CORNWALL, Ontario — The young sensation known as ‘Kid Rocket’ achieved a personal goal on Sunday night, winning on Canadian soil for the first time with a memorable rally in the 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Cornwall Motor Speedway.
Josh Richards, 20, slipped back to third after starting from the pole, but he came on to grab the lead from Tim McCreadie on lap 40 and roll to his third WoO LMS victory of the season.
“One of my goals was to win a race in Canada this year,” said Richards, who earned $10,150 for his ninth career triumph on the WoO LMS. “It’s so cool to race in front of these fans up here. As a driver, you love it when the fans get into the racing.”
Richards also loved the way he pulled out a victory on the high-banked, quarter-mile oval, a longtime DIRTcar-sanctioned track that drew a standing-room-only crowd for the first visit by the WoO LMS.
“It’s awesome to win like that,” Richards said. “We started on the pole, but we didn’t just lead every lap, like we have in the past. It’s so much more fun to actually race your way to the front and beat the best guys in the country.”
Richards battled through some lapped traffic in the race’s closing moments to defeat McCreadie’s Sweeteners Plus Rocket No. 39 by 0.612 of a second. McCreadie, who started third and led laps 18-39, recorded his second runner-up finish in as many nights.
Shane Clanton, point-leader Darrell Lanigan and Rick Eckert rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Josh Richards, Tim McCreadie, Shane Clanton, Darrell Lanigan, Rick Eckert, Shannon Babb, Billy Decker, John Blankenship, Clint Smith, Steve Francis, Chub Frank, Danny Johnson, Tim Fuller, Neil Baggett, Dan Stone, Sean Beardsley, Adam Ferri, Tony Knowles, Joe Isabell, Ricky Elliott, Jeremy Miller, Peter Mantha, Jr., Greg Oakes.