Josh ‘Kid Rocket’ Richards – A Family Affair
By Doc Lehman
Every once in
awhile along comes a ‘natural’, a driver who has the
‘gift’. You can’t exactly describe what it is but you
know it when you see it, when there is some young gun
who jumps into the sport. Some young men who start
racing at an early age often take years to develop a
style, to get comfortable and gain confidence. And
then there is that rare occasion when a young man
straps into a racecar, fires it up and displays an
obvious natural-born talent, a talent that belies the
youthfulness of the driver, the inexperience of the
driver. Some, on occasion, just seem born into it and
for 17-year-old Josh Richards it’s been glaringly
obvious that he is a keeper.
Running his first race last October at
Bluegrass Speedway in Bardstown, KY for the
‘future Dirt Track
World Championship’ event it became readily
apparent that Josh Richards, despite his heritage,
despite who his father is, was a racer, a pure,
unadulterated racer of the purest form. 2004 has
proven that his debut was no fluke and that early
assessments from many within the industry were dead on
correct. Once 2004 rolled around plans to step out on
occasion for local events quickly went away in favor
of running a large portion of the World of Outlaws
Late Model Series (WoO LMS).
When Richards, who resides in Shinnston, WV,
started attending the WoO LMS events naysayers who
thought he would be nothing more than a field filler
were quickly proven wrong and proven wrong in a big
way. Not only has young Richards proven, on a national
stage, that he is a legitimate dirt Late Model racer,
he has done it racing with some of the best in the
business and beyond that, he has earned the respect of
his fellow competitors, many who have racing twice as
long as Richards has been on the planet!
Just how accelerated has Josh Richards’
learning curve been? In his first 29 starts this
season he has scored three top five’s, seven top ten’s
and two fast times. While a win has eluded him, one
must stop and consider that the vast majority of his
races have been WoO LMS sanctioned. His best WoO LMS
finish was a stunning fourth at the recent
The Pittsburgher
at Pittsburgh’s PA Motor Speedway.
Richards, a high school junior, is part of a
close family. With little sister Morgan and mother,
Tina, and father, Mark, the Richards are fully behind
Josh’s career. Despite being the son of Rocket Chassis
owner Mark Richards, which in and of itself presents
added and unfair pressure, Josh Richards has
steadfastly proven that he belongs behind the wheel of
his Rocket Chassis #1 that carries sponsorship from
Seubert Calf Ranches, Imler’s Poultry, MCB Motorsports
and Cornett Machine.
One finds Josh Richards as a handsome, clean
cut young man who is fairly quick, reserved, modest
and more than anything respectful. It’s obvious this
young man isn’t some stereotypical ‘spoiled rich kid’,
he’s ‘real’. Down to earth, more mature than his age
reveals, Josh Richards gives off a vibe of ‘what is
all the fuss about?’ Being grounded in reality, and
keeping his head out of the clouds, shows that the
young man’s upbringing has been tinged with discipline
and respect.
A young man of few words, we nonetheless
spent some time with Josh Richards, quickly becoming
known as ‘Kid Rocket’, and his parents, in an effort
to see exactly who he was and what he’s all about.
So when did Kid Rocket first seriously
decide to become a driver?
“I
didn’t really decide, my Dad said if you want a car
we’ll build you one and you can drive a couple times
and see what happens,” recalled Josh. “I just raced at
Bardstown and then went to Hagerstown this year and
Pittsburgh and we did pretty good so we just kept
racing the rest of the year and then decided to run
the rest of the World of Outlaws shows.”
“I
didn’t think I would start off as good as I did but
everything just came together and we’ve had a good
season so far.”
So
what’s been the hardest part of the season?
“Just getting up and working on the car everyday and
cleaning everything out.”
Josh was asked if he felt any outside pressure due to
the fact of who his father is.
“I
just don’t worry about it and don’t pay attention to
anything, I just race.”
So
on race day is his father, Mark Richards, his car
owner/car builder or is he ‘the old man’?
“(Laughs) He’s just the old man.”
Starting off the season he had to have a goal of some
sort.
“My goal was just to run the best I could without
making too many enemies and see what happens,”
responded Josh. So is it safe to say he exceeded his
expectations?
“Yeah (laughs). When I ran my first World of Outlaws
race I wasn’t even expecting to even make the show or
anything. I just went out there and ran the best I
could and made the show.”
With this being his first full season Josh was asked
what type of tracks did he prefer, the shorter
bullrings or the spacious big tracks?
MRM Racing Photos
“Actually I seem to have more of a problem with
shorter tracks which is strange because I started on a
shorter track but I just seem to like the bigger wider
tracks better for some reason, like Fargo, Pittsburgh
and West Virginia Motor Speedway,” answered Josh.
So
has he decided if this is what he will be doing for
the rest of his days?
“I
don’t know, I don’t right now,” offered Josh. “I’m
only 16 so it’s hard to tell what will happen.”
So
has being on the road and competing nightly against
the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and the other WoO LMS accelerated
his learning curve?
