Building a Successful Stock Car Racing Legacy - Destined For Dirt

When Dennis Erb Jr. was born some 35 years ago, there was little doubt about what he'd be doing down the road. His father was a dirt stock car racer of some note, winning a track championship at Sante Fe Speedway in Illinois, and as long as Dennis Jr. could remember, that was the direction he wanted to take too.

In fact, during the first years of his career, he did compete on the same track with his dad. That continued until 1997 when a fatal shop accident claimed his father's life.

"I still remember when we were out there together," recalls Dennis Jr. "It was really fun. And would you believe that I even beat him a couple times? My dad never got upset when that happened. He really enjoyed the success I was enjoying. There were also a lot of people that said they saw a lot of Dad in my driving style."

He recalls advice that his dad gave him when the subject of choosing racing for a career came up.

"He told me if I wanted to race for a living, I would have to really work hard in order to do it," Erb recalls. "And believe me, I have definitely worked hard."

Erb says that he thinks he inherited his dad's dirt skills. "But I also benefited from setting up my dad's cars for him. I used to use his setups on my early cars."

After the Carpentersville, Illinois, native graduated from high school in 1990, he attended Northern Illinois University and enrolled in manufacturing and computer design courses. He will tell you that those classes paid big dividends.

When he started his racing career, it was straight into Dirt Late Models. No Quarter Midgets or Karts as one might expect. "It was a real learning experience, those early years," he recalls.

Success was sweet in 1994 when he took the track championship at LaSalle Speedway. There were 10 feature wins that season and he also went to his first Eldora Dream race. "Just missed making the feature by a couple places," he says. He was in a MasterSbilt car that season.

The following years he wheeled a Rayburn car, and that make seemed to be adaptable to his style. In 1997, the season was wracked by his father's death, but he did run a few races at the end of the season. In 1998, he started to travel a little more and ran some of the UMP Summer Nationals races.

The sun started to shine for Erb during the 1999 season when he ran with the Hav-A-Tampa series. "It was a time when I had to make the decision whether I was going to be serious about racing," he recalls. "I wanted to see what it was like to run against the best dirt drivers in the business. There were no wins, but I think that I was competent out there and not a hazard on the racetrack.

"Those guys were out there making a living out of the sport. There were a lot of great drivers, but I thought that the best was Billy Moyer. I tried to watch and follow him. I also want to thank those guys who were very helpful to me. There were times that I felt I might have gotten in over my head, doing my whole deal on my own. But I kept telling myself that this is what I wanted to do."

It paid off as he was voted Rookie of the Year in the Hav-A-Tampa Series.

Economics dictated dropping back to UMP and Northern All-Stars races that were close to home the following year. Then, in 2002, the trend was upward again as he scored well in two of the biggest classic races.

Says Erb: "I made the feature at The Dream and finished 12th. At the World 100, I made the feature there too, and was running about 15th when I got caught up in an accident putting me out."

On a roll in 2003, he counted the LaSalle Speedway Spring Shootout and the USA Pepsi Nationals among his dozen feature wins.

But it was gangbusters in 2004 when he had a breakout season with 16 wins, 38 Top 5s, and 67 Top 10s. "The big wins brought in some needed funds and certainly brightened the outlook," he says.

There was $10,000 for winning the Prairie Dirt Classic, $8,000 for the Northern All Stars series final race, and the big one, the 2004 UMP Challenge of Champions race, paying $10,000.

The 2005 season marked another sensational effort. There were only 10 wins, but his consistency showed with 38 Top 5s and 67 Top 10s once again. You just could never count this guy out. He finished Third in points for the super-tough UMP Summer Nationals, and won the Northern All Stars Midwest Speedweek event.

The 2006 season started off in great fashion with the winning of the East Bay Raceway Park Winter Nationals in Florida. Then later in the year, he finished Second in the UMP National points. His 13 wins were added to 39 Top 5s and 60 Top 10s.

He had more excellence last season with both the UMP National Championship and Summer Nationals coming his way along with 23 victories and 44 Top 5s. Not surprisingly, he was voted the 2007 UMP Driver of the Year.

Erb tells the interesting story of his only full-time employee, Heather Lyne. "She came up to me in 2000 and wanted to volunteer to help," he says. "She can do just about anything that needs to be done. It sure would be tough without her help."

They say that Dirt Late Model racing is changing with a new generation of drivers coming on the scene.

So meet Dennis Erb Jr.

He certainly has proved that he's one of the best.

Dirt Late Model Pointers From Dennis Erb Jr.

Driving
For a youngster who wants to get started driving a Dirt Late Model, there is only one way to go as far as I'm concerned. Go out and get a used one, preferably one that has already been set up. Heck, you can call the car builders for help. Do it. Then go to your local track and watch the best driver on the track. Follow him and watch his line. That's what I do. I still watch the best drivers, even today. I still learn something every race.

Technology
It's so important to understand the car and be able to fix it. I can take apart a car, put it back together, and fix anything that is broken. When you have that capability, and you can get it, you will be a lot better driver of these cars.