Fayetteville Motor Speedway
Richards rallies from 18th, wins at Fayetteville
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Richards grabs his 11th career WoO victory. (Jerry Ingram)
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 7) — Josh Richards didn’t have any good vibes entering Tuesday's World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Fayetteville Motor Speedway. But after making a stirring drive forward from the 18th starting spot to win the 50-lapper, the 20-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., suddenly felt a whole lot better about the 4/10-mile oval. | WoO @ Fayetteville postrace notebook
“I honestly was dreading coming here,” conceded Richards, who had failed to qualify through a heat on Aug. 15 before rain postponed the remainder of Fayetteville’s first-ever WoO to Tuesday night. “I’ll have to take that back now. Everything worked out great.”
Richards put on an electric performance, ripping through the field to grab the lead from the red-hot Shane Clanton of Locust Grove, Ga., on lap 31. He survived seven of the marathon race’s 13 total caution flags over the remaining distance to secure a $10,250 payoff. Clanton finished 1.10 seconds behind Richards in second place, ending his two-race series win streak. Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., finished third, followed by top 2008 WoO rookie Vic Coffey of Leicester, N.Y., and 20th-starter Ed Gibbons of Manning, S.C.
WoO points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., who led laps 1-4 after starting from the pole position, finished 11th after losing three laps late while repairing a broken right-rear shock mount on his car late. But with his edge in the standings expanding to 150 points over Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who retired with distributor trouble on lap 12 and finished 23rd, he can clinch his first career tour title by entering the final three events on the schedule.
Richards was victorious for the fifth time this season on the WoO — a personal career-high total for the tour’s 2005 Rookie of the Year.
But even more noteworthy, Richards won from the deepest starting spot of any driver on the 2008 WoO. In fact, he became the first consolation race winner to grab a feature victory this season and just the second driver to capture a feature from a double-digit starting position, joining Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who won from the 14th spot on July 12 at Estevan (Sask.) Motor Speedway.
“To accomplish something like this is just awesome,” said Richards, whose 11th career WoO triumph was his first since June 24 at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Speedway.
Richards slipped by Lanigan for second on lap 16 and quickly caught Clanton, who had set the pace since the fifth circuit. The young gun took advantage of Clanton’s bobble in turn two to assume command for good on lap 31.
“I knew (Clanton’s) weak spot would be in (turns) one and two because my car stuck real good right off the bottom,” said Richards, whose car wasn’t noticeably hampered by the significant rear bodywork damage it sustained in an early scramble. “It just so happened that when I turned wide to steer off of two (on lap 31), he pushed. I just drove right by him on the inside.”
Richards was never challenged again, leaving Clanton behind on each of the late-race restarts. “We had a good car and he had a good car,” said Clanton, “but he was a little better.”
The program resumed with the completion of the first consolation race, which was red-flagged because of rain on Aug. 15 with two laps on the board. G.R. Smith of Cornelius, N.C., captured that event, but a broken rocker arm on his car’s engine forced him to start the feature in the No. 11 of Seaford, Del.’s Austin Hubbard.
The WoO heads west in North Carolina for a Wednesday night (Oct. 8) date at the Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord. The Armour Vienna Sausage Showdown Presented by Ferris Commercial Mowers features a topless 50-lapper that could provide a first-place prize of as much as $30,000.
WoO @ Fayetteville: (1) Josh Richards, (2) Shane Clanton, (3) Chub Frank, (4) Vic Coffey, (5) Ed Gibbons, (6) Shannon Babb, (7) Timmy Blackwell, (8) Clint Smith, (9) Scott Autry, (10) David Taylor, (11) Darrell Lanigan, (12) Rick Eckert, (13) Dean Bowen, (14) Joe Isabell, (15) Jeff Isabell Jr., (16) Jonathan Davenport, (17) Jeff Smith, (18) Craig Shuffield, (19) Chris Blackwell, (20) Tim Fuller, (21) Brent Robinson, (22) Ricky Weeks, (23) Steve Francis, (24) Shawn Beasley, (25) G.R. Smith. Consolation winners: G.R. Smith, Richards. Provisional starters: Isabell, Isabell Jr., Weeks.
