After scoring a solid third-place finish in last Saturday night’s 50-lap A-Main at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., Richards returned to his Valvoline-sponsored Mark Richards Racing Enterprises team’s home base in Shinnston, W.Va., with a slim six-point edge over Shane Clanton in the battle for the circuit championship.

“We’re doing what we have to do right now,” said Richards, who is chasing his third WoO LMS title. “There’s still a long way to go this season, but we got another top-three finish (at I-30) and that’s what you have to do to win championships.”

The 25-year-old finished outside the top four just once in four WoO LMS A-Mains over the past four weeks – and that blemish came in a race that he dominated until a late-race tangle with a lapped car ended his bid for a third 2013 World of Outlaws victory in heartbreaking fashion. On April 28 at Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn., Richards took the lead at the initial green flag and appeared to be cruising to the checkered flag in the 50-lapper when contact with a lapped machine spun him into the outside wall on the homestretch, forcing him to restart at the rear of the field and settle for a ninth-place finish.

Prior to the disappointment at Duck River, Richards registered finishes of third on April 20 at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall, N.C., and fourth on April 26 at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. Five additional WoO LMS events over the past four weather-plagued weekends were rained out: April 19 at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway; April 27 at Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway; May 3 at Lavonia (Ga.) Speedway; May 4 at Swainsboro (Ga.) Raceway; and May 11 at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss. Only the Lavonia event has been rescheduled, for Tues., Nov. 5.

Actually, even last Saturday night’s event at I-30 Speedway was affected by rain. The tour’s first-ever visit there was scheduled for last Friday night, but grounds saturated by heavy prevented racing that evening and then track and WoO LMS officials moved the event to Saturday night after Whynot officials decided to cancel their Saturday show due to extremely wet grounds and a wet race-day forecast.

Richards was strong in his first career start at the quarter-mile Arkansas oval known as Hammer Hill, winning a heat race and advancing from the sixth starting spot to place third in the 50-lap A-Main behind winner Clanton and Darrell Lanigan.

“The (feature) draw definitely bit us tonight,” said Richards, who redrew sixth – the worst starting spot possible among the top-two finishers from each heat – for the A-Main. “We had a good car, but sometimes it’s hard to overcome starting sixth. With all good guys in front of you, that makes it hard to get up through there and get in the mix for the win.

“It was a tough track to pass on too. It was just so slippery that you just couldn’t carry enough speed through the middle to get by the guy running the bottom. I tried running up there a little bit and it was good for a lap or two on the restarts, but then you had to get back down.

“It was definitely the slickest track I’ve been on in the south. It was more like a Northern track. It was fun to drive on, but you just need a little bit of something to make a speed difference between the top and bottom so you can move around and pass cars.

“We’re happy, though,” he concluded. “It was a good night for us. We’ll take it and move on.”

Richards plans to take this weekend off from competition as he gears up for the coming heart of the racing schedule. His next action will come over Memorial Day weekend when he enters WoO LMS events on May 24 at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, and May 25-26 at Tyler County Speedway in Middlebourne, W.Va. (Jackpot 100 featuring a $6,000-to-win 30-lapper on May 25 and a $15,000-to-win 70-lapper on May 26).

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s, Ace Welding, Petroff Towing, Sallack Well Service, Tony Stewart Racing, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Sweet Manufacturing, Slavic Custom Tee Shirts And Graphics, Brown and Miller, Brazwell Carburetors, Bazell Racing Fuels, ButlerBuilt Seat, Beyea Headers, Performance Rod and Custom, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Frankland Rear Ends, Simpson Safety Equipment, J E Pistons, Strange Oval, Wrisco Aluminum, R2C Filters, Aurora Rod Ends, Snap On Tools, Scott Wires, Trick Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Jones Racing Products, Howe Racing, Performance Bodies, Turbo Start Batteries, Brinn Transmissions, Eagle One, Car Brite, ATL Fuel Cells, Dohm’s Cycles, Weld Wheels, Barnes Oil Systems, Tel-Tac, MSD Ignitions.

