Josh Richards came from the sixth starting spot to dominate Friday Night’s Tribute to Don and Billie Gibson at Lucas Oil Speedway. Richards took the lead on lap six and went on for his second Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season and the 33rd of his career. The race was co-sanctioned with the Lucas Oil Midwest Latemodel Racing Association.
Several cautions closed gap between Richards and the field behind him, but each time Richards pulled away. He ultimately went unchallenged for the victory. Shane Clanton started alongside Richards in row number three and finished second to the West Virginia native.
Chris Ferguson failed to turn a lap in time trials but recovered nicely from a rough start to finish third after starting in 23rd. Brandon Sheppard made a late-race charge for fourth and Kyle Bronson rounded out the top five.
Brian Shirley led the first five laps until Richards passed him for the top spot. While Richards was pulling away, an entertaining battle for second was going on between Shirley and Scott Bloomquist. As Shirley and Bloomquist were racing hard for second Clanton was able to slip by both of them by the 27th circuit, right before a caution flag came out for Hudson O’Neal and Chase Junghans.
Sheppard made a daring move on the restart to climb to third place. Coming from inside of row 12, Ferguson was able to get by several drivers in the late going as he crossed the finish line in third.
“This team deserves to be up front,” said the 2017 LOLMDS [Richards] Champion in Lucas Oil Victory Lane. “We feel like we have been off the last couple of years from where I really want to be. I feel like if we can get some momentum, we can build on this. I was a little concerned with those late yellows, I feel like the right rear tire kind of greased-up a little on that long run. I was a little conservative on the corner entry, but after a couple of laps I could widen out my line.”
Clanton claimed second at the checkers. “I really needed the longer runs more than I needed those cautions. Those cautions at the end really hurt me. Overall, it was a good night, and it should put us in a good-starting spot tomorrow night.”
Ferguson ended his night on a high note after a tough start to begin the evening. “We changed rear ends after practice. We didn’t get to qualify so we had to battle all night. We had a good hot-rod tonight. We just needed a couple of more laps.”
The winner’s Clint Bowyer Racing Rocket Chassis is powered by a Cornett Racing Engine and is sponsored by iRacing, Rush Truck Centers, Big River Steel, Integra Shocks, Sunoco Race Fuels, Ford Performance, and Cometic Gasket.
Completing the top ten were Scott Bloomquist, Tim McCreadie, Brian Shirley, Jimmy Owens, and Earl Pearson Jr.
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Race Summary Tribute to Don and Billie GibsonFriday, May 28th, 2021Lucas Oil Speedway – Wheatland, MO
Allstar Performance Time TrialsFast Time Group A: Ricky Thornton Jr. / 14.931 seconds (overall)Fast Time Group B: Scott Bloomquist / 15.371 seconds
Penske Race Shocks Heat Race #1 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 3S-Brian Shirley[5]; 2. 18J-Chase Junghans[2]; 3. 20RT-Ricky Thornton Jr[1]; 4. 157-Mike Marlar[6]; 5. 1T-Tyler Erb[4]; 6. 15D-Justin Duty[7]; 7. 15L-Payton Looney[3]; 8. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 9. 7JR-Ryan Johnson[8]
Summit Racing Equipment Heat Race #2 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 40B-Kyle Bronson[2]; 2. 18-Shannon Babb[1]; 3. 2S-Stormy Scott[4]; 4. 0E-Rick Eckert[5]; 5. 93-Mason Oberkramer[3]; 6. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 7. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[7]; 9. (DNS) 7J-Jay Fields; 10. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker
Simpson Race Products Heat Race #3 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton[1]; 2. 56JR-Tony Jackson Jr[4]; 3. 66C-Matt Cosner[2]; 4. 59-Garrett Alberson[3]; 5. 22F-Chris Ferguson[10]; 6. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 7. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[6]; 8. 14M-Reid Millard[7]; 9. L88-Larry Clawson[8]; 10. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp
Ohlins Shocks Heat Race #4 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 0-Scott Bloomquist[1]; 2. 39-Tim McCreadie[3]; 3. 25S-Chad Simpson[2]; 4. 49-Jonathan Davenport[5]; 5. 49T-Jake Timm[6]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[9]; 7. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[4]; 8. 11R-Justin Reed[7]; 9. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 10. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall
Fast Shafts Heat Race #5 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 19R-Ryan Gustin[1]; 2. B5-Brandon Sheppard[2]; 3. 36-Logan Martin[4]; 4. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[3]; 5. 71-Hudson O’Neal[5]; 6. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[6]; 7. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 8. 1X-Aaron Marrant[8]; 9. 44W-David Webster[9]; 10. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey
Lucas Oil Heat Race #6 Finish (8 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): 1. 14-Josh Richards[1]; 2. 20-Jimmy Owens[4]; 3. 1-Earl Pearson Jr[3]; 4. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 5. 91P-Jason Papich[7]; 6. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 7. 4G-Bob Gardner[5]; 8. 78S-Steve Stultz[9]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[8]
LINE-X B-Main #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 157-Mike Marlar[1]; 2. 0E-Rick Eckert[2]; 3. 93-Mason Oberkramer[4]; 4. 1T-Tyler Erb[3]; 5. 94-Austin Rettig[6]; 6. 50-Kaeden Cornell[8]; 7. 99L-Scott Lewis[9]; 8. 43-Jeremy Grady[10]; 9. 7J-Jay Fields[12]; 10. (DNS) 15D-Justin Duty; 11. (DNS) 15L-Payton Looney; 12. (DNS) 7JR-Ryan Johnson; 13. (DNS) 11G-Gordy Gundaker
UNOH B-Main #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 59-Garrett Alberson[1]; 2. 22F-Chris Ferguson[3]; 3. 49-Jonathan Davenport[2]; 4. 41-Jeremiah Hurst[5]; 5. 22H-Daniel Hilsabeck[7]; 6. 12C-Scott Crigler[6]; 7. 49T-Jake Timm[4]; 8. 15V-Kolby Vandenbergh[8]; 9. 11R-Justin Reed[10]; 10. 14M-Reid Millard[9]; 11. L88-Larry Clawson[11]; 12. (DNS) 7W-Cole Wells; 13. (DNS) 23-Cody Holtkamp; 14. (DNS) 00S-Jesse Stovall
MyRacePass B-Main #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 2 Transfer): 1. 21-Billy Moyer Jr[1]; 2. 71-Hudson O’Neal[3]; 3. 32-Bobby Pierce[2]; 4. 91P-Jason Papich[4]; 5. 99JR-Frank Heckenast Jr[5]; 6. 4G-Bob Gardner[8]; 7. 32S-Chris Simpson[6]; 8. 55-Chris Kratzer[7]; 9. 3W-Brennon Willard[12]; 10. 78S-Steve Stultz[10]; 11. 44W-David Webster[11]; 12. 1X-Aaron Marrant[9]; 13. (DNS) 6H-Al Humphrey
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series PR
