The penultimate round of the 2026 Flo Night In America Championship with the Super Dirt Late Models was held Night 1 on Friday at Senoia Raceway in Senoia, Georgia.

Current points leader Brandon Sheppard is seeking the championship as he holds the points lead by nine over second-place Hudson O’Neal. Meanwhile, Devin Moran is third place with 63 points back, and newly crowned World of Outlaws Super Dirt Late Models champion Bobby Pierce sits fourth in the standings just 72 points back.

Sheppard is seeking his second Flo Night championship since winning the championship back in 2022. He has two wins of the season in this series by winning the season opener at Spoon River Speedway and the makeup race at Lincoln Speedway back in July.

However, it was none of those drivers listed above, as it was Tyler Erb who achieved his first-ever career Flo Night In America victory by passing Ryan Gustin with four laps to go to claim the first of two nights.

“Ryan (Gustin) was so good there when he got to the lead, and he was doing what I was doing, he was hugging the bottom between (Turns) 1 and 2 and could move around,” Tyler Erb said to Flo Racing in victory lane. “He was honestly, probably a little bit more maneuverable there. Kyle (Bronson) just got him (Ryan Gustin) flustered by sliding him and doing everything he was doing. I just kept waiting for somebody to move him down, and about the time he realized to move down, he missed it there. We got side-by-side down the front straightaway, and I was like, ‘man. Give me just half a lane.’

“I know I made it really tight there, but he’s an awesome racer, and I had a blast racing with him all year. Congrats to him, two World of Outlaw guys running one-two here is pretty cool. It’s just awesome. I’ve been here a lot and never won a race, and never won a Flo Race believe it or not.

“There was a lot of hard work this week. I’ve tested every single day this week, and my guys could tell you it was stupid. It’s just boring, and you feel like you’re not getting anywhere. During practice last night, I was 38th on the board, and everybody was texting and calling, asking what’s wrong with me. Practice didn’t pay 20 grand, but this did.”

There were 61 Super Dirt Late Models on the entry list for Friday’s event.

Feature Race Recap – 50-Laps – $20,000 To Win

O’Neal started on the pole for the 50-lap feature with Moran on the outside pole. O’Neal led the field down into Turn 1 as the race went green to lead the first lap. The first yellow of the feature came out with 47 laps to go for Shane Clanton, who was slow on the racetrack off Turn 2 and decided to pull his car in for the night. Clanton had minor right-side damage on the right side of his car. It was later determined that a battery issue made Clanton’s car shut off on the track.

Following the restart, O’Neal still had the lead 10 laps into the feature over Moran. However, the top two leaders began closing in on the back half of the field with 35 laps to go. This was all wiped out due to the second caution coming out with 34 laps to go, as Nick Hoffman had a flat left-front tire that went down on his car. Hoffman’s team was able to change the tire and get him back out on the racetrack to resume the feature.

Meanwhile, Ryan Gustin made a pass on Moran for second with 31 laps to go after the restart and set his sights on the race leader, O’Neal. Gustin eventually took the lead from O’Neal with 24 laps to go on the backstretch and cleared O’Neal off Turn 4. As Gustin began lapping the back half of the field, the third yellow of the feature flew with 18 laps to go for Cody Overton. Cody brought his car into the infield, as did Jonathan Davenport. Cody would be done for the night after having engine issues. Davenport had sheet metal damage and wanted to save his car for the Saturday feature.

With 13 laps to go, Kyle Bronson closed the gap on the race leader, Gustin. Bronson attempted a slider to take the lead in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 a lap later, but couldn’t pull it off. Additionally, third-place Tyler Erb also gained ground on the leaders and took second from Bronson with eight laps to go off Turn 2. Gustin made slight contact with the backstretch wall, and Erb made the pass for the lead on Gustin with four laps to go in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 using the bottom lane. This proved to be the winning move, as Tyler Erb went on to win over Gustin by 0.625 seconds.