After his scheduled trip to Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Oh., for WoO LMS action last weekend was halted when poor weather prompted track and series officials to postpone the event on Thursday morning, the 25-year-old and his Valvoline-sponsored Rocket Chassis house car team quickly changed their plans to enter the inaugural National Dirt Racing League (NDRL) doubleheader at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo. The decision paid off as Richards drove to a convincing $20,000 victory in Friday night’s Let’s Get Dirty 75 at Paducah and was in contention to win Saturday evening’s 75-lapper at I-55 until a flat tire doomed him to a 13th-place finish.

“I can’t complain at all about our weekend,” said Richards. “Considering we had no intention of going to the NDRL races until the (World of Outlaws) show at Wayne County was called off (the Buckeye 50 was rescheduled for May 24), it was awesome to end up with a win at Paducah and run up front at Pevely.”

Making his third career start at the three-eighths-mile, high-banked Paducah oval, Richards stood out as the class of the field in the historic first-ever NDRL event. He took the lead from Jared Landers on lap three and dominated the remainder of the 75-lap distance, mastering the track’s fast, physical surface to build edges of more than a straightaway before a late caution flag shrunk his final winning margin over Jimmy Owens.

“We were one of the fastest cars in hot laps, qualified second and won our heat,” said Richards, who earned his second $20,000 triumph and fifth overall checkered flag of the young 2013 season. “Then we had a good enough car to stay up front the whole race and pull it off.

“Any race you win makes you feel good, but there are some that are definitely a little more special,” he continued. “It’s not really about what it pays – although that’s nice – but more a matter of who all is there. Like, when you go to Volusia (Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals in February), some of those races only pay $7,000 (to win), but you still got so many great cars there that it makes winning one of those races so much more prestigious. That’s kind of what I felt winning at Paducah.

“Not that a normal World of Outlaws race isn’t hard to win. It’s just that for some races, like at Paducah, you have a broader band of competition. You’re running against guys you don’t normally race with so you don’t know as much about how they race, and that makes it exciting to come out on top.”

Richards flirted with pulling off an amazing sweep of the NDRL weekend at I-55, the high-banked, one-third-mile oval where he’s won a WoO LMS A-Main in the past. He grabbed the lead from Billy Moyer on lap 23 of the 75-lapper and appeared stout for the second consecutive night, but he was overtaken for the top spot on lap 46 by eventual winner Owens and three circuits later slowed with a flat right-rear tire that ended his chances at victory.

“We did everything we could to win both races but we just had a little bad racing luck on Saturday,” said Richards, who pitted and returned but rallied to 13th at the finish. “My car kept getting freer and freer after that restart (before losing the lead), but I didn’t know if my tire was going down or what. Finally it went down and that was it for us.

“I know (Owens) was really good on the bottom (groove), but I feel like if we wouldn’t have had the flat I still could have run that line up high and at least had a shot at running with him. We needed to be a little bit tighter, but we still had a great racecar and were still in contention. We still definitely had a shot at winning, so that makes me feel good.”

While the weekend could have been downright spectacular with a Pevely checkered flag, Richards was more than satisfied with his results.

“We worked hard to do what we did,” said Richards. “We had the car on the jig at one point during the week checking things out, and right before we left for Paducah we decided to pull the motor out and do some work to the front end. Then we got it all back together, drove out to Paducah, unloaded solid and kept it up the whole night. It was a lot of work, but it was good to go there and know that we could get the job done.

“This is a humbling sport,” he added. “You could win one night and not make the race the next night, so we’re just trying to enjoy everything, have fun and try to get better for the next race. It’s been a great year already, but everyone else is working to try and catch up so we’re doing everything we can to try and stay on top of it.”

Richards will return to WoO LMS action this weekend, carrying the tour’s points lead into a doubleheader in North Carolina on April 19 at Fayetteville Motor Speedway and April 20 at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall. He owns two career WoO LMS wins at Fayetteville but will make his first-ever start at 311.

