by Bill Wright                                                                                               

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (September 16, 2016) – The “Rocket Man” Josh Richards lived up to his name Friday night at the 13^th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Models Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores.  The Shinnston, West Virginia native not only scored his fourth feature win of his career here, but also set quick time, and won his heat to score a perfect 500 points.  That will put him on the pole for Saturday night’s $40,000 to win 100-lap championship event!

Jimmy Owens jumped from his third starting position to lead lap one, but pole-sitter, Shannon Babb grabbed the point on the second circuit.  With three laps in the books, fifth place running Chase Junghans slowed in turn two, bringing the caution.  Babb led Owens, Rodney Sanders, Scott Bloomquist and Dale McDowell back to green.

On lap seven, Richards surged from sixth to fourth, and then took third from Sanderson on lap nine.  Thursday night’s winner, Billy Moyer, came to a stop with overheating issues with 12 laps recorded.  Babb would maintain his lead when the green flag fell, but Richards was on the move.  He used the low groove to power by Owens for second on lap 15.

A lap later, the final caution of the race flew for Brandon Sheppard, who stopped in turn four.  Babb led the final charge over Richards, Owens, Sanders and McDowell.  Richards stalked Babb and used the low side to shoot by Babb on lap 19.  Babb held off Owens by just .006 of a second for the runner-up spot.  McDowell and Mike Marlar followed.  Sanders, Jimmy Mars, Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport and Chris Simpson completed the top ten.

McDowell joined Richards as setting quick time over his group.  Tim Lance, who won the second heat in track record time, was joined by other preliminary winners, Richards, Sheppard, Junghans, Dennis Erb Jr. and Chad Mahder.  Gregg Satterlee won the C main and Tim McCreadie won the B.

“This feels awesome,” said Richards.  “We had a great point night last night and the car was good.  The track was so different tonight with the rain water.  We’ll see what we have tomorrow.  The car was phenomenal again tonight.  I can’t thank the crew enough.  We’ve had a fantastic year, but tomorrow’s the one we’re really looking towards.  We’re in the best position we can be in.  The bottom was good.  I just had to make sure I got pointed the right way.”

Join us tomorrow night for the championship night of the 13^th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores!  For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com!

Results

Group A Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 1R, Josh Richards, Shinnston, WV (8), 17.090; 2. 157, Mike Marlar, Winfield, TN (16), 17.274; 3. 20, Jimmy Owens, Newport, TN (32), 17.282; 4. 5, Don O’Neal, Martinsville, IN (30), 17.441; 5. 25C, Shane Clanton, Zebulon, GA (7), 17.468; 6. 18B, Shannon Babb, Moweaqua, IL (2), 17.471; 7. 32, Chris Simpson, Marion, IA (33), 17.489; 8. 98, Jason Rauen, Farley, IA (13), 17.603; 9. 15, Darrell Lanigan, Union, KY (24), 17.633; 10. 1, Earl Pearson Jr., Trinity, NC (23), 17.651; 11. 99JR, Frank Heckenast Jr., Frankfurt, IL (6), 17.684; 12. 21, Billy Moyer, Batesville, AR (11), 17.715; 13. 21JR, Billy Moyer Jr., Batesville, AR (10), 17.746; 14. 51M, Joey Moriarty, Phoenix, AZ (9), 17.749; 15. 31, Jason Utter, Columbus Junction, IA (19), 17.774; 16. 7, Ricky Weiss, Headingley, MB, Can. (20), 17.776; 17. 32P, Bobby Pierce, Oakwood, IL (25), 17.780; 18. 33X, Ricky Thornton Jr., Chandler, AZ (3), 17.824; 19. 33, Nick Marolf, Moscow, IA (1), 17.848; 20. 48L, Tim Lance, Brimfield, IL (15), 17.849; 21. B5, Brandon Sheppard, New Berlin, IL (14), 17.888; 22. 7R, Kent Robinson, Bloomington, IN (17), 18.069; 23. 15X, Justin Duty, Happy Valley, OR (22), 18.161; 24. 19R, Ryan Gustin, Marshalltown, IA (27), 18.247; 25. 1M, Rob Moss, Iowa City, IA (26), 18.255; 26. 54, Mike Fryer, Freeport, IL (21), 18.389; 27. 75, Colton Flinner, Allison Park, PA (4), 18.417; 28. 93, Jay Johnson, West Burlington, IA (18), 18.502; 29. 74M, Mitch McGrath, Waukesha, WI (28), 18.602; 30. 0KB, Kerry King Jr., Delmar, DE (5), 18.715; 31. 5D, John Duty, Happy Valley, OR (31), 18.854; 32. 1V, Vic Hill, Greenville, TN (12), 18.383; DQ (No Report to Scales) 12, Ray Guss Jr., East Moline, IL (29), 17.975.

