Richards Sweeps Illini 100 Weekend

Becomes First Driver to Win Both Feature Races During the Illini 100 Weekend

Story By: BRENDAN CAPRIA / WoO LM SERIES MEDIA     Photos By: WoO LM SERIES MEDIA & PETE MacDONALD / RACERSGUIDE.COM

FARMER CITY, IL- April 4, 2016- Josh Richards completed the weekend sweep of the Douglas Dodge Ram Trucks Illini 100 at Farmer City Raceway on Sunday night as he scored his fourth World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series victory of the season. The Shinnston, W.V. -native is the first driver to sweep the race weekend since the Illini 100 became a full-weekend event in 2014.

“The track was a little greasy early, and we didn’t know how hard we should run,” said Richards, who took home a $15,000 prize tonight for his No. 1 Valvoline Rocket Chassis team. “It’s been an incredible year. This year is just getting started.”

This was Richards’ 62nd career World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series victory. The three-time series champion is now 10 wins short of the all-time record.

Richards picked up on Sunday where he left off on Saturday. From the fifth starting position, Richards overtook Billy Moyer Jr. within the first 20 laps of the 75-lap feature. Through traffic in the first half of the feature, Richards was the class of the field as 19-year-old Bobby Pierce worked to run him down.

“When you get into traffic you slow down a little bit,” said Richards, ultimately winning by nearly a five-second differential. “You’re trying to move around and the track just gets dirty. We tried to get through it the best we could and make our moves when they counted.”

Pierce though had his hands full much of the night with Scott Bloomquist. Following a caution on lap 37, Pierce’s No. 32 Allgayer, Inc. car and Bloomquist’s No. 0 All Star Performance car jockeyed for position.

Traffic and one final late-race caution on lap 55 regrouped the race’s frontrunners inside of 20 laps remaining, but Pierce got the best case-scenario, finishing second place on the night. Bloomquist rounded out the podium in third.

“It’s tough once you get by someone, and you got to pass him by again,” said Pierce about his battle with Bloomquist. “It’s kind of hard to sit back in the seat, relax and do it all over again because Scott’s one of the best.”

Bloomquist, who lead the start of the race, said he could have performed better. Of the top-3 finishers, Bloomquist logged the quickest lap in the race with 13.536.

“It just felt like we missed it a little bit,” Bloomquist said. “[The battle with Pierce] was fun, I guess. We raced a little cleaner than others did out here, but there’s a lot more races left.”

The weekend – with two preceding weather cancellations – drew a total of 48 late models to Farmer City Raceway, with 45 competing in Sunday’s action. During preliminary action on Sunday, Billy Moyer Jr. was the fastest overall qualifier. Moyer, Richards, Shane Clanton and Chase Junghans, each won one of four heat races. Last Chance Showdowns on Sunday were won by Rick Eckert and Illinois-native Brian Shirley.

The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series returns to action on Friday, April 8 at Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel, Tenn. The series then heads to Tazewell (Tenn.) Speedway On Saturday, April 9.

To learn more about the World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series visit WoOLMS.com. Follow the World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series on Twitter at Twitter.com/WoOLateModels, like it on Facebook at Facebook.com/WorldofOutlawsLateModelSeries, or check out the latest videos on YouTube at Youtube.com/WorldofOutlaws.

World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series Statistical Report; April 3, 2016; Farmer City Raceway; Farmer City, Ill.

A-Main (25-laps): 1. 1-Josh Richards; 2. 32 – Bobby Pierce; 3. 0-Scott Bloomquist; 4. 157-Mike Marlar; 5. B5-Brandon Sheppard; 6. 25-Shane Clanton; 7. 21-Billy Moyer; 8. 3s-Brian Shirley; 9. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr; 10. C9-Steve Casebolt; 11. 1g-Devin Gilpin; 12. 25F-Jason Feger; 13. 14M-Morgan Bagley; 14. 18c-Chase Junghans; 15. 7-Rick Eckert; 16. 2c-Joey Coulter; 17. 91-Tyler Erb; 18. 1*-Chub Frank; 19. 76-Brandon Overton; 20. 18-Eric Wells; 21. 24-Ryan Unzicker; 22. 25z-Mason Zeigler; 23. 77-Jordan Yaggy; 24. 4-Cody Mahoney; 25. 32s-Chris Simpson; 26. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr

Last-Chance Showdown No. 1 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 7-Rick Eckert; 2.14M-Morgan Bagley; 3. 32s-Chris Simpson; 4. 9-Eric Smith; 5. 18-Eric Wells; 6. 38c-John Gardner Jr; 7. 16T-Tyler Bruening; 8. B12-Kevin Weaver; 9. 77A-Adam Bowman; 10. 10-Scott Schmitt; 11. 77-Jordan Yaggy; 12. 98-Danny Smith; DNS. 89-Mike Spatola; DNS. 18b-Shannon Babb; DNS. 45-Kyle Hammer

