Victory in Canada Moves Josh into Second in WoO LMS Standings
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SHINNSTON, WV – The maturation of Josh Richards continues.
With a come-from-behind victory in Sunday night’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at Cornwall (Ont.) Motor Speedway, the 20-year-old star known as ‘Kid Rocket’ was triumphant for the first time on foreign soil and proved again that he’s much more than just a long-track specialist.
Josh mastered the high-banked, quarter-mile Cornwall oval, pulling off an impressive rally to score his third WoO LMS checkered flag of 2008. He fell back to third place early in a race that he started from the pole position, but he found his rhythm and ran down 2006 tour champion Tim McCreadie to grab the lead for good while racing through lapped traffic on the 40th circuit.
A resident of Shinnston, W.Va., Josh was doused with champagne in Victory Lane by runner-up McCreadie and third-place finisher Shane Clanton. It was the perfect topper for a race that he enjoyed to the hilt.
“It’s awesome to win like that,” said Josh, who drove his familiar familiar 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. “We started on the pole, but we didn’t just lead every lap like we have in the past. It’s so much more fun to actually race your way to the front and beat the best guys in the country.”
Josh was especially jazzed about battling it out with McCreadie in his
“Racing with Timmy, you know he’s gonna give it all he’s got until he’s got nothing left because he’s not running for points,” said Josh. “He’s just like everybody else on this (WoO LMS) series – they’re just great to race with. They’ll race you clean as long as you give them the same respect.”
Josh, who earned $10,150 for his ninth career WoO LMS victory, put a nice cherry on top of his successful three-race Canadian swing of the WoO LMS ‘Great Northern Tour.’ Before visiting Cornwall, he finished a respectable fifth in Saturday night’s ‘Quebec 50’ at Autodrome Drummond in Drummondville, Que., after starting from the pole position, and he placed ninth in Friday night’s rain-postponed ‘Six Nations 50’ at Ohsweken (Ont.) Speedway.
Earlier in the week, Josh kicked off the ‘Great Northern Tour’ with a 13th-place finish in the 40-lap event held on June 17 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway. He was running sixth in that A-Main when a flat right-rear tire forced him to pit during a lap-25 caution period.
Josh’s steady improvement in finishing position over the first four events of the ‘Great Northern Tour’ helped him in the WoO LMS points standings. He ended the weekend ranked second in the championship battle, 38 points behind leader Darrell Lanigan.
The Northeast swing of the WoO LMS continues this week for Josh with events on Tuesday (June 24) at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway, Wednesday (June 25) at Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, Pa., and Friday/Saturday (June 27-28) at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. The two-day ‘Firecracker 100’ at Lernerville will pay a whopping $40,000 to win.
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