Group B Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. 17M, Dale McDowell, Chickamauga, GA (1), 17.402; 2. 0, Scott Bloomquist, Mooresburg, TN (27), 17.437; 3. 15F, Steve Francis, Ashland, KY (19), 17.451; 4. 22, Greg Satterlee, Indiana, PA (22), 17.580; 5. 39M, Tim McCreadie, Watertown, NY (29), 17.588; 6. 20X, Rodney Sanders, Happy, TX (7), 17.621; 7. 18, Chase Junghans, Manhattan, KS (21), 17.633; 8. 28, Dennis Erb Jr., Carpentersville, IL (10), 17.663; 9. 91, Tyler Erb, Houston, TX (11), 17.680; 10. 96T, RC Whitwell, Tucson, AZ (3), 17.722; 11. J0, Jake O’Neil, Tucson, AZ (2), 17.773; 12. 58, Dave Eckrich, Oxford, IA (6), 17.790; 13. 40B, Kyle Bronson, Brandon, FL (15), 17.797; 14. 25, Chad Simpson, Mount Vernon, IA (31), 17.877; 15. 25F, Jason Feger, Bloomington, IL (16), 18.025; 16. 6, Jonathan Davenport, Mount Airy, NC (20), 18.026; 17. 40, Joel Callahan, Dubuque, IA (12), 18.108; 18. 29D, Spencer Diercks, Davenport, IA (5), 18.126; 19. 39, Rob Toland, Davenport, IA (30), 18.145; 20. 28M, Jimmy Mars, Menomonie, WI (18), 18.162; 21. 24, Ryan Unzicker, El Paso, IL (28), 18.178; 22. 14M, Morgan Bagley, Longview, TX (4), 18.190; 23. B1, Brent Larson, Lake Elmo, MN (32), 18.210; 24. 33C, Chad Mahder, Eau Claire, WI (8), 18.224; 25. 2H, Nick Hoffman, Mooresville, NC (24), 18.235; 26. 51, Matt Furman, Portland, OR (13), 18.246; 27. 21B, Rich Bell, Sheffield, IL (14), 18.398; 28. 25Z, Mason Zeigler, Chalk Hill, PA (9), 18.835; 29. 42, Doug Sanders, McAdenville, NC (26), 18.966; 30. 07, Brian Ledbetter, Dallas, NC (17), 19.508; DQ (Did Not Report to Scales) 22C, Charlie McKenna, Clear Lake, IA (25), 19.133; DQ (Light at Scales) 32C, Chad Holladay, Muscatine, IA (23), NT.

Group A Heat one (started), 12 Laps, 3:38.8 (NTR): 1. Josh Richards (8); 2. Chris Simpson (6); 3. Kent Robinson (1) / 4. Earl Pearson Jr. (5); 5. Don O’Neal (7); 6. Billy Moyer Jr. (4) / 7. Nick Marolf (2); 8. Ricky Weiss (3); 9. Rob Moss (9) / 10. Jay Johnson (10); 11. John Duty (11);

Group A Heat two (started), 12 Laps, 3:38.1 (NTR): 1. Tim Lance (2); 2. Joey Moriarty (4); 3. Mike Marlar (8) / 4. Frank Heckenast Jr. (5); 5. Jason Rauen (6); 6. Bobby Pierce (3) / 7. Justin Duty (1); 8. Vic Hill (9); 9. Mike Fryer (7) / 10. Mitch McGrath (10); DNS – 11. Shane Clanton

Group A Heat three (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Brandon Sheppard (2); 2. Shannon Babb (7); 3. Jimmy Owens (8) / 4. Billy Moyer (5); 5. Darrell Lanigan (6); 6. Jason Utter (4) / 7. Ricky Thornton Jr. (3); 8. Kerry King Jr. (10); 9. Colton Flinner (9) / 10. Ryan Gustin (1); 11. Ray Guss Jr. (11)

