West Virginia Motor Speedway
WoO's Richards gets back on track at WVMS
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Josh Richards earned his 47th career WoO victory. (Kevin Kovac)
MINERAL WELLS, W.Va. (Aug. 30) — Josh Richards ended a rare World of Outlaws Late Model Series victory drought on Friday night, rolling to a convincing triumph in West Virginia Motor Speedway RaceFest 50.
In winning for the second time this season at a track in his home state — after falling short of victory at West Virginia facilities for the first nine years of his racing career — the 25-year-old star from Shinnston snapped a nine-race winless stretch on the national tour. He also padded his WoO points lead, an edge he actually continued to build with consistent finishes during his modest checkered-flag slump. | Slideshow | Video
“It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve been in victory lane,” said Richards, whose eighth WoO victory of 2013 was his first since July 11 at Red River Co-op Speedway in Winnipeg, Manitoba. “We’ve had some really good runs (over the past month-and-a-half), but we’ve just been lacking a little bit and we had a few races where we had stuff just not go our way. It definitely went our way tonight.”
Richards, who started outside the front row, passed polesitter Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., for the lead on lap 14 and was never headed. After Rick Eckert of York, Pa., saw his hopes of challenging for the top spot evaporate due to terminal engine trouble on a lap-22 restart, Richards cruised alone out front for the remainder of the distance to record his 47th career series victory.
Steve Shaver of Vienna, W.Va., finished second, following Richards across the finish line one night after winning WVMS’s 30-lap RaceFest ADRA Late Model feature over the WoO points leader. Davey Johnson of Latrobe, Pa., placed a close third — his third top-five finish in seven World of Outlaws starts this season — defending champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished fourth after making two mid-race pit stops and Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., was fifth after pitting to change a tire on lap 28.
Richards swept the evening’s action, preceding his $10,650 victory by setting fast time and winning his heat race. He overtook McCreadie to win both the heat and the feature.
The deciding move in the headliner, the first WoO event at WVMS since the 3-decade-old track was reconfigured in 2012 from a sprawling 5/8-mile oval to a shorter 4/10-mile layout, came when Richards seized an opportunity to slide underneath McCreadie through turns three and four as the race’s early pacesetter was hampered by a slower machine on lap 14.
“I was confident we could get by him. I just didn’t know when or where,” said Richards, who drove his father Mark’s familiar Valvoline-sponsored Rocket Chassis house car. “I would’ve rather have done it in a race condition, but I guess that’s part of racing. Lapped traffic got real hairy for a while there.”
The only driver who appeared capable of threatening Richards was Eckert, who passed McCreadie for second on lap 17 and drew within one length of Richards before a caution flag flew on lap 22 for a slowing Lanigan. Eckert’s bid ended before it could gain any steam, however, when he pulled up lame in turn two on the ensuing restart and was pushed to the pit area.
Richards easily handled three more restarts — on laps 28, 34 and 44 — en route to a comfortable 2.732-second triumph over Shaver’s Rumley Motorsports Longhorn chassis.
“After I moved around at the end of the race I felt like we got better,” said Richards, who exceeded the $200,000 mark in season earnings with his victory. “I knew the tire wear was probably an issue, so I’d try to run a hard lap and then ride awhile. I tried to find a comfort zone and it worked out.”
Shaver, 49, advanced from the sixth starting spot to finish in the runner-up spot. He grabbed second place from Johnson on the lap-34 restart and turned back Johnson’s late-race challenges to preserve the position.
The bridesmaid finish was Shaver’s second on the series to Richards in 2013, duplicating his effort in the June 27 Firecracker 100 preliminary feature at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa.
“He could turn better and keep his momentum up better,” Shaver said of Richards. “I was kind of tight and had to scoot it and just couldn’t keep my speed up.
“I’ll take second. Earlier in the race I felt like we were struggling a little bit, but it just kept coming to me. I just feel fortunate to be able to win last night and finish second tonight with these guys.”
Six caution flags slowed the A-Main. The most serious was for a multi-car accident in turn three on the opening lap that eliminated Steve Lucas of Charleston, W.Va., Chris Garnes of Evans, W.Va., and Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y.
Several WoO regulars joined Eckert and Fuller in experiencing problems that left them with subpar finishes. The list included Shane Clanton of Zebulon, Ga., whose left-rear tire blew on lap 28; Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., who was knocked from the top 10 on lap 34 when he spun between turns three and four; Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., who was running fourth when he slowed with a flat tire on lap 44; and Eric Wells of Hazard, Ky., who ran in the top five early but ultimately fell from the top 10 when he stopped behind Frank on lap 44.
McCreadie settled for a sixth-place finish after running in the top five for most of the distance. Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., rallied from a lap-22 pit stop to place seventh while fellow Georgian Clanton salvaged an eighth-place finish to remain second in the points standings. Rod Conley of Wheelersburg, Ohio, was ninth and WoO rookie Morgan Bagley of Longview, Texas, who also pitted during the race, rounded out the top 10.
Richards topped the 23-car field in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, lowering track record on the shortened layout of 16.830 seconds. He undercut the existing standard of 17.021 seconds set by John Blankenship on April 21. It was Richards’s series-leading sixth fast-time honor of 2013 and the 37th of his career, breaking him out of tie with Eckert atop the tour's all-time list in the category.
WoO competitors continue Labor Day weekend with a doubleheader at Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway. Saturday’s 40-lap Showdown On Sand Hill pays $8,000-to-win and Sunday’s 50-lap Late Model National Open boasts a $10,000 first-place prize.
RaceFest 50: (1) Josh Richards, (2) Steve Shaver, (3) Davey Johnson, (4) Darrell Lanigan, (5) Scott Bloomquist, (6) Tim McCreadie, (7) Clint Smith, (8) Shane Clanton, (9) Rod Conley, (10) Morgan Bagley, (11) Bub McCool, (12) Chub Frank, (13) Sonny Conley, (14) Eric Wells, (15) Chuck Harper, (16) Bryan Casey, (17) Tom Henrix, (18) Rick Eckert, (19) Jared Hawkins, (20) Steve Lucas, (21) Chris Garnes, (22) Tim Fuller, (23) Corey Conley. Fast qualifier (among 23 cars): Richards, 16.830 seconds. Heat race winners: Richards, Wells, Eckert.
