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