and marched on to beat the former WoO champion by 2.388 seconds. Brian Birkhofer started and finished third and fourth-place finisher Lance Matthees also stayed in the same spot.

Finish (12 laps): Tyler Erb, Shane Clanton, Brian Birkhofer, Lance Matthees, Kyle Bronson, Brian Shirley, Mitch McGrath, Kolby Vandenbergh, Steve Roberts.

First heat

Frank Heckenast Jr. continued his solid night, advancing from the sixth starting to win the heat after passing Brent Larson for the lead on lap eight. The polesitting Larson settled for second while eighth-starter Shannon Babb placed third. A caution flag flew on lap four for Thursday-night winner Jonathan Davenport, who slowed with a flat right-rear tire while running third. Davenport returned after pitting but experienced more trouble on lap eight when he hooked a rut in turn four, smacked the wall and bounced back into the path of his traveling buddy Boom Briggs, who, while running last on the track, clipped Davenport and flipped onto his roof. Neither driver was injured; Davenport’s car was towed off while Briggs fired up his machine and drove it backwards the length of the frontstretch and into the pit area.

Finish (12 laps): Frank Heckenast Jr., Brent Larson, Shannon Babb, Dennis Erb Jr., Jimmy Owens, Jason Feger, Pat Doar, Jonathan Davenport, Boom Briggs.

Round 2 heat lineups

(12 laps; passing points determine transfers)
First heat
Row 1: Brent Larson, Jimmy Owens
Row 2: Pat Doar, Jonathan Davenport
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 4: Boom Briggs, Shannon Babb
Row 5: Jason Feger
Second heat
Row 1: Shane Clanton, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Brian Birkhofer, Lance Matthees
Row 3: Kolby Vandenbergh, Mitch McGrath
Row 4: Kyle Bronson, Steven Roberts
Row 5: Brian Shirley
Third heat
Row 1: Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 2: Terry Casey, Jake Timm
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Paul Parker
Row 4: Darrell Lanigan, Cade Dillard
Row 5: Nick Anvelink
Fourth heat
Row 1: Rece Vaught, Jimmy Mars
Row 2: Brandon Overton, Blake Spencer
Row 3: Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie
Row 4: Dale McDowell, Chris Madden
Row 5: Chris Ferguson
Fifth heat
Row 1: Tyler Bruening, A.J. Diemel
Row 2: Chad Williamson, Ricky Weiss
Row 3: Jeremy Grady, Billy Moyer
Row 4: Brandon Sheppard, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: Chris Simpson

Passing points update

Dennis Erb Jr. tallied 66.0 passing points in his Heat 2 victory from the fifth starting spot, putting him atop the standings after Round 1 of Friday’s double heats. He nipped Frank Heckenast Jr., whose Heat 4 triumph from the fourth starting spot gave him 64.3 points.

Chris Madden (60.8) sits third after Round 1, followed by Mason Zeigler (60.8) and Tyler Erb (59.8). Rounding out the top 10 are Brian Shirley (59.0), Brandon Sheppard (56.8), Dale McDowell (56.8), Jonathan Davenport (56.3) and Ricky Weiss (56.3).

The top eight drivers in combined passing points from the two rounds of heats will run a dash later tonight to determine starting spots in the first four rows of Saturday’s 100-lapper while the top 16 in the standings will lock into the USA Nationals headliner.

Fifth heat

Mason Zeigler came off the outside pole to score a wire-to-wire win, beating polesitter Chris Ferguson by 1.040 seconds. Ricky Weiss picked up some passing points by advancing from the sixth starting spot to finish third.

Finish (12 laps): Mason Zeigler, Chris Ferguson, Ricky Weiss, Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr., Scott Bloomquist, Pat Doar, Jeremy Grady.

Fourth heat

Frank Heckenast Jr. raced unchallenged to a flag-to-flag victory from the fourth starting spot, beating polesitter Chris Simpson by 1.187 seconds. Darrell Lanigan started and finished third while Chase Junghans picked up one spot to place fourth.