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s, Ace Welding, Petroff Towing, Sallack Well Service, Tony Stewart Racing, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Sweet Manufacturing, Slavic Custom Tee Shirts And Graphics, Brown and Miller, Brazwell Carburetors, Bazell Racing Fuels, ButlerBuilt Seat, Beyea Headers, Performance Rod and Custom, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Frankland Rear Ends, Simpson Safety Equipment, J E Pistons, Strange Oval, Wrisco Aluminum, R2C Filters, Aurora Rod Ends, Snap On Tools, Scott Wires, Trick Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Jones Racing Products, Howe Racing, Performance Bodies, Turbo Start Batteries, Brinn Transmissions, Eagle One, Car Brite, ATL Fuel Cells, Dohm’s Cycles, Weld Wheels, Barnes Oil Systems, Tel-Tac, MSD Ignitions.

Richards, 25, of Shinnston, W.Va., kicked off back-to-back nights of competition with a solid third-place finish in Saturday’s 50-lap World of Outlaws Late Model Series A-Main at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall, N.C. He then stopped at West Virginia Motor Speedway in Mineral Wells on Sunday night for a Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series event and put on a show, rallying from an opening-lap wall-slap and pit stop for servicing to claim a hard-charging runner-up finish in the 50-lap feature.

“You can’t complain about the weekend we had,” said Richards, whose scheduled Friday-night visit to Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway for a WoO LMS program was called off that morning by track officials due to approaching severe storms. “I was a little disappointed with 311 because we started on the pole (in the A-Main) and had a shot to get out front to try to win another race, but we couldn’t capitalize. We just weren’t good enough, but we’ll take a third any day because those are the kind of runs that help you win a championship.

“And we came up just short in the Lucas race at West Virginia, but considering the way the race started out I never would have expected to finish second. It’s never easy to come from the back in any race and it’s especially hard when the car’s bent up, but we were able to get up through there and challenge for the win.”

Richards very nearly pulled off an unforgettable win at the four-tenths-mile West Virginia Motor Speedway (WVMS), which was shortened from its former five-eighths-mile length in 2012. He started eighth in the feature but got into the outside wall in turn three on the opening circuit, forcing him to pit on lap two and then restart at the rear of a talent-laden field.

“Getting into turn three there is really, really deceiving,” Richards said of WVMS. “There were a couple drivers who told me that, but until you go out there and run a little bit it’s really hard to tell.

“Early in the night when the track was faster and had grip in it, (turn three) was really no issue because we had been running lower through three and four. But we started eighth in the feature, and we made a bunch of changes to the car and I felt really good through one and two. But in the feature I just drove in on the outside of a couple guys in three, and when you think you’re at the top, you’re already two lanes past the top where you need to be turning in. The track just loses banking right there and has no grip, and I got up there and got just a little bit tight. I went to throttle out of it and didn’t realize I was already in the wall.

“We bent the right-front suspension pretty bad,” he continued. “I thought we were actually done. I pulled into the pits thinking I would have to get out of the car, but I said, ‘Well, I’ll go back out and see if it’s any good, and if it isn’t I’ll just pull because we’ve got nothing to lose.’ We just decided to start in the back, and the next thing you knew we were picking cars off one at a time. It felt really, really good.”

Despite the bent right-front suspension on his Valvoline-sponsored Rocket Chassis house car, Richards fought his way forward to sit fifth on a restart with just over 10 laps remaining. He advanced to second with six laps remaining and quickly slashed into leader Eddie Carrier Jr.’s edge, but Carrier hung on for the victory.

“Towards the end of the race we were right there,” said Richards. “We were fifth on a restart with 15, 20 laps to go, and I felt like we had a really good shot at it. We got to second and were right on Carrier at the end. I felt like a few more laps we might have had something for him, but he did a really good job and we ran out of time.”

The runner-up finish left Richards continuing to chase his first-ever victory in his home state.

“We’re still working on that,” Richards said with a smile. “Winning a race in West Virginia is definitely on the bucket list. I haven’t raced a lot in West Virginia in my career, but I really want to win one in my home state. I’d like to get one – one of these days.”

Richards will carry the WoO LMS points lead into the tour’s triple header in Tennessee this weekend. His schedule shows World of Outlaws shows on Friday (April 26) at Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Saturday (April 27) at Tazewell Speedway and Sunday (April 28) at Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel.

