CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — This time, Josh Richards made it look easy.
Two days after pulling off a dramatic, come-from-behind victory in Canada, Richards rolled to a dominant flag-to-flag victory before a standing-room-only crowd in the June 24 World of Outlaws Late Model Series event at Canandaigua Speedway.
The 20-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., raced from the pole to register his second-straight triumph on the WoO LMS, following up his score June 22 at Cornwall (Ontario) Motor Speedway. It was his fourth triumph this season, tying him with Billy Moyer for the tour lead in that category.
“I’ve seen everybody else get on these little waves and run really good, and it’s so fun when it happens to you,” said Richards, who has already matched his career-high single-season WoO LMS win total, achieved in 2007. “Everything is just going our way — we’ve been fast, and of course, I’ve been lucky.”
Richards drove his Mark Richards Racing/Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket No. 1 across the finish line with a commanding edge of 2.753 seconds — nearly a full straightaway — over Rick Eckert. Eckert challenged Richards briefly, early in the A-main, but his Raye Vest-owned GRT car wasn’t quick enough to keep pace with ‘Kid Rocket’ as the race wore on.
Tim McCreadie, who spent several years as a DIRTcar big-block modified regular at Canandaigua, advanced from the 11th-starting spot to finish third. Point-leader Darrell Lanigan finished fourth after passing Chub Frank on the final lap.
There were few worries during the event for Richards, who maintained a consistent speed from start-to-finish.
“The car was just awesome,” said Richards, who earned $7,150 for his 10th-career win on the WoO LMS. “The only real problem I had was on the initial start. I drove (turns) three and four a little easier than I should have and I kinda pushed up the race track, so Chub was able to get by me. Luckily, the caution came out (for a multi-car tangle between turns three and four) — and I didn’t do the same thing the next time.”
The summary:
Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Chub Frank, Clint Smith, Shane Clanton, Steve Francis, Tony Knowles, Tim Fuller, Shannon Babb, Billy Decker, Vic Coffey, Brent Rhebergen, John Blankenship, Greg Oakes, Danny Johnson, Rich Gardner, Ricky Elliott, Mike Marlar, Joe Isabell, Dan Stone, David Scott, Jeremy Miller.