Josh Richards Banks $100,000 Dirt Track World Championship Payday

Story By: JAMES ESSEX / LUCAS OIL LATE MODEL DIRT SERIES – PORTSMOUTH, OH – Josh Richards won his second straight Rhino Ag Dirt Track World Championship presented by Optima Batteries on Sunday afternoon at Portsmouth Raceway Park.

Richards took the lead on lap 22 from Brian Shirley and led the rest of the way to pick-up the $100,000 first-place prize and his third Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season.

Jonathan Davenport; the newly crowned Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series National Champion; finished in second followed by Brandon Overton, Brandon Sheppard, and Zack Dohm.

Richards was elated in Lucas Oil Victory Lane, “It’s an emotional day. I want to thank everyone at Best Performance Motorsports, especially Eric and Kelly Brock for giving me this opportunity. I’d also like to give a huge thank you to Randall Edwards, this is the third straight year that he has been the DTWC winner’s crew chief. The same goes to Brad Ramsey, I’d like to thank him for working so hard all year long. I know there was a little rough stretch during the summer, but they kept working hard and kept their heads up. To win the first and the final race of the year I have to thank my dad [Mark Richards] and all my sponsors.”

“I knew it would be critical to get the lead early,” Richards added. “I knew I’d also spun my tires early on trying to get by Shirley. I wanted to get out front as early as I could because of the restarts. I didn’t know where Jonathan was. I wasn’t sure when to pick the throttle up. He [Davenport] gave me a lot of room. He and his team did a great job to win the championship. We did what we came here for, and we won the last race of the season. Thanks to Carl Short and everyone here at this facility for working so hard for this race.”

Davenport clinched the championship before the series’ final race at Portsmouth. He commented afterwards on his runner-up finish in the season finale. “I think the top three cars all ran different tire combinations. There were a couple of restarts where we got a run on Josh to challenge for the lead. I could have gone in there and door-slammed him, but I got a feeling we are going to be racing with each other for several years. All three of us had fast cars, but Josh was just more dominant today.”

Overton claimed third and was happy about his podium finish as well. “I felt like we were good at the end. I don’t know if we had anything for Josh, but we hung right in there with JD. By the time we got to third there wasn’t a whole lot of racing left, so all-in-all, another crown jewel race and another top five finish for the Billy Franklin team.”

The winner’s Eric and Kelly Brock-owned Rocket Chassis is powered by an Andy Durham Racing Engine and sponsored by: Colt Firearms, Bulk Material Lift.com, Valvoline, Bazell Race Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Boxo USA, Integra, Sunoco Race Fuels, Alexander Lawn and Landscaping, and Impact Race Gear.

Completing the top ten were Mike Marlar, Don O’Neal, Earl Pearson Jr., Jimmy Owens, and Chase Junghans.

Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series
Race Summary
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Rhino Ag Dirt Track World Championship presented by Optima Batteries
Portsmouth Raceway Park – Portsmouth, Ohio

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND ONE Finish: Don O’Neal, Jared Hawkins, Boom Briggs, Jason Jameson, RJ Conley, Shannon Thornsberry, Brandon Fouts, Ronnie Whitt, Austyn Mills-DNS, Jackie Boggs-DNS

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND ONE Finish: Ricky Thornton Jr., Gregg Satterlee, Bobby Pierce, Chris Ferguson, Ben Adkins, Brandon Overton, Stephen Breeding, Charlie Jude, Josh Bocook, Delmas Conley

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND ONE Finish: Brian Shirley, Dennis Erb, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Chase Junghans, Robbie Scott, Kyle Bronson, Scott Bloomquist, Dave Hess, Jr., Billy Gullion, Lee Logan

QA1 ROUND ONE Heat Race #4 – ROUND ONE Finish: Dale McDowell, Zack Dohm, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Josh Richards, Jason Covert, Rod Conley, Jimmy Owens, Colten Burdette, Mike Benedum, Devin Moran

Rhino Ag Heat Race #5 – ROUND ONE Finish: Mike Marlar, Jonathan Davenport, Doug Drown, Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson, Jr., Brandon Sheppard, Colton Flinner, Chub Frank, Jose Parga

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 – ROUND TWO Finish: Brandon Sheppard, Josh Richards, Robbie Scott, Boom Briggs, Bobby Pierce, Don O’Neal, Jimmy Owens, Dave Hess, Jr., Jose Parga, Ben Adkins