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s, Ace Welding, Petroff Towing, Sallack Well Service, Tony Stewart Racing, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Sweet Manufacturing, Slavic Custom Tee Shirts And Graphics, Brown and Miller, Brazwell Carburetors, Bazell Racing Fuels, ButlerBuilt Seat, Beyea Headers, Performance Rod and Custom, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Frankland Rear Ends, Simpson Safety Equipment, J E Pistons, Strange Oval, Wrisco Aluminum, R2C Filters, Aurora Rod Ends, Snap On Tools, Scott Wires, Trick Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Jones Racing Products, Howe Racing, Performance Bodies, Turbo Start Batteries, Brinn Transmissions, Eagle One, Car Brite, ATL Fuel Cells, Dohm’s Cycles, Weld Wheels, Barnes Oil Systems, Tel-Tac, MSD Ignitions.

For starters, Richards won a 15-lap heat race during last Friday night’s qualifying program. He also was well on his way to contending for a top-five finish – perhaps even a $20,000 victory – in the 100-lap headliner until a loss of power-steering in his Valvoline-sponsored/Roush Yates-powered Rocket Chassis dive-bombed his hopes.

And above all else, the 25-year-old from Shinnston, W.Va., managed to tough out a finish high enough in the rundown to maintain his lead in the WoO LMS points standings.

“I honestly feel like we had a car good enough to run up through there and maybe challenge for the win,” said Richards, who made his first WoO LMS start since the tour’s season-opening eight-race swing through Georgia and Florida in February. “I know (winner Jason) Feger was good, but we had a real good car. It took us a few laps to get going, but we were really starting to come on when we lost the power steering.”

Indeed, Richards, who started seventh in the Illini 100 but slipped back a couple spots at the initial green flag, had just moved into sixth place and was knocking on the door of the top five when his machine’s rare mechanical malfunction occurred just as the race’s first caution flag flew on lap 25. He pitted during the caution period and returned, but he spent the remainder of the distance struggling to manhandle his car around the fast bullring, ultimately finishing one lap down in 12th place.

“As soon as that caution came out we lost the power steering,” said Richards. “It was tough to drive after that. I pulled in (to the work area), but there wasn’t anything they could do. I was just holding on after that. I was just trying to stay out of the way. I couldn’t run the way I needed to run – if I hit a hole, it would just jerk the wheel out of my hands.

Richards failed to register a top 10 finish for the first time in his five career Illini 100 starts, but leaving Farmer City with a 12th-place run on his record mitigated what could have been a very bad night. He remained atop the WoO LMS points standings after nine events, leading Shane Clanton by two points.

“It’s disappointing that we had to be out there just trying to salvage what we could when I felt like we had a car that could win,” said Richards. “But when you’re running for a championship, sometimes you’ll have nights where things don’t go right. You just have to keep digging and get the best finish you can and that’s what we did.”

With this weekend’s WoO LMS action at Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio, wiped out by unfavorable weather (after the originally scheduled multi-day Buckeye 100 was condensed to a single 50-lapper on Sat., April 13, by poor forecasts, track and series officials decided on Thursday to postpone the Saturday program to May 24 due to heavy rain saturating the grounds), Richards and his Rocket Chassis house car team plan to enter this weekend’s inaugural National Dirt Racing League doubleheader. The NDRL will conduct 75-lap, $20,000-to-win events on Fri., April 12, at Paducah (Ky.) International Raceway and Sat., April 13, at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo.

The WoO LMS action for Richards will be a doubleheader in North Carolina, on April 19 at Fayetteville Motor Speedway and April 20 at 311 Motor Speedway in Pine Hall.

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s, Ace Welding, Petroff Towing, Sallack Well Service, Tony Stewart Racing, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Sweet Manufacturing, Slavic Custom Tee Shirts And Graphics, Brown and Miller, Brazwell Carburetors, Bazell Racing Fuels, ButlerBuilt Seat, Beyea Headers, Performance Rod and Custom, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Frankland Rear Ends, Simpson Safety Equipment, J E Pistons, Strange Oval, Wrisco Aluminum, R2C Filters, Aurora Rod Ends, Snap On Tools, Scott Wires, Trick Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Jones Racing Products, Howe Racing, Performance Bodies, Turbo Start Batteries, Brinn Transmissions, Eagle One, Car Brite, ATL Fuel Cells, Dohm’s Cycles, Weld Wheels, Barnes Oil Systems, Tel-Tac, MSD Ignitions.

