Shinnston, WV --- With Speedweeks in Florida now an almost distant memory and after too many weeks of down time 16-year-old dirt Late Model racer Josh ‘Kid Rocket’ Richards of Shinnston, WV is pumped, primed and anxious to get racing every weekend, something that will happen this weekend as the World of Outlaw Late Model Series (WoO LMS) rookie of the year contender will be back in ‘the swing of things’ as the 2005 racing season is about to shift into high gear. Kid Rocket will be racing this weekend wit the WoO LMS in Cumberland, MD and Saluda, VA in his #1 Seubert Calf Ranches, Ace Metal Works, MCB Motorsports, Hoosier Racing Tires, Rocket Chassis, Cornett Engines, Gran Prix.

The World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series makes their first ever visit April 8 to “The Rock”/Allegany County Speedway in Cumberland, MD, for a $10,000 to win event while also debuting for the first time ever April 9 to Bill Sawyer’s Virginia Motor Speedway in Saluda, VA, for the “Thurston Spring, Inc. 50”, a $10,000 to win event.

“It seems like it’s been so long since Florida, I am ready to race!” proclaimed an impatient Josh Richards. “We get our motors back tomorrow and we’re getting our cars ready so we’re going to those tracks and I’m going to run as hard as I can. We were going to the Big Kahuna (at The Rock) last fall but that rained out so we didn’t make it there and we’ve haven’t been to Virginia Motor Speedway yet. Looking forward to it.”

Richards is also anxious to ‘get back into the groove’ of a busy racing season. In addition to his WoO LMS duties Richards will also race at a variety of other sanctioned and non-sanctioned events and will even make his debut in an asphalt Late Model very soon. “I’m ready! The week after this weekend I we’re going to Eldora on Saturday and I’ll run the pavement car on Friday.”

On Friday evening April 15 Richards will make his racing debut in an asphalt Late Model car when he takes over the driving chores from driver Neil Brown for that night’s racing program at Motordrome Speedway in Smithton, PA, a NASCAR sanctioned track. Richards participated in a practice session at Motordrome last week driving Brown’s asphalt Late Model as well as taking some laps in his new Rocket Chassis that will make it’s debut in WoO LMS action this weekend.

“We’re going to run a couple races on pavement and see how it is,” commented Richards. “I kind of like it, but we’ll see how it is. “I’m ready. I’m looking forward to it. We had some good times when we practiced and I think I drove pretty decent. The first couple laps I wasn’t used to it but the tires got warmed up and then I got the hang of it. We tested our new dirt car at Motordrome too. We weren’t really set up for it but it was fast!”

Richards feels that spending time getting laps in asphalt cars and other forms of racecars will offer him a diversified perspective that will help accelerate and fine-tune his learning curve. To say that Kid Rocket is hungry for knowledge and experience is to understate it.

“Yes I think it will definitely help me as a driver,” confirmed Richards. “I’m going to drive Dale Blaney’s Sprint Car next month at Sharon (Speedway), just to do some testing. I’m looking forward to that.”

After a night of asphalt Late Model racing Richards will face yet another daunting challenge, the mighty high-banks of Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH for the first time. Richards will venture west to Eldora for the Sunoco American Late Model Series (ALMS) event in an effort to turn some laps at the grand old historic dirt track. While being a fixture at Eldora for all the major events for most of his years, 2005 will mark the first time Richards will tackle the high-banks as a competitor.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said Richards. “I’ve been there a lot but never raced there. I’ve watched everyone race there but now I’ll see how it is to run the big track. I’m glad we’re going to get some laps in before something like THE DREAM or the WORLD 100. We’re going to take our new car out there and see how it does. We’ve only tested it.”

For more information on Josh ‘Kid Rocket’ Richards visit his website at: www.joshrichards.com

Upcoming Kid Rocket Racing Events:

April 8 The Rock WOO
April 9 Virginia Motor Speedway WOO

April 15 Motordrome Speedway Asphalt (Neil Browns Car)
April 16 Eldora Speedway ALMS

April 22 Motordrome Speedway Asphalt (Neil Browns Car)
April 23 The Rock MACS

Prepared by Lehman Motorsports Services