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 – ROUND TWO Finish: Scott Bloomquist, Devin Moran, Tim McCreadie, Jared Hawkins, Mike Marlar, Chris Ferguson, Chase Junghans, Colten Burdette, RJ Conley, Delmas Conley-DNS

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 – ROUND TWO Finish: Brandon Overton, Jason Covert, Eddie Carrier, Jr., Gregg Satterlee, Earl Pearson, Jr., Darrell Lanigan, Jason Jameson, Doug Drown, Lee Logan, Jackie Boggs-DNS

QA1 Heat Race #4 – ROUND TWO Finish: Brandon Fouts, Jonathan Davenport, Dennis Erb, Jr., Kyle Bronson, Rod Conley, Zack Dohm, Charlie Jude, Josh Bocook, Austyn Mills-DNS

Rhino Ag Heat Race #5 – ROUND TWO Finish: Shannon Thornsberry, Chub Frank, Brian Shirley, Ricky Thornton Jr., Stephen Breeding, Billy Gullion, Dale McDowell, Mike Benedum, Colton Flinner, Ronnie Whitt

Penske Racing Shocks B-Main #1 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Bobby Pierce, Kyle Bronson, Zack Dohm, Chase Junghans, Devin Moran, Jimmy Owens, Darrell Lanigan, Chub Frank, Jackie Boggs, Dave Hess, Jr., Colten Burdette, Lee Logan, Robbie Scott, Doug Drown, Billy Gullion-DNS, Josh Bocook-DNS, Ronnie Whitt-DNS

FAST Shafts B-Main #2 Finish (Top 3 Transfer): Dale McDowell, Scott Bloomquist, Chris Ferguson, Brandon Fouts, RJ Conley, Rod Conley, Colton Flinner, Mike Benedum, Jose Parga, Ben Adkins, Earl Pearson, Jr., Jason Jameson, Stephen Breeding, Charlie Jude, Austyn Mills, Delmas Conley-DNS

Rhino Ag Dirt Track World Championship presented by Optima Batteries Feature Finish:

FINISH	START	CAR #	DRIVER NAME	HOMETOWN	EARNINGS
1	5	1R	Josh Richards	Shinnston, WV	$101,000
2	2	49	Jonathan Davenport	Blairsville, GA	$20,900
3	11	76	Brandon Overton	Evans, GA	$10,000
4	14	1S	Brandon Sheppard	New Berlin, IL	$7,000
5	21	17d	Zack Dohm	Cross Lanes, WV	$5,000
6	7	157	Mike Marlar	Winfield, TN	$3,500
7	10	5	Don O’Neal	Martinsville, IN	$4,000
8	23	1	Earl Pearson, Jr.	Jacksonville, FL	$3,800
9	24	20	Jimmy Owens	Newport, TN	$3,600
10	28	18J	Chase Junghans	Manhattan, KS	$2,500
11	18	17m	Dale McDowell	Chickamauga, GA	$2,450
12	17	32	Bobby Pierce	Oakwood, IL	$3,100
13	22	22F	Chris Ferguson	Mount Holly, NC	$2,350
14	9	11H	Jared Hawkins	Fairmont, WV	$2,300
15	3	20RT	Ricky Thornton Jr.	Clive, IA	$2,250
16	8	10C	Eddie Carrier, Jr.	Salt Rock, WV	$2,200
17	27	71c	RJ Conley	Wheelersburg, OH	$2,150
18	4	28	Dennis Erb, Jr.	Carpentersville, IL	$2,800
19	20	0	Scott Bloomquist	Mooresburg, TN	$2,875
20	15	39	Tim McCreadie	Watertown, NY	$2,760
21	13	99B	Boom Briggs	Bear Lake, PA	$2,050
22	26	81	Brandon Fouts	Kite, KY	$2,040
23	19	40B	Kyle Bronson ®	Brandon, FL	$2,830
24	6	22	Gregg Satterlee	Indiana, PA	$2,720
25	1	3s	Brian Shirley	Chatham, IL	$2,010
26	16	17T	Shannon Thornsberry	Martin, KY	$2,000
27	12	72C	Jason Covert	York Haven, PA	$2,000
28	25	14	Darrell Lanigan	Union, KY	$800