After hoisting the unique bronze gator-shaped trophy he received on Saturday night (Feb. 23) for claiming the Late Model points championship of the 42nd UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Richards finally had an opportunity to sit back and reflect on a three-week racing odyssey that exceeded even his own lofty expectations.

“We worked really hard all winter to come down here with hopes of starting the season on a strong note,” said Richards, who is returning to regular dirt Late Model competition in 2013 while continuing to pursue opportunities in the NASCAR Nationwide Series where he competed last year. “We jelled right off the bat and just kept building momentum the whole trip. It’s all about working hard and making the right decisions, and for the most part we were able to do that and were successful because of it.”

Richards, 24, put up some spectacular statistics over the past three weeks behind the wheel of his Valvoline-sponsored/Roush Yates-powered Rocket Chassis machines. In 11 events spread over three tracks, he registered four A-Main victories – winning at least once at each speedway he visited – nine top-five and 10 top-10 finishes. And buoyed by a $20,000-plus triumph in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series Super Sunday Showdown on Feb. 16 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., his earnings for the stretch totaled $63,650.

In addition, with eight of his appearances coming in WoO LMS shows, his pursuit of a third career championship on the national tour is off to a great start. He won two A-Mains (Feb. 9 at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., and Feb. 16 at BRP), recorded seven top-five finishes (worst outing: seventh place), earned three fast-time honors and won six heat races – and, of course, headed home sitting the atop the WoO LMS standings by 18 points over Shane Clanton.

“It feels real good to come out of Florida with a bunch of good runs under our belt, especially in the Outlaw shows,” said Richards.  “When you leave here and you’re struggling, it’s hard to get built back up for the rest of the year.

“The start we’ve had definitely gives us confidence. Obviously, Darrell (Lanigan), (Shane) Clanton, (Tim) McCreadie and (Rick) Eckert had some great runs too and they look like they’ll be tough all year. But they’re always fun to race with, so it looks like it’ll be a fun year. We just have to go out there and do what we can to try and beat them to accomplish our goal of winning the World of Outlaws championship.”

Richards capped his southern excursion by standing in the spotlight following Saturday night’s UNOH DIRTcar Nationals by Summit finale at Volusia as the mid-winter racing meet’s points champion. He clinched the crown with a hard-fought second-place finish to Lanigan after starting 12th in Saturday’s 50-lap WoO LMS A-Main.

“It’s an honor to win the DIRTcar Nationals championship,” said Richards, who beat out McCreadie for the points title. “There’s so many great drivers in the pits (at Volusia) and you do so much hard racing for six straight nights, it means a lot to end up as the guy with the most points when everything’s all over.”

Richards started the DIRTcar Nationals with back-to-back $7,000 triumphs in DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned 30-lappers on Feb. 18 and 19. After his only truly forgettable evening of the month – he was involved in an opening-lap crash in the Feb. 20 DIRTcar UMP finale and was credited with a 22nd-place finish – he strung together WoO LMS finishes of fifth (Feb. 21), seventh (Feb. 22) and second (Feb. 23).

Richards did admit, however, after the final checkered flag fell at Volusia on Saturday night that he was looking forward to heading home and taking some time to regroup for the season ahead. After all, he left West Virginia with his team on Feb. 2 to get in some practice down south before the WoO LMS opener at Screven.

“It’s a long time on the road,” Richards said following the completion of Volusia’s week of competition. “We’ve spent one night out of the truck in the last 22 days and had a real shower.

“There were times during the trip when things got stressful, but being that we were successful made it easier and definitely made the time fly by. We’re definitely ready for a break, though.”

Richards’s next scheduled action is a tripleheader WoO LMS weekend on March 22 at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark.; March 23 at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss.; and March 24 at Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn.

