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Josh Richards Racing
SHINNSTON, W.V. (May 27) - Josh Richards got his coveted first-ever dirt Late Model feature win at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on Sunday night.
And immediately after finishing his Victory Lane celebration for capturing the 25-lap Sunoco American Late Model Series 'Johnny Appleseed Classic,' 'Kid Rocket' started thinking about bagging a much bigger prize at the famed half-mile oval.
"Now that we finally won a race at Eldora," said the 20-year-old star from Shinnston, W.Va., "maybe we'll have some luck on our side for the Dream (which pays $100,000 to win on June 6-7)."
Josh, who arrived at Eldora after a nine-hour overnight haul from West Plains (Mo.) Motor Speedway where he finished 14th in Saturday night's Show-Me 100, was the dominant force in the 39th annual 'Johnny Appleseed Classic.' He passed Matt Miller for the lead on lap 15 and never looked back, easily controlling a restart with two laps remaining to pocket the $2,000 top prize.
The only real scare Josh experienced came on the race's initial start. He started from the pole position after winning the first heat, but he watched Miller overtake him for the top spot at the drop of the green flag.
"I felt like (the third-starting Miller) was by me before we got to the flagstand, so I thought they'd call the start back," said Josh, who registered his third overall feature win of 2008. "But they didn't, and he took off pretty good.
"But I ran him back down and I finally got by him in lapped traffic."
The win meant a lot to the young sensation, who has contended for a win at Eldora several times since 2005 when he became, at the age of 17, the youngest driver in history to qualify for both the Dream and the World 100 at Eldora.
"I love going to Eldora - I have ever since I ran my first race there," said Josh. "It seems like we've always been fast there and we've been close to winning so many times, but we just couldn't quite get it done. I'm real happy that we finally did it.
"What really makes me happy is that it was the first time my Dad (Mark Richards) won a race at Eldora with one of his cars (that he worked on or owned). He's been going there with a car for 33 years but had never won a feature."
Josh raced at Eldora and West Plains behind the wheel of a new 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. He said it performed very well at Eldora and will likely be his ride for the upcoming Dream event.
The Show-Me 100 didn't go as well for Josh. After timing 27th-fastest among 79 cars on and finishing third in a heat race on Friday night to make his first career Show-Me 100 A-Main, Josh's hopes of contending in the Saturday-night headliner weren't realized. He was never a factor and finished one lap down in 14th - the same spot from which he started the race.
"We just didn't have the right setup for the conditions," said Josh, who didn't attempt to qualify for last year's Show-Me 100 after suffering a concussion in a wild flip during the event's Thursday-night practice session. "But it was the first time I made the Show-Me, so we accomplished something."
Josh will return to action on the WoO LMS this Thursday night (May 29) at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Del., and Saturday night (May 31) at Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway. He enters the doubleheader ranked fourth in the tour's points standings, just 10 points behind leader Steve Francis.
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