World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Cedar Lake Speedway
August 6, 2016
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Richards banks $50K in USA Nationals finale at Cedar Lake Speedway
Jonathan Davenport recovers from early troubles for second

WoOLMS PR
NEW RICHMOND, Wisc. (August 6) – Josh Richards won his second career USA Nationals finale Saturday night at Cedar Lake Speedway. The victory marked his 20th of the season (13th in the series) and 71st of his career in the World of Outlaws – one win from tying for the all-time series record.

“I don’t know what to say…I’m speechless,” said Richards, winning the $50,000 purse. “I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out. This car has been so fun to drive. This is awesome.”

The caution-filled night began with the 100-lap feature’s first on lap 10. Jonathan Davenport, who started runner-up to Shane Clanton to start of the race, suffered a flat right rear tire. It seemed “Superman” had found his kryptonite, as he veered-off into the pits. The other 30 cars moved-up for the restart; Richards and Mason Zeigler shared the podium with Clanton.

On the restart Clanton and Richards separated from the rest of the field. Zeigler and Eric Wells paired-up and dueled for the third spot. Wells was the weekend’s fast time winner, a first for him since his rookie year in 2013. He continued his hot streak; however, Zeigler briefly extinguished his chances of passing him. Zeigler moved to Richards, sweeping the nose of his bumper through the backside of his No. 1 Valvoline/ Seubert Calf Ranches Rocket racecar. A three-wide battle between Clanton, Richards and Zeigler had the packed crowd on their feet for half of lap 12. Zeigler managed to get by Richards in turn four before another caution flag waved.

On the race’s third restart – one lap later – Richards reclaimed the second spot from the top of the cushion. Richards closed the gap between him and Clanton to as little as 0.455 seconds, but could not capitalize. Zeigler could not take advantage of starting third in the feature, when mechanical issues ended his night early on lap 18. Dennis Erb. Jr. took his place in third spot momentarily until mechanical issue scrapped his chances seven laps later. Wells replaced the crippled cars in the third position; he went on to challenge Clanton on the restart, side-stepping Richards who took the outside.

Within two more cautions both Richards and Wells challenged Clanton for the top spot, staying within a second of him. Though Clanton blocked Richards’ inside attempt entering turn one, it only took two more turns for him swoop into the lead on lap 31. Richards diminished Clanton’s 0.8-second lead to 0.088 seconds in that sequence.

As for “Easy E” and his pursuit, it seemed to be the opposite. Through a series of cautions, Wells took to the lowest groove of the track with his No. 18 Allstar Performance/ Penske Racing Shocks Longhorn machine. At turn two of each of the three following cautions, Wells cut the corner. Though he compromised momentum exiting the corner – while Clanton built momentum on the top cushion – he ended up making the pass with 35 laps remaining. Clanton finished seventh on the night.

At first, Davenport seemed to be taken out of contention in the feature with his early troubles. But, throughout the race, he gained ground. By the halfway point, Davenport was back into the top 10. By the time Wells made the pass into second place, Davenport’s No. 6 Baird Transport/ Elite Concrete Longhorn car had him in his sights. By this time, Davenport maintained a 0.45-second margin between him and Wells, biding his time. Davenport sailed on the top cushion, wildly flirting with the outside walls of each of the turns – at times kissing them with his right rear fender.

“We were reeling them in,” said Davenport, who charged hard from the back of the pack. “I thought, ‘Here we go, we have a shot.’ All I had to rely on was the cushion, and I was rolling on it decently.”

With 20 laps remaining, Davenport took his shot at Wells. In turn four, he was able to pass Wells for second place. Richards increased his lead to a tick shy of two and a half seconds. Davenport began to close the gap slightly, but it was not until the race’s final caution when he saw his chance. With 9 laps remaining, Richards and Davenport had a shootout for the lead.

Richards stayed low on the track while Davenport stuck with his bread-and-butter up-top. A strong restart from Richards reopened more than a two-second gap, and the final dagger was when Davenport clipped the turn two wall. Davenport held his ground for second place even so, with Wells rounding out the podium.

“We had a shot at it with 10 [laps] to go,” Davenport said. “I made a run on him, jumped the cushion one time and that’s all we had for him.”

Wells finished the weekend recording his first fast time and fourth top five finish in 29 feature events this season. Wells said he stuck with the same setup all weekend, which proved to suit the track well.

“It was really good, and we got to stay out of trouble,” said Wells, who felt he was strongest in the middle of the track. “I saw Davenport coming up on me from the scoreboard and where he was, and it was fine by me. We stuck to the middle. We came home with third, but it felt good.”

Richards picked up his 13th win of the season, the same number of wins World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series points leader Donny Schatz had after the series made its stop at Cedar Lake Speedway in July.

World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series Statistical Report; August 6, 2016; Cedar Lake Speedway; New Richmond, Wisc.