“Oh yeah, racing with these guys are way better than
racing with local guys,” responded Josh. “They hold
their lines and race you clean if you race them
clean.” And have they made him feel welcome? “Oh yeah,
most of them. They race with me just like everyone
else and I race with them the best I can.”
So
what has been the most difficult thing to learn racing
with the WoO LMS?
“Patience!” stated Josh. “When I first started I
wasn’t very patience and was running into things.
Sometimes I would do something stupid on the last lap.
Now I have learned you have to finish where you’re at
and keep your car form being beat up but still, you
have to run as hard as you can.”
With working on the car nightly, and being gone every
weekend racing, is there anything he may have missed
out on as a 16-year-old?
“I
couldn’t imagine doing anything else but this right
now,” said Josh. “I couldn’t imagine sitting at home
and going to movies and stuff. I couldn’t see doing
that all the time.” Which led to Kid Rocket being
asked if his fellow students knew about his racing and
at what level he is competing at? “No, they don’t have
a clue. They’re just, ‘that’s cool, whatever’. I’m
just Josh. They don’t see me on the weekends or in the
summer.”
As
far as Mom and Dad go, both parents are supportive of
their son’s racing career as long as this is something
he really wants. They were asked whether or not it was
a hard decision to allow him to commence his racing
career at this point.
“No not really,” stated Mark Richards. “He showed us
last year that he had talent. It’s my business and its
what he wanted to do, he’s been with me his whole
life. You worry about your kid out here racing but he
didn’t play any ball sports in school so if this is
what he wants to do we’re behind him.”
“I
am very proud and very nervous (laughs)!” added Tina
Richards. “It all happened so fast. I don’t do so well
watching but compared to the beginning of the year I
am doing better.”
Mrs. Richards was asked if she was apprehensive when
the subject of Josh racing was first broached.
“Apprehensive,” responded Tina. “I didn’t know if he
would be ready or not. I know from watching him down
at our track the first time I was amazed. No doubt he
has talent and so far he has only proven that to me.
As far as him going out racing I didn’t think he would
be at this level, probably good that I didn’t know. I
just thought they were going to run a few local tracks
here and there but I feel good about it. I actually
feel better with him racing with those guys, they are
a great group of guys and excellent teachers so I
think and they look out for him. I think it’s been
nothing but good for him.”
Mark Richards, who has been in the racing industry for
30 years, was asked if he was impressed with his son’s
progress as a racer.
“Yes and not just because he’s my kid,” responded
Richards. “I look at him in
Pittsburgher
and here he is in the dash and there he is battling
Scott Bloomquist and Dan Schlieper for position, and
Rick Eckert and Dale McDowell for position. A year ago
at that race he was standing on top of the truck and
never had made a lap of competition. It came awfully
quick, it’s been amazing.”
A
reporter’s theory was brought up to Mark Richards,
that being that no matter how much money one may have,
no matter who one’s father may be, as a driver, you
have the talent, or the ‘gift’, or you don’t. You
either have the ‘chops’ or you don’t.
“I
hate saying that because he’s my kid but the human
element in racing is the driver,” commented Richards.
“Once everything is done and the car is button up and
driven on the track, the human element that is left at
that point is the driver. The pit crew has done all
they can do, the engine builder has done all he can
do, the chassis builder has done all he can do, all
that work is done and now its left up to the human
element and that is the driver. We don’t have remote
control in these cars and the part that separates
drivers from drivers is the amount of talent a driver
had.”
Kid Rocket was asked if his parents put a high
priority on education.
“Yes!” responded Josh quickly. “I can get all A’s and
maybe a B and if I get anything worse than that he
will tell me to try harder and bring the grades up.”
His mother confirmed that.
“School is very important, very,” said Tina Richards.
“We have stressed to him that that comes first. His
principal at the school he has done well with allowing
Josh this opportunity because that school is very
strict but we told him school comes first and that is
very important, very important. He’s a good student
and none of his teachers have a problem with letting
him out to race but he does make good grades. Even if
he’s racing and I’m sure he will continue to do that,
but with education, no matter what you do in life you
need it. And Josh realizes how important it is
Racing and working for ‘Dad’ can be difficult for
some, but apparently that isn’t the case for the
Richards. Kid Rocket was asked about his ‘working’
relationship with his father and if they put on
different hats at or away from the tracks.
Steve Baker, Bart Hartman & JOSH RICHARDS – Lisa Gower
“We’re basically the same wherever we go,” said Josh.
“I just tell him whatever I need to tell him. If
something is wrong with the car I tell him and we try
and figure out what to do with the car and stuff. He
is the same at home.”
“Mark and Josh, they work well together,” added Tina
Richards. “They have their times but when Mark asks
him to do something, he does it. Of all people he
wants to impress it’s his Dad. I’m not saying he’s
doing it all for that reason, but it makes him feel
good. They are like a team. Like I said he isn’t doing
this for him, he wants to do it.”
