INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — When Ryan Gustin went by on the outside on the 26th, Dennis Erb Jr. didn't panic. The race-long leader who lives by the low groove was confident he could regain the point at the new Circle City Raceway in rough-and-tumble conditions in World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series competition.
Erb regained the lead not once but twice — his first move erased by a lap-28 caution — and went past Gustin for good on the 32nd lap to capture his first WoO victory of the season and seventh of his career. He earned $10,000 in taking the checkers 1.491 seconds ahead of series points leader Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., who took the second spot from Gustin on lap 35.
Erb's plan in the rugged conditions over 40 laps? Survive.
"I mean, the racetrack wasn't in very good condition, but everything held together," the outside front-row starter said in victory lane. "We lost the lead there for a little bit, but I knew I could just get right back in it there. We had a real good car going through the (rough spots), but man, you had to work for it."
Sheppard added to his points lead with a runner-up finish while Gustin, the series rookie from Marshalltown, Iowa, was denied his first WoO victory after officially leading laps 26-31. Max Blair of Centerville, Pa., finished fourth in his Viper Motorsports ride while Frank Heckenast Jr. of Frankfort, Ill., rounded out the top five finishers.
Hall of Famer Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., started on the pole but dropped out of the top five after four laps and settled for eighth.
Erb maintained control through the first half of the race, but the fifth-starting Gustin got rolling in the high groove and made gains when the leader was held up by low-running slower traffic. With Erb trying to get past the slower car of Pancho Lawler, he bobbled out of turn two and Gustin blew by on the backstretch to lead lap 26.
Gustin's inconsistent high groove wasn't good enough to hold off Erb, who quickly worked back underneath the leader to grab the victory.
"It wasn't smooth. I mean, I was trying to keep it as smooth as I could, but like I said, I've been on some rough places, but I think this has to top it right here," Erb said, thanking his crew chief Heather Lyne. "I definitely gotta thank Heather for making sure everything was tight here tonight. I'm sure we got some stuff loosened up, but at least we got it done."
Sheppard was able to dispatch of Gustin in the final laps but couldn't make a serious charge at his fellow Illinoisan.
"I felt like I was hanging on for dear life out there," Sheppard said. "It was a fun race, me and Gustin, he got around me early there and we were trying to make that top work, but it just kept crumbing up too bad. We gave it all we had, that's for sure.
"We had a good car all night long. We were consistent. I think we were a little too tight there for the feature, but considering the track conditions and everything, I'll take it. Congratulations to Dennis. He did a heckuva job there."
Gustin's inability to get rolling on lap 28 and 34 restarts hampered him.
"We struggled getting going on the restart," he said. "It got so dirty up there (in the top groove) we were just hanging on. All in all, I wish a couple of more (drivers) would've gone up there and dusted it off. We probably could've got 'er done. That's part of it. We'll take a top three ... The car's in one piece so we'll go on to tomorrow."
He second-guessed his decision to stick with the high groove in the final laps.
"I would've moved down on that last restart," he said. "Maybe not all the way to the bottom, but you're going to hit the holes and bounce no matter what, so you might as well at least be in the clean part of the racetrack. I should've just moved to the middle and gassed the hell out of it and hoped for the best."
Two cautions slowed the action, the first 28th lap for a slowing Cade Dillard with a broken rear end and again on lap 34 when Ricky Weiss slowed. Dillard retired in 15th while Weiss continued to finish a lap down in 14th.
