Story by Ruben Mireles
PONTOON BEACH, IL — June 25, 2019 — Kyle Bronson scored his first-ever DIRTcar Summer Nationals vctory with a wild pass on Tyler Erb at Tri-City Speedway. Erb slid past Bronson early in the race, and Bronson answered at the end, coming to the money.
Chad Simpson set the front row looking to pick up his second ever Hell Tour victory. The fast time qualifier Billy Moyer Jr would set the outside front row. Simpson led the opening laps until Bronson hustled to second from the fourth starting position on the first lap and took the lead on lap three with a fast pass on the bottom of the exit of two. Erb jumped to second with Moyer Jr to third after Simpson drew the yellow falling off the pace.
Erb slid past Bronson for the lead on the restart, leaving Bronson in the wall. Moyer Jr ran the bottom, catching Bronson for second, but Bronson took command with a clean slide job past Erb seventeen laps in out of turn four for the lead. A caution flew the following lap for debris in turn one.
Erb jumped to the lead on the restart right around the bottom. Bobby Pierce jumped to second after starting seventh, and Brian Shirley to fourth after starting nineteenth. Bronson got right around Pierce on the closing laps finding some momentum to closed in on Erb.
On the final lap Bronson side-stepped Erb on the back straightaway, making it a side-by-side battle into three and four. Bronson was on the bottom, leading into turn three, with Erb on the outside. Feger, who was on the bottom, forced Bronson to slide up past Erb, pushing him onto the wall and spinning him to a stop, sidelining him for the remainder of the race.
The checkered flag didn’t fly, but Bronson sustained the race lead. On the restart drivers got the green and white for a one-lap affair. Pierce had a shot for the win, but Bronson became the hundredth different winner in DIRTcar Summer Nationals history, scoring his first-ever win during the twentieth visit to Tri-City Speedway.
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues Wednesday June 26th at Peoria Speedway for the make-up race from June 12 before headed back to Indiana for Brownstown Speedway on Thursday, June 27 and Terre Haute Action Track on Friday, June 28.
New in 2019, every DIRTcar Summer Nationals and Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals event will be broadcast LIVE on DIRTVision.com with a DIRTVision Late Model Fast Pass powered by DirtOnDirt. For the latest news, follow the @SummerNationals on Facebook and Twitter. The Summit Racing Equipment Modified Nationals runs parallel to the DIRTcar Summer Nationals. Information on the Modifieds can be found at modifiednationals.com.
Late Model Feature (40 Laps) – 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson [4]; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce [7]; 3. 3S-Brian Shirley [19]; 4. B5-Brandon Sheppard [8]; 5. CJ1-Rusty Schlenk [13]; 6. 18-Shannon Babb [11]; 7. 21JR-Billy Moyer, Jr. [2]; 8. 28-Dennis Erb, Jr. [9]; 9. 11-Gordy Gundaker [23]; 10. 1T-Tyler Erb [3]; 11. 99JR-Frank Heckenast, Jr. [12]; 12. 25-Jason Feger [14]; 13. 24-Ryan Unzicker [10]; 14. 96-Tanner English [5]; 15. 21-Billy Moyer [6]; 16. 33-Rodney Melvin [15]; 17. 16-Rusty Griffaw [20]; 18. 1S-Tim Manville [16]; 19. 6K-Michael Kloos [21]; 20. 32S-Chris Simpson [1]; 21. 97-Cade Dillard [18]; 22. 25W-Allen Weisser [22]; 23. 18J-Chase Junghans [17]; KSE Hard Charger Award: 3S-Brian Shirley[+16]