Finish (12 laps): Frank Heckenast Jr., Chris Simpson, Darrell Lanigan, Chase Junghans, Brandon Overton, Shannon Babb, Lance Matthees, Brent Larson, A.J. Diemel.

Third heat

Brian Shirley cruised to victory, maintaining his position after starting from the pole. Third-starter Dale McDowell finished 1.084 seconds behind in the runner-up spot while Thursday-night winner Jonathan Davenport advanced three spots to finish third.

Finish (12 laps): Brian Shirley, Dale McDowell, Jonathan Davenport, Billy Moyer, Bobby Pierce, Brian Birkhofer, Shane Clanton, Steven Roberts, Jimmy Mars.

Second heat

Fifth starter Dennis Erb Jr. overtook Cade Dillard for the lead on lap six and marched on to defeat the Louisiana driver by 0.921 of a second. Boom Briggs started and finished third while Jimmy Owens advanced four spots to place fourth. Caution flags flew on the first lap when Chad Williamson went around in turn two and was hit by Tyler Bruening, who had already bounced off the outside wall in turns three and four on the opening circuit; on the ensuing restart when Jason Fager bounced off Dennis Erb Jr. and spun in turn three; and on lap 11 when Bruening was left spun on the homestretch after Briggs made contact with Mitch McGrath in turns three and four.

Finish (12 laps): Dennis Erb Jr., Cade Dillard, Boom Briggs, Jimmy Owens, Mitch McGrath, Tyler Bruening, Blake Spencer, Jason Feger, Chad Williamson.

First heat

In a rapid-fire, caution-free opening prelim, Chris Madden outgunned polesitter Nick Anvelink for the lead at the start and paced the entire distance. Third-starter Brandon Sheppard wasn’t able to challenge Madden as he finished second, 1.362 seconds behind the victor. Tyler Erb was the race’s big mover, shooting from the eighth starting spot to a third-place finish.

Finish (12 laps): Chris Madden, Brandon Sheppard, Tyler Erb, Nick Anvelink, Kolby Vandenbergh, Terry Casey, Jake Timm, Paul Parker, Rece Vaught.

Round 1 heat lineups

(12 laps; passing points determine transfers)
First heat
Row 1: Nick Anvelink, Chris Madden
Row 2: Brandon Sheppard, Paul Parker
Row 3: Kolby Vandenbergh, Jake Timm
Row 4: Terry Casey, Tyler Erb
Row 5; Rece Vaught
Second heat
Row 1: Jason Feger, Cade Dillard
Row 2: Boom Briggs, Mitch McGrath
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr., Blake Spencer
Row 4: Chad Williamson, Jimmy Owens
Row 5: Tyler Bruening
Third heat
Row 1: Brian Shirley, Steven Roberts
Row 2: Dale McDowell, Billy Moyer
Row 3: Bobby Pierce, Jonathan Davenport
Row 4: Brian Birkhofer, Jimmy Mars
Row 5: Shane Clanton
Fourth heat
Row 1: Chris Simpson, Shannon Babb
Row 2: Darrell Lanigan, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Lance Matthees
Row 4: Brandon Overton, A.J. Diemel
Row 5: Brent Larson
Fifth heat
Row 1: Chris Ferguson, Mason Zeigler
Row 2: Kyle Bronson, Tim McCreadie
Row 3: Jeremy Grady, Ricky Weiss
Row 4: Pat Doar, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 5: Scott Bloomquist

