Thursday March 28th, 2024 7:30AM

Josh Richards rolls to twin Lucas Oil weekend victories

By Series PR

Josh Richards put together a commanding performance over the weekend, as he swept both Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series events.

Friday night, he drove to the win at Tri-County Speedway in Granite City, Illinois. He then broke out the broom on Saturday night, as he recorded the victory at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri.

On Friday night, Richards fought off a late-race challenge by Tim McCreadie to score the win at Tri-County, marking his first career win at the speedway.

McCreadie came home in second place after starting in seventh. Don O’Neal charged to a third-place finish, with Brian Shirley edging out Jimmy Owens on the final lap for to finish fourth.

“This is only about the third or fourth time I have ever run here,” said Richards. “There is no doubt that it’s a fun track to race on. There is plenty of room out there. I must thank my crew, Randall and Tyler, for the set-up on this Rocket Chassis. Our team gelled pretty quick and it’s only gotten better, especially in the last few weeks we have been running extremely well and a lot of that success goes to Andy Durham of Durham Race Engines.”

“It got a bit slick out there for a while,” Richards continued. “I kept searching for a line that would work best for me. With not a lot of experience here, you just don’t know where to run at certain times during the race. In this points deal, if you are going to win it, you should be consistent. You can’t run fifth every time out and expect to win a championship, you need to win races.”

Richards took the lead at the start of the main event and was never seriously challenged for that spot until with less than ten laps to go when McCreadie started to close the gap. McCreadie pulled to within a car length before a caution with five laps to go hurt his momentum. On the restart Richards pulled away from McCreadie and took the win.

On Saturday, Richards extended his points lead with a win in the CMH Diamond Nationals on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Speedway. It marked his seventh series win of the year and his first ever at the Missouri facility.

Jimmy Owens looked to be on his way to another victory at the track, but Richards tracked him down and took the lead with eight laps to go. Owens then got too high in turn four while trying to get back around Richards and his car stalled with three laps remaining in the race. Richards then went unchallenged for the win.

“We weren’t very fast in hot laps or qualifying,” said Richards. “We basically went with the same set-up as last night, and then we made some adjustments. We weren’t that great at the beginning, but the longer the race went, the tires on the car felt good. I hate it for Jimmy though. I saw that he tried to get back by me on the outside and he got up close to the wall and the car must have stalled or something.”

The race went the first 57 laps caution-free until Owens brought out the only caution of the race. The long green-flag conditions helped Richards out he said.

“Jimmy was pretty good early, and he was so far out there, but he eventually came back to us,” he said. “We just have to focus on being fast, the last two nights helped a lot. It can turn around in a heartbeat.”

Don O’Neal finished in second, with Darrell Lanigan in third, Hudson O’Neal in fourth and Jesse Stovall in fifth.

For more information on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, visit LucasDirt.com.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Tri-City Speedway – Granite City, IL
NAPA Know How 50 – July 14, 2017

FINISH START CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN EARNINGS
1 2 1R Josh Richards Shinnston, WV $10,900
2 7 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY $6,200
3 9 5 Don O’Neal Martinsville, IN $4,300
4 1 3s Brian Shirley Chatham, IL $2,750
5 3 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN $3,050
6 4 18 Shannon Babb Mowequa, IL $1,800
7 10 71 Hudson O’Neal Martinsville, IN $2,300
8 16 22 Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills, PA $2,000
9 8 1 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL $2,000
10 6 21 Billy Moyer Batesville, AR $1,100
11 21 28E Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL $1,775
12 15 C8 Timothy Culp Prattsville, AR $1,050
13 22 32C Chris Simpson Oxford, IA $1,025
14 12 15 Steve Francis Bowling Green, KY $1,700
15 25 82 Billy Laycock Marine, IL $950
16 13 75 Billy Drake Bloomington, IL $925
17 14 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA $1,600
18 19 94 Austin Rettig Sikeston, MO $875
19 23 32B Clay Daly Salinas, CA $850
20 20 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN $1,825
21 5 14 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY $1,500
22 11 36 Logan Martin West Plains, MO $800
23 17 1S Rick Salter Highland, IL $800
24 24 11H Jeff Herzog Herculaneum, MO $800
25 18 56 Tony Jackson, Jr. Lebanon, MO $800

 

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO
CMH Diamond Nationals – July 15, 2017

FINISH START CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN EARNINGS
1 8 1R Josh Richards Shinnston, WV $12,800
2 6 5 Don O’Neal Martinsville, IN $6,400
3 4 14 Darrell Lanigan Union, KY $4,200
4 2 71 Hudson O’Neal Martinsville, IN $3,550
5 10 0 Jesse Stovall Billings, MO $2,250
6 15 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY $2,500
7 12 28E Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL $2,200
8 18 2T Jake O’Neil Tucson, AZ $1,300
9 9 1 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL $2,000
10 3 15 Steve Francis Bowling Green, KY $1,800
11 5 1V Will Vaught Crane, MO $1,075
12 13 0 Scott Bloomquist Mooresburg, TN $2,050
13 26 20x Rodney Sanders Happy, TX $1,025
14 7 15P Payton Looney Republic, MO $1,000
15 1 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN $1,900
16 14 3s Brian Shirley Chatham, IL $1,000
17 21 32B Clay Daly Salinas, CA $1,000
18 20 36 Logan Martin West Plains, MO $1,000
19 17 5T Randy Timms Wheatland, OK $1,000
20 19 22 Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills, PA $1,700
21 23 99B Boom Briggs Bear Lake, PA $1,700
22 11 91P Jason Papich Nipomo, CA $1,000
23 16 10m Jacob Magee Caney, KS $1,000
24 24 43 Jeremy Grady Story City, IA $1,000
25 22 75P Terry Phillips Springfield, MO $1,000
26 25 56 Tony Jackson, Jr. Lebanon, MO $1,000
  • Associated Categories: NASCAR News, Other Motorsports
  • Associated Tags: motorsports, Auto Racing, Dirt Track, Stock Car, Short Track, Dirt Late Model, Lucas Oil Dirt Racing Series
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