Rain Puts a Damper On A Great Month of June
SHINNSTON, WV – No one was more disappointed about the postponement of last weekend’s Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway than Josh Richards.
Already riding a certified hot streak into the blockbuster World of Outlaws Late Model Series weekend, Josh pulled off a spectacular heat-race victory in Friday night’s Firecracker 100 preliminary action that had him chomping at the bit for the $40,000-to-win main event on Saturday night. But continuous showers on Saturday and again on Sunday’s raindate prevented any further competition, forcing officials to postpone the headline program to Tues., July 29.
“I was really looking forward to the feature,” said Josh, who will redraw for the top-six starting spots in the 100 with his fellow heat-race winners on the rescheduled date. “We had a great car in the heat and I was confident we would have a shot to win if we made the right decisions. Now we’ll just have to wait a month.”
The 20-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., was very impressive in his 15-lap heat victory. After timing 16th-fastest among the 62 entrants in Friday’s time trials, he used the outside groove to drive past dirt Late Model legends Donnie Moran and Scott Bloomquist and assume command on lap 12.
“I knew the only chance I had to start up front (in the Firecracker 100) was if I won the heat, so I got my elbows up and drove as hard as I could,” said Josh. “I didn’t get off to a very good start, but I kept packing the top (groove) during the cautions and I kept getting better and better up there.
“I just tried to race (Moran and Bloomquist) like they were anybody else and beat them. It definitely was a fun race.”
Josh arrived at Lernerville hot off a super stretch of racing on the WoO LMS ‘Great Northern Tour.’ He backed up his come-from-behind victory on June 22 at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway with a second straight triumph, taking the 40-lap feature on June 24 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway, and he led more than of the 40-lap A-Main on June 25 at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa., before settling for a third-place finish.
‘Kid Rocket’ dominated the first-ever WoO LMS event at Canandaigua, blasting off the pole position to lead the entire distance. He beat Rick Eckert to the finish line by a full straightaway margin to pocket $7,150 and capture back-to-back WoO LMS races for the second time in his career.
“I like tracks like this where you can just focus, hit your marks every lap and keep up your momentum,” Josh said of Canandaigua. “This place races a lot like Volusia (Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla.), and we’ve always been real good there. There’s less bank here, but the way the backstretch is shaped and the way you drive into one, you can refer to Volusia a lot.”
Josh made a good run at three straight wins at Big Diamond, another track that hosted the WoO LMS for the first time. He moved up one row to the second starting spot after scheduled outside-polesitter Darrell Lanigan was penalized for jumping the original green flag and took advantage of the gift, motoring into the lead on the opening lap.
But Shannon Babb’s charge to the front sent Josh sliding over the turn-two bank on lap 30, effectively ending his bid for victory. He held on to finish third but could only watch as Lanigan inherited the win when Babb cut a tire on lap 33.
Josh was disappointed about his loss, but he didn’t blame Babb.
“I don’t hold anything against him for it,” said Josh. “It was just hard racing. He’s extremely competitive and wanted to win just like I did, and I know he didn’t do it on purpose.
“I really wanted three in a row though,” he added with a smile. “I thought everything was falling our way to win another one.”
Josh is now second in the WoO LMS points standings, 36 points behind Lanigan.
With the WoO LMS off until embarking on a monster ‘Wild West Tour’ on July 9 that will feature nine races over a 13-day period in Minnesota, North Dakota, Saskatchewan, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, Josh’s Mark Richards Racing-owned Seubert Calf Ranches/Ace Metal Works/TSR-Tony Stewart Racing/Petroff Towing/MCB Motorsports/Ernie’s Auto & Hauling Rocket Chassis No. 1 will stay in the shop this week to be prepared.
But Josh plans to stay busy behind the wheel of the Ernie Davis-owned Rocket No. 25, entering three holiday-week events in Ohio. He plans to run the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series show on Thursday night (July 3) at Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, and MAC’S Series event at Portsmouth Speedway in Portsmouth, Ohio on Friday night (July 4 & 5th) and Sunday night (July 6) at Midway Speedway in Crooksville, OH. for the IRS event.
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