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s, Ace Welding, Petroff Towing, Sallack Well Service, Tony Stewart Racing, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Hoosier Racing Tires, Sunoco Racing Fuels, Keyser Manufacturing, Integra Shocks, Sweet Manufacturing, Slavic Custom Tee Shirts And Graphics, Brown and Miller, Brazwell Carburetors, Bazell Racing Fuels, ButlerBuilt Seat, Beyea Headers, Performance Rod and Custom, Wilwood Disc Brakes, Frankland Rear Ends, Simpson Safety Equipment, J E Pistons, Strange Oval, Wrisco Aluminum, R2C Filters, Aurora Rod Ends, Snap On Tools, Scott Wires, Trick Carbon Fiber Drive Shafts, Five Star Bodies, Jones Racing Products, Howe Racing, Performance Bodies, Turbo Start Batteries, Brinn Transmissions, Eagle One, Car Brite, ATL Fuel Cells, Dohm’s Cycles, Weld Wheels, Barnes Oil Systems, Tel-Tac, MSD Ignitions.

With a victory and runner-up finish in the national tour’s season-opening Winter Freeze doubleheader weekend at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga., the 24-year-old from Shinnston, W.Va., made it clear that he’s primed and ready to chase a third career circuit championship.

“It’s awesome to come back and start the season like this,” said Richards, who is planning to follow the WoO LMS in 2013 while continuing to pursue opportunities on the NASCAR Nationwide Series that he competed on last year. “We have great help – my dad, Matt (Barnes), Cody (Duncan) – and we’ve been working really hard over the winter building some new cars and trying to get our stuff better.

“After all that work and having Valvoline come on board (as a primary sponsor), starting the season with a win and a second is really cool. Hopefully we can keep it up the rest of the year.”

Sitting behind the wheel of a brand-new Roush Yates-powered Rocket Chassis machine from the Mark Richards Racing Enterprises stable, Richards ushered in the 2013 WoO LMS campaign with a solid second-place finish in Friday night’s 40-lap season opener at the three-eighths-mile Peach State oval. He moved up from the third starting spot to second at the initial green flag and stayed there behind eventual winner Shane Clanton for the entire distance.

“Clanton was definitely better,” Richards said after Friday’s feature event. “I was just a little free. We experimented with a lot of stuff (on Friday) and I feel like we had a really good car, but it’s hard when you try new things and don’t know how far to go. It’s a brand-new car and it felt great, but we just kind of maintained where we were all race, just held onto our track position.”

Richards turned the tables on Clanton on Saturday evening, finding that extra bit of speed necessary to reach Victory Lane. He passed Mike Marlar for the lead on lap six and never looked back, holding off a furious late-race challenge from Clanton to pocket $10,150 for his 40th career WoO LMS triumph. His final margin of victory over Clanton was a scant 0.405 of a second.

“I knew Clanton’s been really, really good and we had a lot of tire chatter the last five or six laps, so I knew he was gonna be trying to come,” said Richards, whose victory moved him within one checkered flag of tying Darrell Lanigan for the lead on the all-time WoO LMS win list. “We just had to try to stay on the infield and try to keep the right-rear out of the black – and just try to hold on. I think a few more laps he probably would’ve gotten us, but it was just enough.

“(On Friday night) we ran second but we just didn’t feel that great, so we just kind of went back with what we know for the heat race. From that point on the car just picked up and I knew we had something to try to win tonight.”

Richards ended the weekend tied for the WoO LMS points lead with Clanton. He will attempt to continue his strong burst out of the gate when the tour goes to Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., for the Bubba Army Late Model Winter Nationals on Feb. 15-17 and Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment on Feb. 21-23. Richards will also enter three DIRTcar UMP-sanctioned Late Model shows on Feb. 18-20 at Volusia.

“Everyone’s picked up the pace (on the WoO LMS this year) and we’re just gonna have to get after it and see what we can do,” said Richards, whose last four seasons as a WoO LMS regular have resulted in two championships (2009-10) and a pair of runner-up points finishes (2008, 2011). “This is definitely a great start toward accomplishing our goal, though.”

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1 and on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JoshRichardsRacing.