Heat Race Recaps – Top Three Transfer – 10 Laps A Piece

Prior to the heat races, there was a hot lap session and two different qualifying groups with Group A and Group B. Ricky Thornton Jr was the fastest in hot laps with a time of 13.933 seconds. O’Neal paced Group A qualifying with a time of 14.146 seconds, while Devin Moran was quickest in Group B, laying down a time of 14.203 seconds.

Heat 1 – O’Neal had the pole for the first heat, with Thornton Jr. on the outside pole. A caution came out with nine laps to go for Ethan Dotson, as Dotson rode the wall for a brief moment at the start/finish line after contact with Pierce off Turn 4.

At the restart, Pierce and Michael Page began battling for the final transfer spot, but Pierce got the spot with six laps to go. Meanwhile, Thornton Jr. stayed close with the race leader, O’Neal, but Thornton Jr. would bring the caution back out with three laps to go after his car shut off briefly. RTJ was able to get the car to refire; however, he had to restart at the tail end after drawing the caution.

Even with the late race restart, O’Neal won the heat race with Pierce and Page the transfers.

Heat 2 – Sheppard had the pole for the second heat with Matthew Taylor on the outside pole. Taylor spun his tires on the initial start and then eventually spun around in Turn 2 to bring out the caution. This would be a complete restart since a single lap was not completed. Dalton Cook would be the new outside pole starter, as Taylor had to go to the rear. No more yellows were seen throughout the heat race, and Sheppard took the win, with Joseph Joiner and Cook taking the transfers.

Heat 3 – Tyler Erb had the pole for the third heat with Dylan Knowles on the outside pole. Unfortunately for Knowles, he slipped outside the transfer spot and would not be one of the transfers. Erb maintained the top spot and won the heat, with Tyler Millwood and Dennis Erb Jr. rounding out the transfer spots.

Heat 4 – Moran had the pole for the fourth heat with Dan Ebert on the outside pole. A caution came out with five laps to go for Austin Gonzalez, who was spun backward on the front stretch after making hard contact with Brycen Fleming off Turn 4. Moran went on to win the heat with Ebert and Wil Herrington moving on.

Heat 5 – Hoffman had the top spot for the fifth heat with Kyle Bronson on the outside pole. The first yellow flew with nine laps to go for Raeann Gibbs and Donnie Lumpkin, who had gotten into each other off Turn 4. Bronson threw a slider at Hoffman in the middle of Turns 3 and 4 in hopes of taking the heat win, but was unsuccessful as Hoffman ended up winning the heat instead. Following Hoffman were Bronson and Clanton, the transfers.

Heat 6 – Gustin had the pole for the sixth and final heat with Davenport alongside him. Taking the final transfer spots in the heat race portion of the program were Gustin, Cody Overton, and Davenport.

Following the heat races, there were three 12-lap B-main features to round out the A-feature. Moving on from the B-features were Dallon Murty, Zack Mitchell, Garrett Alberson, Austin Bloodsworth, Carson Ferguson, and Trey Mills.

For those who may have missed the feature, you can watch the highlights below.

O’Neal took over the points lead by three points over Sheppard heading into Saturday night’s finale.

Official Race Results Following Night 1 at Senoia Raceway

  • Tyler Erb
  • Ryan Gustin
  • Kyle Bronson
  • Devin Moran
  • Hudson O’Neal
  • Dan Ebert
  • Brandon Sheppard
  • Garrett Alberson
  • Michael Page
  • Bobby Pierce
  • Nick Hoffman
  • Dennis Erb Jr
  • Joseph Joiner
  • Wil Herrington
  • Trey Mills
  • Dalton Cook
  • Carson Ferguson
  • Tyler Millwood
  • Austin Bloodsworth
  • Cody Overton
  • Jonathan Davenport
  • Dallon Murty
  • Zack Mitchell
  • Shane Clanton

Up Next – The final round of the Flo Night In America Championship Series will take place Saturday night, live on Flo Racing.