Josh Richards
For the third and final night of these makeup races following the shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series staged an event at Golden Isles Speedway. Josh Richards scored the win and left the Brunswick, GA area facility with the first prize payout of $7,000 after two different leaders experienced misfortune in front of him.
Brandon Overton was quickest in Group A qualifying with a lap of 15.220 seconds around the 4/10 mile clay oval which beat out Jimmy Owens, Mason Zeigler, Josh Richards, Chris Ferguson and Jonathan Davenport.
Tim McCreadie set the fastest mark in Group B time-trials with a lap of 15.322 seconds to beat out Steven Roberts, Brian Shirley, Mark Whitener, Kyle Bronson and Tyler Bruening.
Brandon Overton took the night’s first heat race ahead of Devin Moran, Mason Zeigler and Shanong Buckingham while Josh Richards topped the field in the second heat over Jonathan Davenport, Jimmy Owens and Tyler Erb.
Tim McCreadie won out in the third preliminary of the night over Brian Shirley, Rick Eckert and Kyle Bronson just before Steven Roberts grabbed the fourth and final heat of the night ahead of Mark Whitener, Tanner English and Tyler Bruening.
Stormy Scott won the first B-main of the night over Ross Bailes and Mike Benedum and Shane Clanton took the second B-main ahead of Earl Pearson, Jr. and G.R. Smith.
At the start of the 40-lap feature it was Overton who went to the early lead with Richards, Roberts, McCreadie and Davenport following. During the early laps the front runners strung out and logged laps at high speed on the track that had taken significant amounts of rain earlier in the day.
On lap 8 disaster struck the front runner as Overton suddenly slowed and dropped out of the race. That lifted Richards to the lead of the race.
Another key moment in the race took place on lap 10 just after a restart when third running Roberts spun and collected Erb, Bruening and O’Neal. Most of those cars were eliminated from the feature.
Following the restart the battles at the front of the field intensified. Zeigler rose through the field to take the second position behind Richards. Further back, Owens moved around Whitener to grab fourth on lap 15.
Zeigler began to aggravate Richards for the race lead on lap 16 but the No. 14 held his position. Following a lap 22 caution the battle was rejoined and Zeigler eventually used a slide job to take the top spot on the leader board on lap 29.
Zeigler appeared to have victory within his grasp as the laps clicked away. However, on lap 38 while racing in traffic the No. 25z machine jumped the cushion and tagged the outside wall. That bobble provided Richards with the opportunity to get by and retake the lead.
On the ensuing restart, Richards went unchallenged as he sailed to victory.
Feature Finish: 1. Josh Richards, 2. Tim McCreadie, 3. Jimmy Owens, 4. Mark Whitener, 5. Devin Moran, 6. Jonathan Davenport, 7. Kyle Bronson, 8. Tanner English, 9. Shane Clanton, 10. Rick Eckert, 11. Brian Shirley, 12. G.R. Smith, 13. Stormy Scott, 14. Billy Moyer, Jr., 15. Earl Pearson, Jr., 16. Mason Zeigler, 17. Tyler Erb, 18. Ross Bailes, 19. Shanon Buckingham, 20. Mike Benedum, 21. Steven Roberts, 22. Tyler Bruening, 23. Hudson O’Neal, 24. Brandon Overton
