“Terbo” Tyler Erb went back-to-back in the Hell Tour and got his first win at Spoon River last night. He also became the first driver to get 5 wins on the tour in 2025, but in victory lane he shared that he’s not thinking about defending his Hell Tour title.
After an exciting battle with Rodney Melvin at the beginning of the race, Terbo was able to fully clear him on lap 4 heading down the back stretch and into turn 3. However, the rest of the race was a snooze fest as it rubbered around the bottom and the cars followed each other like a Norfolk Southern freight train. With the track rubbered up, Terbo cruised to the win staying on the bottom.
In victory lane, he was asked about how much he’s thinking about defending his 2024 championship and Terbo responded, “I don’t. I just want to win races. The first week I didn’t win any. You know, it’s kind of my fault and our fault, really. Just trying to be greedy and work on things that just isn’t what we do. Tonight, obviously, isn’t my specialty. Run around the bottom as much as I did, but just got to get better at it. And, you know, I feel like we pretty much know if there’s a cushion I can get up there and blast it.”
“Like I said, our car’s been really good,” he added. “The last two weeks or so I feel like I’ve finally nailed her down a little bit. This isn’t the same car I raced last year. It’s a 1.2, 1.T whatever you want to call it. And it’s a really good race car. Rocket Chassis builds nice cars. Mark, he calls me every day. I don’t know if he just loves me or what, but it’s been really fun.”
While Terbo might not be thinking about defending his title, he’s in the hunt to do it. After winning at Spoon River, he’s whittled Jason Feger’s lead to just 23 points.
Week 4 competition continues tonight at LaSalle for the Freedom 40. On Independence Day, it will be at Red Hill Raceway in Sumner, Illinois. Week 4 closes out at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Indiana on Saturday and Duck River Raceway Park in Lewisburg, Tennessee on Sunday.
What do you make of Terbo’s comments about not thinking about defending his title?