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Josh Richards captures East Bay Winternationals opener

By Series PR
Posted 8:00PM on Wednesday 10th February 2016 ( 8 years ago )

TAMPA, Fla. - On Monday Night at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa, Fla., Josh Richards continued his recent hot streak by winning his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event this season. Richards started ninth and charged to the front, taking the lead on lap 20 from Jimmy Owens.

Owens came home second, followed by Jared Landers, Tim Dohm and Tim McCreadie.

“What a great start to the season,” Richards said. “I would like to thank everybody on the crew. The track was really good tonight. It was back to the typical East Bay racing. It was slimy to start with and it worked in quite nicely. Starting ninth, I knew it was going to be a chore to get to the front. We had some cautions there early on, but once the race settled down it was really competitive.”

It marked the fifth career Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win for the 27-year-old driver at East Bay.

Owens led the first 19 laps and was looking for the first win for his new team, R&W Motorsports. A classic slide job by Richards for the lead with five laps to go ended those hopes.

“We had a really good car here tonight,” Owens said. “We had a really good car yesterday at Golden Isles before getting in a mishap. We were pretty much stuck to the top tonight, and that’s fine. The track was really racy all night.”

Owens, who entered the event with two career wins at the “Clay by the Bay,” thought he could hold on for the win.

“Those cautions early on certainly hurt our momentum. Just as soon as we were starting to pull away, a yellow would come out. I thought I was going to be okay until Josh got by me in turn four.”

Landers continues his impressive string of top five finishes coming home in third in the East Bay opener.

“We are going to get a win soon,” he said. “This car is just a joy to drive. Jason (Durham), my crew chief, and everybody on the team are working hard to keep us up front. It was a good race, we could run side-by-side out there with anybody”

Brian Shirley, Steve Francis, Ricky Weiss, Eddie Carrier, Jr. and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top ten finishers.

In preliminary action, Blairsville, Ga.’s Jonathan Davenport set the overall fast time (Group B) amongst the 35 entrants, with a lap of 14.957 seconds. Tim Dohm set the fastest time in Group A with a time of 15.307 seconds. Dohm, Mike Marlar, Jimmy Owens, and Billy Moyer, Jr. won their respective heat races. Brandon Sheppard and Earl Pearson, Jr. won their respective B-Mains.

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

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
East Bay Raceway Park – Tampa, FL
East Bay Winternationals – Feb. 8, 2016

FINISH START CAR # DRIVER NAME HOMETOWN
1 9 1R Josh Richards Shinnston, WV
2 2 20 Jimmy Owens Newport, TN
3 5 777 Jared Landers Batesville, AR
4 1 6T Tim Dohm Charleston, WV
5 6 39 Tim McCreadie Watertown, NY
6 7 3s Brian Shirley Chatham, IL
7 14 15F Steve Francis Ashland, KY
8 13 7w Ricky Weiss Headingley, MB
9 8 28 Eddie Carrier, Jr. Salt Rock, WV
10 15 40B Kyle Bronson Brandon, FL
11 3 157 Mike Marlar Winfield, TN
12 10 28e Dennis Erb, Jr. Carpentersville, IL
13 17 B5 Brandon Sheppard New Berlin, IL
14 12 99m Devin Moran Dresden, OH
15 24 16 Justin Rattliff Campbellsville, KY
16 23 32 Bobby Pierce Oakwood, IL
17 16 22x Greg Oaks Franklinville, NY
18 19 47 Alex Ferree Valencia, PA
19 18 1 Earl Pearson, Jr. Jacksonville, FL
20 21 22 Gregg Satterlee Rochester Mills, PA
21 4 21jr Billy Moyer, Jr. Batesville, AR
22 11 116 Randy Weaver Crossville, TN
23 20 25Z Jonathan Davenport Blairsville, GA
24 25 38C John Gardner Germantown Hills, IL
25 22 2M Allen Murray San Antonio, TX
26 26 4-Ds Chad Hollenbeck Montrose, PA

Race Statistics
Entrants: 35
Lap Leaders: Jimmy Owens (laps 1 – 19); Josh Richards (Laps 20 25)
Cautions: Devin Moran (Lap 1); Allen Murray, Bobby Pierce (Lap 3); Billy Moyer Jr. (Lap 10)
Fastest Lap of the Race: Jimmy Owens (Lap #5 – 15.2683 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Jimmy Owens (19 Laps)
Time of Race: 20 minutes, 56 seconds

Josh Richards, seen here from an earlier victory, scored the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Winternationals feature victory Monday night at East Bay Raceway Park.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/2/368916/josh-richards-captures-east-bay-winternationals-opener

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