WAYNESVILLE, Ga. – In his first career-season competing full-time on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, Josh Richards won Saturday night’s Super Bowl of Racing finale at Golden Isles Speedway in Waynesville, Georgia.
Richards took the lead on lap three and never looked back. The victory marks his 13th career series victory and his first win after having joined the Best Performance Motorsports Team last November.
Richards led defending series champion Scott Bloomquist and Friday winner Brandon Overton to the finish line by several car lengths. Bloomquist and Overton had a spirited race for most of the 60-lap main event as Overton, from Evans, Georgia tried several times to get by.
Brian Shirley finished in fourth, followed by Blairsville, Georgia’s Jonathan Davenport.
“I don’t know what to say right now,” Richards said. “Thanks to all of fans for their support. It (switching race teams) was one of the toughest decisions I have ever made. I have always wanted to work with Randall (Edwards). I can’t thank these guys enough for this opportunity.
“It’s great to win the second night out in this car. Everything is new on this ride and we are just trying to get acclimated to it.”
Rebounding from the previous night, where he had started on the front row, but faded to sixth at the finish, Richards was elated for a better outcome.
“I made an adjustment that I didn’t realize I had made last night and it definitely cost us,” he said. “I was kicking myself afterward because I had done it by accident. We’ve really had a good car all weekend, I’m glad that I didn’t make the same mistake tonight. I can’t thank these guys enough for having faith in me.”
Bloomquist held off Overton at end after making some contact during the race.
“We weren’t too bad tonight,” said Bloomquist. “We needed a little more time for practice. We should have been here Thursday for practice. We just need to get here sooner. We got close tonight, but there’s a few things I would have loved to have changed.”
Overton was pleased with his weekend at Golden Isles Speedway, as he notched a third-place finish after his victory on Friday night.
“To run how we did against these guys says a lot about our team,” he said. “We would have liked to have won tonight as well. To race with Bloomquist for most of the race was fun and we tried plenty of times to get around him but he did what he needed to do out there.”
Doug Drown, Kenny Pettyjohn, Don O’Neal, Tyler Erb and Tim McCreadie rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, Overton set the overall fast time (Group A) amongst the 52 entrants, with a lap of 15.768 seconds. Shirley set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 15.806 seconds. Overton, Bloomquist, Richards, Billy Moyer, Jr. and Drown won their respective heat races. Austin Hubbard and Brent Larson won their respective B-Mains.
Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series
Golden Isles Speedway – Waynesville, GA
Super Bowl of Racing Night 2 – Feb. 11, 2017
| FINISH | START | CAR # | DRIVER NAME | HOMETOWN | EARNINGS |
| 1 | 5 | 1R | Josh Richards | Shinnston, WV | $12,000 |
| 2 | 3 | 0 | Scott Bloomquist | Mooresburg, TN | $6,500 |
| 3 | 1 | 116 | Brandon Overton | Evans, GA | $3,700 |
| 4 | 2 | 3s | Brian Shirley | Chatham, IL | $2,750 |
| 5 | 7 | 49 | Jonathan Davenport | Blairsville, GA | $3,050 |
| 6 | 6 | 240 | Doug Drown | Wooster, OH | $1,800 |
| 7 | 8 | 38 | Kenny PettyJohn | Millsboro, DE | $1,500 |
| 8 | 12 | 5 | Don O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $2,100 |
| 9 | 13 | 91 | Tyler Erb | New Waverly, TX | $1,200 |
| 10 | 11 | 39 | Tim McCreadie | Watertown, NY | $1,800 |
| 11 | 9 | 71 | Hudson O’Neal | Martinsville, IN | $1,075 |
| 12 | 15 | 7 | Rick Eckert | York, PA | $1,050 |
| 13 | 18 | 1S | Brandon Sheppard | New Berlin, IL | $1,725 |
| 14 | 14 | 7m | Donald McIntosh | Dawsonville, GA | $1,000 |
| 15 | 17 | 18 | Brett Hamm | Newberry, SC | $1,000 |
| 16 | 16 | 20 | Jimmy Owens | Newport, TN | $1,800 |
| 17 | 23 | 28E | Dennis Erb, Jr. | Carpentersville, IL | $1,700 |
| 18 | 24 | 14 | Darrell Lanigan | Union, KY | $1,700 |
| 19 | 10 | 1 | Earl Pearson, Jr. | Jacksonville, FL | $1,800 |
| 20 | 21 | 2 | Joey Coulter | Troutman, NC | $1,000 |
| 21 | 19 | 11 | Austin Hubbard | Bridgeville, DE | $1,000 |
| 22 | 25 | 15 | Steve Francis | Bowling Green, KY | $800 |
| 23 | 20 | B1 | Brent Larson | Lake Elmo, MN | $1,000 |
| 24 | 22 | 21T | Shane Tankersley | Morganton, GA | $1,000 |
| 25 | 4 | 21JR | Billy Moyer, Jr. | Batesville, AR | $1,000 |
| 26 | 26 | 75 | Colton Flinner | Allison Park, PA | $700 |
