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SHINNSTON, WV – Josh Richards pulled off one of the most memorable moves
of the weekend at Farmer City Raceway.
Unfortunately, it didn’t come in Saturday night’s headlining ‘Illini 100’ at
the high-banked, quarter-mile track.
After thrilling a chilled crowd on Friday night with a breathtaking pass of
Billy Moyer to win the 8-lap Douglas Pontiac-GMC-Dodge Dash, Josh had high
hopes of translating his qualifying-program speed into a $20,000 victory
that would rank as the richest of his young career. But he fell short in his
quest, finishing sixth in the 100-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series
event after running among the top-five for much of the distance.
In the biggest dirt Late Model show ever run in the state of Illinois, the
20-year-old standout from Shinnston, W.Va., lacked a little bit of that
extra juice he had flashed on Friday night while timing second-fastest among
55 entries, winning a heat race and capturing the dash’s $1,000 top prize.
“We were way too hard on our tire choice,” said Josh, who started sixth
after selecting the worst number possible in the pre-race draw for position
among heat winners. “We went with 30s (Hoosier compounds) down the left side
and 40s on the right, and that ended up being the wrong choice. We should’ve
gone with 30s all the way around or even some 20s.
“We also switched to a four-link (setup from a swing-arm) right before the
race and that probably didn’t help us either. We might have panicked a
little and made the change because we weren’t too good in practice (on
Saturday night), but the real problem was that we were too hard on tires.”
Driving his Seubert Calf Ranches/Ace Metal Works/TSR-Tony Stewart Racing/Petroff
Towing/MCB Motorsports/Ernie’s Auto & Hauling Rocket Chassis No. 1 that has
the nickname ‘Brutus,’ Josh still was in line for a top-five finish in the
‘Illini 100.’ But he lost a couple positions when a jam-up occurred on lap
82 after eventual winner Moyer’s slider to take second from Steve Francis
caused Francis to lose momentum in turn two.
“I think we could’ve finished fourth if that didn’t happen,” said Josh.
“When Moyer slid in front of Francis, I had to slam on the brakes to avoid
running into Francis and three cars got by me.
“It was still a good run. I’m happy with how the weekend went. Farmer City
is probably my favorite short-track by far, because the place is actually a
lot of fun to drive.”
Josh remained second in the WoO LMS points standings after four events,
trailing Moyer by 40 points.
‘Kid Rocket’ makes his next WoO LMS start on Fri., April 11, at Virginia
Motor Speedway. Before returning to WoO LMS action on Tues., April 15, at
Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa., he plans to drive the Ernie Davis-owned
Rocket No. 25 on Sat., April 12, at Winchester (Va.) Speedway in an event
sponsored by Davis’s business and on Sun., April 13, in a Mid-Atlantic
Championship Series (MACS) program at Hesston (Pa.) Speedway.
Josh will make his first career start at both Winchester and Hesston this
weekend. |