Group B Heat one (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Chase Junghans (6); 2. Jonathan Davenport (3); 3. Dale McDowell (8) / 4. Morgan Bagley (1); 5. Kyle Bronson (4); 6. Nick Hoffman (9) / 7. RC Whitwell (5); 8. Greg Satterlee (7); 9. Mason Zeigler (10) / 10. Rob Toland (2); DNS – Charlie McKenna (11)

Group B Heat two (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Dennis Erb Jr. (6); 2. Scott Bloomquist (8); 3. Jimmy Mars (2) / 4. Chad Simpson (4); 5. Tim McCreadie (7); 6. Joel Callahan (3) / 7. Matt Furman (9); 8. Brent Larson (1); 9. Doug Sanders (10) / 10. Jake O’Neil (5) DNS – 11. Chad Holladay (11)

Group B Heat three (started), 12 Laps, 3:42.3: 1. Chad Mahder (1); 2. Spencer Diercks (3); 3. Rodney Sanders (7) / 4. Ryan Unzicker (2); 5. Steve Francis (8); 6. Tyler Erb (6) / 7. Dave Eckrich (5); 8. Jason Feger (4); 9. Rich Bell (9) / 10. Brian Ledbetter (10);

D main (Not Run): 1. Rob Toland (4); 2. Jay Johnson (5); 3. Brian Ledbetter (6); 4. John Duty (9) / DNS – 5. Shane Clanton (1); 6. Jake O’Neil (2); 7. Ryan Gustin (3); 8. Mitch McGrath (7); 9. Charlie McKenna (8); 10. Chad Holladay (10); 11. Ray Guss Jr. (11);

C main (started), 12 Laps, NT: 1. Greg Satterlee (2); 2. Ricky Thornton Jr. (3); 3. Ricky Weiss (1); 4. RC Whitwell (4) / 5. Nick Marolf (5); 6. Rich Bell (10); 7. Jason Feger (8); 8. Vic Hill (15); 9. Rob Toland (17); 10. Justin Duty (7); 11. Mike Fryer (11); 12. Rob Moss (9); 13. Colton Flinner (13); 14. John Duty (22); 15. Brian Ledbetter (19); 16. Doug Sanders (14); 17. Mason Zeigler (12); 18. Brent Larson (20); 19. Jay Johnson (16); 20. Dave Eckrich (6) DNS – 21. Matt Furman; 22. Kerry King Jr.

B main (started), 15 Laps, NT: 1. Tim McCreadie (4); 2. Don O’Neal (1); 3. Darrell Lanigan (5); 4. Earl Pearson Jr. (7); 5. Steve Francis (2); 6. Billy Moyer (11) / 7. Chad Simpson (10); 8. Kyle Bronson (8); 9. Frank Heckenast Jr. (9); 10. Tyler Erb (6); 11. Ricky Weiss (21); 12. RC Whitwell (22); 13. Jason Rauen (3); 14. Billy Moyer Jr. (13); 15. Ryan Unzicker (14); 16. Greg Satterlee (19); 17. Ricky Thornton Jr. (20); 18. Nick Hoffman (18); 19. Morgan Bagley (16); 20. Jason Utter (15); 21. Bobby Pierce (17); 22. Joel Callahan (12)

A main, 25 Laps, NT: 1. Josh Richards (7); 2. Jimmy Owens (3); 3. Shannon Babb (1); 4. Dale McDowell (8); 5. Mike Marlar (5); 6. Rodney Sanders (4); 7. Jimmy Mars (16); 8. Scott Bloomquist (6); 9. Jonathan Davenport (12); 10. Chris Simpson (9); 11. Tim McCreadie (19); 12. Chad Mahder (18); 13. Don O’Neal (20); 14. Darrell Lanigan (21); 15. Dennis Erb Jr. (10); 16. Joey Moriarty (11); 17. Tim Lance (13); 18. Earl Pearson Jr. (22); 19. Steve Francis (23); 20. Spencer Diercks (14); 21. Kent Robinson (17); 22. Brandon Sheppard (15); 23. Billy Moyer (24); 24. Chase Junghans (2). Lap Leaders: Owens 1, Babb 2-18, Richards 19-25. Hard-charger: Mars.

Saturday Lineups for the 13^th Annual Lucas Oil Late Model Nationals presented by Casey’s General Stores