Josh Richards’s No. 1 team carries support from Valvoline, Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s Enterprises, Kentucky Fuel Corporation, ACE Metal Works, Petroff Towing, Tony Stewart Racing, Sunoco, Hoosier Racing Tire, Integra Shocks & Springs, Slavic Shirts & Decals, AEM, ATI Racing Fuel Cells, Aurora Bearings, Autolite, Banshee Graphics, Barnes Oil Systems, Beyea Headers, Brinn Transmissions, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Braswell Carbs, Butler Built, CV Products, Dart Heads, Dohm Cycles, Dyers Rods, Fram Filters, Frankland Rear Ends, Howe Racing Products, Jones Racing Products, Kwik Change Products, LSI, Mason Racin’, MSD Ignition, Outerwears Filters, Port City Racing, Performance Bodies, Performance Friction Brakes, PRC Hotrod, Ringers Gloves, Scott Performance Wire, Simpson Racing Products, Sweet Manufacturing, TWM, Trick Driveshafts, Turbostart, US Brake, Weld Racing, Wehrs Machine, Wilwood and Wrisco Aluminum.

Richards, of Shinnston, West Virginia, is returning as a WoO LMS regular, but remains committed to pursuing a driving career in the NASCAR ranks. With no full-time ride currently in hand for 2013, he will keep himself very busy by following the renowned dirt Late Model circuit on which he grew from a talented teenage racer to a national star.

“I’ve been fortunate with the opportunities I’ve been given (in NASCAR), but it’s just so hard to find that major sponsor and solid team that will allow you to race every weekend,” said Richards. “We’re not losing sight of that goal, but I love to race – racing is my life – so I’m going to go race where I can and right now that’s on dirt.”

The 2013 WoO LMS campaign, which consists a record-setting schedule of 54 events at 42 tracks across 21 states and two Canadian provinces, kicks off this weekend (February 8-9) with the “Winter Freeze” doubleheader at Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Georgia. The tour’s season-opening Southeast swing also includes the Bubba Army Late Model Winter Nationals on February 15-17 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida, and the UNOH DIRTcar Nationals Presented by Summit Racing Equipment on February 21-23 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Florida.

“I’m excited to get started,” said Richards, whose last four seasons as a WoO LMS regular produced two titles in 2009 and 2010) and a pair of runner-up points finishes in 2008 and 2011. “I’ve been home working in the shop non-stop since after the World Finals (last November at The Dirt Track at Charlotte) and I feel like we’re more prepared (for the WoO LMS) than we’ve ever been. Help-wise and equipment-wise, I think we’re in really good shape.

“You need good help to be a success, and we have plenty of that with (crewmen) Matt Barnes and Cody Duncan and my dad. It’s good to have a bunch of guys all working toward the same goal, winning races and the World of Outlaws championship.”

With two new Rocket Chassis cars ready for action to start the season and powerful Roush Yates engines at his disposal, Richards is confident that he can battle defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan and the rest of the tour regulars for the crown. When he departed the series last year after seven events he was in the thick of the championship hunt, sitting second in the standings, 36 points behind Lanigan.

Richards is taking nothing for granted, however.

“I know we’ve had a lot of success the last few years that we ran with the Outlaws,” said Richards, who won twice in 13 WoO LMS starts last season to push his career win total on the tour to 39 (just two behind Lanigan’s current record of 41 victories). “We won a lot of races and were a contender for the title the last three times we ran the series, and I expect us to do well again just because I know how much effort and work we’ve put into this, but then again, nothing’s easy.

“Without a doubt, we’re going to have to work for everything we earn this year. Everyone’s been doing their homework during the off season, so we’re just going to have to do what we can to try and stay ahead of everybody.”

Richards will get some extra motivation for his dirt Late Model effort from his new affiliation with Valvoline, the famed brand of oil that joins a list of Richards’s sponsors that includes Seubert Calf Ranches, Ernie D’s Enterprises, Kentucky Fuel Corporation, ACE Metal Works and Petroff Towing.

“We’ve had a relationship with Valvoline since 2002 and I’m proud to have this iconic brand on board as our major sponsor in 2013,” said Richards. “When you think of Valvoline, you think of racing.

“It means a lot to me personally to have them on the house car because the first race that I ran in 2003 (a special event for teenage racers during the Dirt Track World Championship), I drove one of Francis’s cars and Valvoline was on the car then. This will be my 10th anniversary season of racing, so having Valvoline join us is definitely a cool way to celebrate it.”

