My favorite driver of all time Ricky Bobby lived by a very deep meaningful slogan – “If you aren’t first, you’re last.” With competition at a high level, it’s almost impossible to win every time that you race and it’s an unrealistic goal to try to accomplish. However, Shinnston native, Josh Richards appears to be living by that motto. Richards has been tearing up the track in The World of Outlaws Late Models Series this year. In eleven races Richards has five wins, showing dominance by taking the winner’s purse of $10,000 nearly 50% of the time. Richards has also provided premium consistency only failing to finish in the top five just once this season.
Richards joined the World Tour of Outlaws full time in 2005. He kept things in the family that year driving his father Mark’s Rocket Chasis house car. The move paid huge dividends, as Josh took home the Rookie of the Year Award.
Richards continued to hone his driving skill and won his first series championship in 2009. He has since claimed two additional titles in 2010 and 2013 respectively. His dominance has been evident year after year as he has racked up 58 career wins and several insiders have predicted that he will overtake Darrel Lanigan.
In the midst of his success, Richards took hiatus in 2011 to pursue endeavors in NASCAR. He made eight starts on the NASCAR World Truck Series. His top finish was 13th at Talladega Super Speedway. The next year Richards made 14 NASCAR Nationwide Series starts. His best effort was 16th in an event held at Daytona International.
Coming up this Memorial Day week-end, Richards will be coming home to show off his skills in nearby Middlebourne, WV. Saturday, May 28th and Sunday, May 29th the Jackpot 100 will take place at the Tyler County Speedway. It is a great opportunity for fans to watch the Harrison County native try to extend his points lead. Currently, Richards has a 142 lead over Shane Clanton. His separation is more prominent on the money list where Richards has collected $78,175 which is over $30,000 more than Clanton.
His talents have helped him earn over 1.2 million dollars since 2010. At age 28, Richards will have the opportunity to continue his dominance on the dirt track for years to come. If you want to learn more about Richards you can check out his website: www.joshrichards.com or follow him on twitter @ Josh Richards 1.
On a different type of track, a pair of Harrison County track athletes had record setting efforts at the State Track and Field meet in Charleston this past weekend. Bridgeport standout McKenna Smith collected four first place finishes that totaled 40 points and propelled the Indian girls track squad to a state championship. Smith impressively set records in all four events to claim high point honors. Smith dominated the 100, 200, 400, and the 300 hurdles. She has been considered by many experts as one, if not the best, female track athlete in state history.
Hawk track and field athlete, Freddy Canary set records in the 100 and 200 while running anchor on the winning 4 x 200 team. Canary also picked up a fourth place finish in the long jump.
That will do it for now. Until next week…take care and God Bless!