The father-son arrangement also has benefits.
“I
think it has brought us closer,” said Josh. “We talk
more now than we did. We feel closer together.”
Besides his father, Kid Rocket also has had other
important positive influences in his life, chief among
them being Steve Baker, his father’s business partner
and life-long friend.
“He’s been a really big help this year,” explained
Josh. “When we went to Pittsburgh, if he wasn’t here I
couldn’t race. His crew guys help us out and do a real
good job. He’s been real good to me to let me race and
tear stuff up and still put parts back on it. He is
definitely behind me. If I tear a car up he will stay
here all afternoon to help me get it ready for the
next day.”
Does Josh ever envision being the Rocket Chassis
‘house driver’?
“(Laughs) Oh I don’t know, I don’t think so.”
What doe she think of the ‘Kid Rocket’ nickname?
“It doesn’t matter to me.”
With the school back in session does the racing help
any with the ladies?
“(Laughs) No, it’s about the same.”
Kid Rocket was also asked if there was one driver on
the WoO LMS tour that he could emulate in regards to
dealing with fans, media and everything that comes
with the job of being a dirt Late Model driver, who
would it be?
“Probably Dale McDowell just because he can talk to
anybody and it seems like he can say whatever,”
answered Josh. “He has taught me a lot this year and
what I need to do and what I’m doing wrong. He’s
helped me out a lot this year.”
So
what’s life out on the road with the WoO LMS like?
Have the superstars accepted the upstart ‘Kid
Rocket’?
“Most of them seem to be behind me 100% and they treat
me like any other driver,” explained Josh. “It’s
pretty cool, they come to the track, we go to each
other’s trailers and hang out. We go Go-Kart racing
sometimes. It gets pretty rough sometimes (racing Go
Karts). I won’t mention any names but Steve Francis,
he’ll go out there and run until she blows up to try
and beat you (laughs)! It gets pretty rough out there
(laughs)!”
So
how tough is it to juggle school and car maintenance
during the week?
“Its pretty tough,” confirmed Josh. “I get out of
school and go straight to the shop and work on the
car. I get out around 3:00 and go the shop and work
with Chad and Joe and work with them on the car
until about nine.”
Bottom line though, it is clearly apparent that Josh
Richards is a gifted driver. And the proof lay in the
pudding, During his inaugural season the 16-year-old
whiz kid has been making WoO LMS races that other
drivers have struggled to qualify for. He has raced
against and passed some of the best in the business. A
win isn’t far off and one can’ help but ascertain that
Josh Richards has accelerated his climb up the ladder
out of sheer ability, talent and tenacity.
His father has a theory as to why that may be.
“I
kind of got an idea why Josh is where he is at,”
commented Mark Richards. “I truly believe its because
he has had such an interest in the racing that we do.
Not racing in general because he very seldom watches
any racing on TV. The dirtcars, he’s really been
interested even at a younger age. When he was five or
six years old he was interested in these cars. When
summertime came and he was eight, nine, ten years old
he lived to go racing with Dad and he was out on the
road with me almost all summer long.”
“We would have to call to see if the track would allow
him in then we would take him. If the tracks didn’t
allow him in then he would stay home and go racing
with his uncle Robbie (Scott) or someone. I truly
believe if a young guy today wants to be successful at
this is the first thing he has to learn is the
mechanics of the cars. And Josh learned that at an
early age.”
“From the time he was nine or ten years old he was
taking shocks off, putting gears in, when we would do
any engine change we would allow him to do things he
was able to do. He learned the mechanics of the car
first and I believe he learned his driving ability and
his technique from watching the best racers in the
United States. You have got to remember that he was
with me all over the country and he only saw the best
drivers win because most of the time I was at the
tracks where the best drivers in the country won.”
Bart Hartman, Mark
Richards & JOSH RICHARDS
“He watched Scott Bloomquist, he watched Brian
Birkhofer, he watched Earl Pearson, he watched Rick
Eckert and Steve Francis. What’s unique about that is
you can go up to Josh and say you need to drive like
Dale McDowell tonight and he knows what I mean. I’ll
say hey, you need to drive like Steve Francis tonight
and he knows what I mean. He knows that Steve has a
different style than Dale McDowell and he knows that
Eckert has a different style than both of them. So
that allowed him to adapt pretty quickly to a race
track.”
So
if your son is still racing 20 years from now, would
that be OK with you?
“If it’s OK today it’ll be OK 20 years from now, said
Richards. “If its what he wants to do I see no
problem. If I’m still around here and I can help him,
I will. I sure wouldn’t want to force someone to be
doing something of this magnitude if they don’t want
to do it.”
So, Kid Rocket is quizzed, how does Mom really feel
about all this? Was it a tough sell for you and Dad to
talk her into it?
“I
don’t know. We didn’t really tell her, we just went
out racing.”
“She seems to be alright with it.”
“I
am so excited at how far he has come,” added Tina.
“Overwhelmed. There are no words. I am behind him all
the way.”