Pre-race notes

Skies have been partly cloudy for most of Friday with the temperature reaching the low 80s. … The field for Friday’s qualifying program numbers 45 cars — exactly the same turnout that there was for Thursday’s World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series event. One driver who competed on Thursday has pulled out to focus on this evening’s NASCAR Late Model competition (Don Shaw) while another who wasn’t on hand last night has joined the WoO roster (Chad Williamson). … Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., the USA Nationals runner-up in 2017, was planning to join the weekend’s action tonight after competing in Thursday’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Marlar finished a fine fourth in his Truck debut, but he decided to scrap a long overnight haul to Cedar Lake; Marlar’s wife, Stacey, informed WoO officials that Marlar and his crew were exhausted after putting in a long week working on the Truck, competing on Wednesday and Thursday (Marlar also ran a big-block modified at Eldora) and not leaving the Eldora pit area until after 2 a.m. Friday following the completion of post-race inspection. Marlar now plans to enter Saturday night’s $10,000-to-win MARS Racing Series show at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway. … Defending USA Nationals champion Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., will run Friday’s heat races after his crew changed the engine in his Rocket Chassis house car. Motor trouble knocked him out of Thursday’s feature, saddling him with his first DNF of the 2019 WoO campaign. … Notable statistic from Thursday’s action: feature winner Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga., captured his first WoO A-main since Nov. 8, 2015, when he topped the season-ending World Finals event at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C. That victory capped off his historic ’15 campaign that saw him sweep Cedar Lake’s USA Nationals weekend, claiming Thursday’s WoO feature as well as the 100-lap headliner. … Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., retired from Thursday’s feature due to a broken heim on his car’s torque arm. … WoO officials announced during Friday’s drivers’ meeting that Saturday’s 100-lap A-main will have double-file restarts for the entire distance per a decision by track management. WoO features normally go to single-file restarts with 10 laps remaining, but the USA Nationals isn’t contested under the standard WoO format and, as a result, awards only show-up points to entrants.

Pre-race setup

The 32nd annual USA Nationals weekend continues on Friday night at Cedar Lake Speedway with a World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series-sanctioned qualifying program featuring a double-heat format for the second consecutive year. With time trials scrapped, a draw will set the heat-race lineups and passing points will be tallied to determine the transfers to Saturday night’s 100-lap, $50,000-to-win finale.

The top 16 drivers in passing points following the events will lock into the 100-lapper; the top eight in the points will also line up in that order for an 8-lap dash this evening with the finish of the race setting the first four rows of the USA Nationals.

Friday’s program, which also includes the FANSFund Dash for invited drivers and a full show for Cedar Lake’s NASCAR Late Model division, is scheduled to begin with hot laps at 6:30 p.m. CT. Racing is set to get the green flag at 7 p.m. CT.

Round 2 heat lineups

(12 laps; passing points determine transfers)
First heat
Row 1: Brent Larson, Jimmy Owens
Row 2: Pat Doar, Jonathan Davenport
Row 3: Dennis Erb Jr, Frank Heckenast Jr.
Row 4: Boom Briggs, Shannon Babb
Row 5: Jason Feger
Second heat
Row 1: Shane Clanton, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Brian Birkhofer, Lance Matthees
Row 3: Kolby Vandenbergh, Mitch McGrath
Row 4: Kyle Bronson, Steven Roberts
Row 5: Brian Shirley
Third heat
Row 1: Scott Bloomquist, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 2: Terry Casey, Jake Timm
Row 3: Chase Junghans, Paul Parker
Row 4: Darrell Lanigan, Cade Dillard
Row 5: Nick Anvelink
Fourth heat
Row 1: Rece Vaught, Jimmy Mars
Row 2: Brandon Overton, Blake Spencer
Row 3: Bobby Pierce, Tim McCreadie
Row 4: Dale McDowell, Chris Madden
Row 5: Chris Ferguson
Fifth heat
Row 1: Tyler Bruening, A.J. Diemel
Row 2: Chad Williamson, Ricky Weiss
Row 3: Jeremy Grady, Billy Moyer
Row 4: Brandon Sheppard, Mason Zeigler
Row 5: Chris Simpson

Friday’s schedule of events

6:30 p.m.: Hot laps
7 p.m.: Opening ceremonies
- First round of WoO Late Model heat races (12 laps)
- NASCAR Late Model heat races (12 laps)
- Second round of WoO Late Model heat races (12 laps)
- NASCAR Late Model B-Main (12 laps)
- WoO Late Model Dash redraw
- WoO Late Model Pole Dash (8 laps)
- Track prep
- FANSFund Dash (12 laps)
- Fireworks
- NASCAR Late Model A-Main (40 laps)