Josh Rice scored his second Latham Memorial trophy
Josh Rice scored a huge win for his career last year when he claimed the Ralph Latham Memorial and on Thursday night he once again made his ‘Bluegrass State’ neighbors happy when he claimed a win in that event in the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned race at Florence Speedway.
The Rocket Chassis driver from Verona, KY earned $15,000 for his efforts on the half-mile track located in Union, KY in a race shown live by MavTV Plus.
A total of 30 cars were signed in for competition
Qualifying Results:
Group A Results- 1. Ricky Thornton Jr.(16.355), 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Jason Jameson, 4. Garrett Alberson, 5. Ashton Winger
Group B Results- 1. Devin Moran(16.897), 2. Robby Hensley, 3. Earl Pearson Jr., 4. Devin Gilpin, 5. James Rice
Heat 1 Results: 1. Ricky Thornton Jr., 2. Hudson O’Neal, 3. Josh Rice, 4. Jason Jameson
Heat 2 Results: 1. Garrett Alberson, 2. Brandon Overton, 3. Tim McCreadie, 4. Tyler Erb
Heat 3 Results: 1. Earl Pearson Jr., 2. Devin Moran, 3. James Rice, 4. Brandon Sheppard
Heat 4 Results: 1. Robby Hensley, 2. Ross Robinson, 3. Dustin Nobbe, 4. Devin Gilpin
B-main Finish: 1. Justin Ratliff, 2. Ashton Winger, 3 Scott James, 4. Daulton Wilson, 5. Spencer Hughes, 6. Trevor Landrum
Feature Re-cap: When the 60-lap feature took the green flag, it was Pearson who grabbed the early lead as Thornton, Hensley, Alberson and Moran offered pursuit. Over the opening laps the top-5 held station while Josh Rice began to rumble from further back as he moved to sixth by lap 10.
Rice continued his climb on lap 14 when he passed Moran for fifth then by Alberson for fourth one lap later. Rice again gained a spot on lap 17 when he took third away from Hensley.
Thornton moved in to challenge Pearson for the lead on lap 19 but a caution for the slowing car of Hensley.
Rice resumed his rise on lap 21 when he took the runner-up position from Thornton as Pearson continued to show the way. Thornton fought back against Rice on lap 22 with a slide job but Rice crossed over to hold the spot. Rice went to the lead on lap 26 with a big slider on Pearson.
Just after Rice’s move that resulted in the lead, a yellow flag for debris slowed the pace. Under caution, Pearson pulled off the track with mechanical trouble.
At the halfway point, Rice still held the lead with Thornton, Alberson, Moran and O’Neal trailing. One lap later, Jameson took fifth away from O’Neal.
On lap 35, Rice’s lead had extended to more than two seconds with Thornton and Alberson trying to keep pace. Jameson took fourth from Moran just before lap 40 then Sheppard rose into the top-5.
With 15 laps remaining, Rice found himself in the midst of slower traffic which briefly allowed Thornton to close the gap. But Rice quickly rebuilt that advantage soon thereafter as the top-5 began to spread out from each other.
In the end, it was Rice who would not be denied as he sailed to his second Latham Memorial victory.
Feature Results: 1. Josh Rice, 2. Ricky Thornton Jr., 3. Garrett Alberson, 4. Jason Jameson, 5. Brandon Sheppard, 6. Devin Moran, 7. Hudson O’Neal, 8. Ashton Winger, 9. Tim McCreadie, 10. Tyler Erb, 11. Devin Gilpin, 12. Spencer Hughes, 13. Justin Ratcliff, 14. Daulton Wilson, 15. Scott James, 16. Ross Robinson, 17. Tim Vance, 18. Robby Hensley, 19. Earl Pearson Jr., 20. Brandon Overton, 21. Dustin Nobbe, 22. James Rice, 23. Trever Landrum, 24. Austin Lay, 25. Kody Evans
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