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Seubert Calf Ranches, Kentucky Fuel Corporation, Ernie D’s Enterprises, ACEMetal Works, Petroff Towing, Tony Stewart Racing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Racing Tires, Integra Shocks, Slavic Custom Decals, Valvoline, AFCO, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Bearing Company, Barnes Systems, Beyea Performance, Brinn Transmissions, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Braswell Carburetion, Butlerbuilt Seat Systems, CV Products, Dohm Cycles, Dyer’s Top Rods, Frankland Rearends, Howe Racing, Kwik Change Product, LSI, Mason Racin’, MSD Ignition, Outerwears, Performance Bodies, Performance Friction Brakes, Performance Rod & Custom, R2C Performance Products, Ringers Gloves, Scott Performance Wire, Simpson Race Products, Sweet Manufacturing, Tel Tech, TWM Racing Products, Trick Carbon Fiber Driveshafts, Jones Racing Products, TurboStart Racing Batteries, US Brake, Weld Racing Wheels, Wehr’s Machine, Wilwood and Wrisco Aluminum.

Honey Rentz Carrigan

Rising Star Management Group

hcarrigan@risingstarmg.com

(704) 658-7650

“I felt like our car was awesome and everybody did a great job,” said Richards, a two-time WoO LMS champion from Shinnston, W.Va., who celebrated his 24th birthday on March 22. “Early in the race I really felt like we had a shot to win, but once (the track surface) took rubber and ‘laned’ up everybody was fighting for the same spot and we were done.”

Richards managed to advance from the 12th starting spot to sixth before the 100-lap event’s halfway mark, but that was as far as he would go. Passing became difficult midway through the A-Main, leaving him to settle for a finish just outside the top five.

“Starting 12th, on a track like that – that was it for us,” said Richards. “We just started too deep (in the 28-car field).

“The track was rubbered a little bit before halfway, but you could still kind of maneuver. Then it just kept getting cleaner and cleaner, and for probably the last 50 laps you couldn’t do much.

“(The track-prep crew) worked it (before the start of the A-Main), but actually it got cleaner and drier, so if they would’ve left it alone I think the track would’ve lasted longer. But they tried to do what they could, and this time it didn’t work out. We’ll just have to take what we got.”

Driving his father Mark’s Kentucky Fuel Corporation/Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket No. 1, Richards timed 12th-fastest in Friday night’s 53-car qualifying session. He went on to finish second behind Brian Shirley in the last of six 15-lap heat races that evening, earning him the outside sixth-row starting spot for Saturday’s headliner.

Richards’s sixth-place finish in the Illini 100 was his fourth top-10 performance in as many runnings of the springtime spectacular. His previous finishes were sixth in 2008, third in ’09 and 10th in ’10.

It was also Richards’s sixth top-10 finish in seven WoO LMS A-Mains this season. He ended the night ranked second in the national tour’s points standings, 36 points behind Darrell Lanigan, who finished second in the Illini 100.

For more information on Josh Richards, visit www.joshrichards.com and follow him on Twitter at @Josh_Richards1.

Josh Richards’ No. 1 team carries support from Rocket Chassis, Roush Yates Engines, Seubert Calf Ranches, Kentucky Fuel Corporation, Ernie D’s Enterprises, ACE Metal Works, Petroff Towing, Tony Stewart Racing, Sunoco Race Fuels, Hoosier Racing Tires, Integra Shocks, Slavic Custom Decals, Valvoline, AFCO, ATL Fuel Cells, Aurora Bearing Company, Barnes Systems, Beyea Performance, Brinn Transmissions, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Braswell Carburetion, Butlerbuilt Seat Systems, CV Products, Dohm Cycles, Dyer’s Top Rods, Frankland Rearends, Howe Racing, Kwik Change Product, LSI, Mason Racin’, MSD Ignition, Outerwears, Performance Bodies, Performance Friction Brakes, Performance Rod & Custom, R2C Performance Products, Ringers Gloves, Scott Performance Wire, Simpson Race Products, Sweet Manufacturing, Tel Tech, TWM Racing Products, Trick Carbon Fiber Driveshafts, Jones Racing Products, TurboStart Racing Batteries, US Brake, Weld Racing Wheels, Wehr’s Machine, Wilwood and Wrisco Aluminum.