Last-Chance Showdown No. 2 (10 laps – Top 2 Transfer): 1. 3s-Brian Shirley; 2. 25z-Mason Zeigler; 3. 1g-Devin Gilpin; 4. 77M-Jay Morris; 5. Z-Joe Harlan; 6. 21B-Rich Bell; 7. 30-Mike Glasscock; 8. 1*-Chub Frank; 9. 4G-Bob Gardner; 10. B1-Paul Wilmoth; 11. 0-Mathew Chapman; 12. 29D-Spencer Diercks; DNS. 76-Brandon Overton; DNS. 75-Billy Drake; DNS. 99B-Boom Briggs

Qualifying Group A: 1. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 12.658; 2. 4-Cody Mahoney, 12.77; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 12.852; 4. 1-Josh Richards, 12.868; 5. 2c-Joey Coulter, 12.871; 6. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr, 12.921; 7. 157-Mike Marlar, 13.035; 8. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 13.045; 9. 7-Rick Eckert, 13.064; 10. 32s-Chris Simpson, 13.096; 11. B12-Kevin Weaver, 13.108; 12. 10-Scott Schmitt, 13.128; 13. 9-Eric Smith, 13.141; 14. 18b-Shannon Babb, 13.197; 15. 38c-John Gardner Jr, 13.208; 16. 77-Jordan Yaggy, 13.28; 17. 16T-Tyler Bruening, 13.338; 18. 14M-Morgan Bagley, 13.407; 19. 89-Mike Spatola, 13.432; 20. 18-Eric Wells, 13.501; 21. 77A-Adam Bowman, 13.569; 22. 98-Danny Smith, 14.101; DNS. 45-Kyle Hammer

Qualifying Group B: 1. 32-Bobby Pierce, 12.9; 2. 21-Billy Moyer, 13.044; 3. 25-Shane Clanton, 13.242; 4. 0-Scott Bloomquist, 13.426; 5. 25z-Mason Zeigler, 13.468; 6. 18c-Chase Junghans, 13.506; 7. 91-Tyler Erb, 13.516; 8. 77M-Jay Morris, 13.533; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks, 13.65; 10. C9-Steve Casebolt, 13.693; 11. 4G-Bob Gardner, 13.707; 12. 76-Brandon Overton, 13.724; 13. 3s-Brian Shirley, 13.783; 14. 30-Mike Glasscock, 13.784; 15. 25F-Jason Feger, 13.808; 16. 1g-Devin Gilpin, 14.025; 17. 21B- Ric Bell, 14.111; 18. B1-Paul Wilmoth, 14.255; 19. 1*-Chub Frank, 14.264; 20. Z-Joe Harlan, 14.382; 21. 0-Mathew Chapman, 14.925; 22. 75-Billy Drake; 23. 99B-Boom Briggs

Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr; 2. 157-Mike Marlar; 3. B5-Brandon Sheppard; 4. 2c-Joey Coulter; 5. 7-Rick Eckert; 6. 9-Eric Smith; 7. 89-Mike Spatola; 8. 38c-John Gardner Jr; 9. 16T-Tyler Bruening; 10. 77A-Adam Bowman; 11. B12-Kevin Weaver; DNS. 45-Kyle Hammer

Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 1-Josh Richards; 2. 4-Cody Mahoney; 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker; 4. 99jr-Frank Heckenast Jr; 5. 14M-Morgan Bagley; 6. 32s-Chris Simpson; 7. 18-Eric Wells; 8. 77-Jordan Yaggy; 9. 10-Scott Schmitt; 10. 18b-Shannon Babb; 11. 98-Danny Smith

Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 25-Shane Clanton; 2. 32-Bobby Pierce; 3. 25F-Jason Feger; 4. 91-Tyler Erb; 5. 25z-Mason Zeigler; 6. 3s-Brian Shirley; 7. 21B-Rich Bell; 8. G-Bob Gardner; 9. 29D-Spencer Diercks; 10. 0-Mathew Chapman; 11. 1*-Chub Frank; DNS. 99B-Boom Briggs

Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 3 Transfer): 1. 18C-Chase Junghans; 2. 0-Scott Bloomquist; 3. 21-Billy Moyer; 4. C9-Steve Casebolt; 5. 77M-Jay Morris; 6. 1G-Devin Gilpin; 7. B1-Paul Wilmoth; 8. 76-Brandon Overton; 9. 30-Mike Glasscock; 10. Z-Joe Harlan; DNS 75-Billy Drake

2016 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Point Standings as of April 3 – 7 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/residence/points/deficit to leader):

The World of Outlaws Craftsman® Late Model Series is brought to fans across the country by many important sponsors and partners, including: Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tire (Official Tire), Bad Boy Buggies (Official Side-by-Side Vehicle), The Kenny Wallace Dirt Racing Experience (Official Racing Experience), VP Racing Fuels (Official Racing Fuel), Morton Buildings (Official Building) and DirtonDirt.com (Hard Charger Award); in addition to contingency sponsors, including: Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Edelbrock, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Ohlins Shocks, Penske Shocks, QA1, QuarterMaster, Superflow Dynos and Wrisco Aluminum; along with manufacturer sponsors, including: Capital Race Cars, Integra Shocks, Impact Racing Products, Intercomp, Racing Electronics, Rocket Chassis and TNT Rescue.