SAN TAN VALLEY, Ariz. — There are some nights where it is extremely difficult to put into words how good the racing was, or how a race transpired. Round four of the 15th annual Keyser Manufacturing Wild West Shootout presented by O’Reilly Auto Parts Friday at FK Rod Ends Arizona Speedway was one of those nights.
Tyler Erb became the third different winner in four nights of competition, claiming Friday night’s $5,000-to-win Dirt Track Bank Super Late Model main.
Jared Landers started on the pole for the 30-lapper but Jason Papich took the early lead with Ricky Thornton Jr. moving into second.
As Papich led Thornton through lapped traffic during the middle stages of the race, Erb closed in quickly. On lap 12, Erb made a daring three-wide pass, splitting Papich and Thornton to grab the lead. Erb led the trio until lap 17 when Papich suffered a flat left-front tire after contact with Davenport and the yellow flag waved.
Erb controlled the lead through several restarts but with the laps winding down, Erb and Thornton put on a thrilling battle for the lead, trading the point on several occasssions.
Erb pulled away down the stretch, beating Thornton to the checkered flag by 1.380 seconds.
Davenport, Bobby Pierce and Stormy Scott rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 1-Tyler Erb[4]; 2. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[3]; 3. 49D-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[8]; 5. 2S-Stormy Scott[11]; 6. 91-Rusty Schlenk[9]; 7. 59-Garrett Alberson[7]; 8. 21-Billy Moyer Sr[22]; 9. 3S-Brian Shirley[15]; 10. 49-Jake Timm[10]; 11. 25F-Jason Feger[20]; 12. 98-Jared Landers[1]; 13. 25-Chad Simpson[17]; 14. 91P-Jason Papich[2]; 15. 86-Kyle Beard[19]; 16. 15-Donny Schatz[18]; 17. 1ST-Johnny Scott[13]; 18. 48L-Tim Lance[23]; 19. 11-Gordy Gundaker[21]; 20. 74-Mitch McGrath[24]; 21. 32S-Chris Simpson[16]; 22. 20-Rodney Sanders[12]; 23. 28M-Jimmy Mars[14]; 24. 157-Mike Marlar[6]