Josh Richard Dominates At DIRTcar Nationals Thursday

Josh Richards celebrates in victory lane after taking the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series victory as part of the DIRTcar Nationals Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park.  Photo: DIRTcar Nationals Media

Josh Richards celebrates in victory lane after taking the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series victory as part of the DIRTcar Nationals Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park. Photo: DIRTcar Nationals Media

Josh Richards dominated the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series DIRTcar Nationals opener on Thursday night at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, FL.

Richards, a three-time series champion, took the top position in his qualifying group earlier in the night, then battled through lapped traffic and held off Dale McDowell in the 50-lap feature to score his first series win of the season. The 27-year-old Richards entered DIRTcar Nationals with a string of wins and top-five runs, and built momentum into the series opener.

“It has been a lot of fun,” Richards said. “We gambled a little bit on tires, so I was kind of nervous and didn’t know how it was going to hold up. We got stuck in lapped traffic and actually moved up (the race track) and gained speed.

“The guys have been giving me great cars every night, it’s been a dream to drive them, and it has been a fun speed weeks.”

Matt Sheppard took the victory in Thursday night's Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified feature.  Photo: DIRTcar Nationals Media

Matt Sheppard took the victory in Thursday night’s Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modified feature. Photo: DIRTcar Nationals Media

Matt Sheppard, the reigning Super DIRTcar Series champion, entered DIRTcar Nationals after an off-season of flux saw him start his own team. The driver proved Thursday night that in spite of the challenges, he is still one to beat.

Larry Wight, last year’s DIRTcar Nationals Big-Block Week champion, started on the feature pole but lost the lead after a short battle with Rick Laubach. Laubach led the field for 22 laps, holding off the previous night’s winner Tim Fuller. As Laubach tried to work his way through traffic, Sheppard closed with Wight close behind. Sheppard and Wight got the run on Laubach and quickly drove around.

“This is unreal,” Sheppard said of his victory. “It was such a crazy off-season for us, building this team in such a short period of time. We can say I’m going out on my own but not really. I got a ton of great people that have stepped up to help out. Everything really came together. The crew has been busting their butt all night on this car. We had trouble in qualifying, we had trouble in the heat race and they never gave up. Man, two races in and we are sitting in Victory Lane already that is awesome.”

Nightly doubleheaders at Volusia run through Saturday, Feb. 20. The World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series return for night two at DIRTcar Nationals as the Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds takes on its night three.

For more information, visit DIRTcarNationals.com.

Volusia Speedway Park – Barberville, FL
DIRTcar Nationals – Feb. 18, 2016

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series
1. 1-Josh Richards
2. 17M-Dale McDowell
3. 6-Jonathan Davenport
4. 0-Scott Bloomquist
5. 7-Rick Eckert
6. 22s-Gregg Satterlee
7. 5-Don O’Neal
8. 25F-Jason Feger
9. 14M-Morgan Bagley
10. 25-Shane Clanton
11. C9-Steve Casebolt
12. 99B-Boom Briggs
13. 18-Eric Wells
14. 15-Steve Francis
15. 1*-Chub Frank
16. 3s-Brian Shirley
17. 18c-Chase Junghans
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19. 2F-Dennis Franklin
20. 77-Jordan Yaggy
21. 99j-Frank Heckenast, Jr.
22. 76-Brandon Overton
23. 20-Jimmy Owens
24. 39-Tim McCreadie
25. 21-Ivedent Lloyd, Jr.
26. 11-Austin Smith
27. 28E-Dennis Erb, Jr.
28. 1W-Dillon Wood
29. 16-Justin Rattliff

Super DIRTcar Series Big-Block Modifieds
1. 9s-Matt Sheppard
2. 99L-Larry Wight
3. 7-Rick Laubach
4. 44-Stewart Freisen
5. 25R-Erick Rudolph
6. 49-Billy Dunn
7. 19-Tim Fuller
8. 1-Billy Pauch
9. 20-Brett Hearn
10. 1T-Tyler Dippel
11. 07-Tim Kerr
12. 32c-Vic Coffey
13. 21a-Pete Britten
14. 54-Steve Bernard
15. 14J-Alan Johnson
16. 74-J.R. Heffner
17. 27J-Danny Johnson
18. 5*-Tyler Siri
19. 83-Brian Swartzlander
20. 1G-Darwin Green
21. 6m-Mat Williamson
22. 323-Neal Williams
23. 85-H.J. Bunting
24. 48T-Dave Rauscher
25. 28p-Eldon Payne
26. 5-Billy VanInwegen

 

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