A-Main (100-laps):1. 1- Josh Richards [4] [$50,250]; 2. 6- Jonathan Davenport [2] [$21,850]; 3. 18- Eric Wells [5] [$10,200]; 4. 32- Bobby Pierce [7] [$6,000]; 5. 3s- Brian Shirley [17] [$7,500]; 6. 21- Billy Moyer [8] [$4,550]; 7. 25- Shane Clanton [1] [$4,500]; 8. 1P- Earl Pearson Jr. [21] [$4,050]; 9. 91- Tyler Erb [29] [$3,625]; 10. 28E- Dennis Erb Jr. [9] [$3,550]; 11. 28m- Jimmy Mars [12] [$3,300]; 12. 15- Steve Francis [24] [$4,800]; 13. 1*- Chub Frank [25] [$2,900]; 14. 90- Lance Matthees [6] [$2,700]; 15. 21jr- Billy Moyer Jr. [13] [$2,550]; 16. 18c- Chase Junghans [28] [$1,400]; 17. 99B- Boom Briggs [31] [$725]; 18. 11- Gordy Gundaker [27] [$2,200]; 19. 76- Brandon Overton [18] [$2,150]; 20. 25s- Chad Simpson [10] [$2,075]; 21. 2c- Joey Coulter [30] [$250]; 22. 98- Jason Rauen [19] [$2,025]; 23. 14m- Morgan Bagley [26] [$2,010]; 24. 99jr- Frank Heckenast Jr. [14] [$2,050]; 25. 25F- Jason Feger [15] [$4,500]; 26. 7- Rick Eckert [11] [$2,050]; 27. c9- Steve Casebolt [16] [$2,050]; 28. 18b- Shannon Babb [20] [$2,000]; 29. 25z- Mason Zeigler [3] [$2,000]; 30. 39- Tim McCreadie [23] [$3,900];15H- Jon Henry [22] [$4,000]

Last Chance Showdown No. 1 (15 laps, 2 Transfer): 1. 98- Jason Rauen; 2. 1P- Earl Pearson Jr.; 3. 39- Tim McCreadie; 4. 18c- Chase Junghans; 5. 29- Spencer Diercks; 6.16b- Tyler Bruening; 7. 32s- Chris Simpson; 8. 99B- Boom Briggs; 9. 51- Joey Moriarty; 10. B1- Brent Larson; 11. 58- A.J. Diemel; 12. 77- Jordan Yaggy; 13. 2c- Joey Coulter; 14. 15A- Nick Anvelink; 15. 57- Chad Williamson (DNS)

Last Chance Showdown No. 2 (15 laps, 2 Transfer): 1.18b- Shannon Babb; 2.15h- Jon Henry; 3. 11- Gordy Gundaker; 4. 15- Steve Francis; 5. 14m- Morgan Bagley; 6. 96T- R.C. Whitwell; 7. 1*- Chub Frank; 8. 74M- Mitch McGrath; 9. 2M- Allen Murray; 10. 91- Tyler Erb; 11. 51F- Matthew Furman; 12. 0- Jake O’Neil; 13. 99- Mike Mullen; 14. 93- Ray Moore; 15. 10s- Taylor Scheffler

Last Chance Qualifier (10 laps, 2 Transfer): 1. 39- Tim McCreadie; 2. 15- Steve Francis; 3. 18c- Chase Junghans; 4. 11- Gordy Gundaker; 5. 29- Spencer Diercks; 6. 1*- Chub Frank; 7. 32s- Chris Simpson; 8. 16b- Tyler Bruening; 9. 99B- Boom Briggs; 10. 2M- Allen Murray; 11. 74M- Mitch McGrath; 12. 51- Joey Moriarty; 13. 96T- R.C. Whitwell; 14. 14m- Morgan Bagley (DNS)


Friday, August 5

Pole Dash (sets lineup for A-Main)
1 25 Shane Clanton
2 6 Jonathan Davenport
3 25z Mason Zeigler
4 1 Josh Richards
5 18 Eric Wells
6 90 Lance Matthees

Heat #1
1 90 Lance Matthees
2 32 Bobby Pierce
3 21JR Billy Moyer Jr
4 39 Tim McCreadie
5 16b Tyler Bruening
6 2c Joey Coulter
7 29 Spencer Diercks
8 74M Mitch McGrath
9 99 Mike Mullen

Heat #2
1 25z Mason Zeigler
2 21 Billy Moyer
3 99jr Frank Heckenast Jr
4 18b Shannon Babb
5 15H Jon Henry
6 14M Morgan Bagley
7 0 Jake O'Neil
8 57 Chad Williamson

Heat #3
1 18 Eric Wells
2 28E Dennis Erb Jr
3 25F Jason Feger
4 58 A.J. Diemel
5 77 Jordan Yaggy
6 18c Chase Junghans
7 51 Joey Moriarty
8 10s Taylor Scheffler

Heat #4
1 25 Shane Clanton
2 25s Chad Simpson
3 C9 Steve Casebolt
4 91 Tyler Erb
5 15 Steve Francis
6 2M Allen Murray
7 4 Cody Mahoney
8 B1 Brent Larson

Heat #5
1 6 Jonathan Davenport
2 7 Rick Eckert
3 3s Brian Shirley
4 98 Jason Rauen
5 99B Boom Briggs
6 32s Chris Simpson
7 93 Ray Moore
8 51F Matthew Furman

Heat #6
1 1 Josh Richards
2 28M Jimmy Mars
3 76 Brandon Overton
4 11 Gordy Gundaker
5 96T RC Whitwell
6 1* Chub Frank
7 15A Nick Anvelink
8 1p Earl Pearson Jr.

Qualifying Group A
1 18 Eric Wells 14.744
2 99jr Frank Heckenast Jr 14.805
3 39 Tim McCreadie 14.969
4 77 Jordan Yaggy 15.016
5 25z Mason Zeigler 15.058
6 90 Lance Matthees 15.059
7 28E Dennis Erb Jr 15.064
8 21 Billy Moyer 15.078
9 32 Bobby Pierce 15.109
10 21JR Billy Moyer Jr 15.198
11 18b Shannon Babb 15.284
12 18c Chase Junghans 15.329
13 29 Spencer Diercks 15.397
14 15H Jon Henry 15.403
15 58 A.J. Diemel 15.403
16 16b Tyler Bruening 15.405
17 14M Morgan Bagley 15.415
18 25F Jason Feger 15.42
19 99 Mike Mullen 15.444
20 0 Jake O'Neil 15.527
21 51 Joey Moriarty 15.545
22 2c Joey Coulter 15.634
23 57 Chad Williamson 15.763

Qualifying Group B
1 28M Jimmy Mars 15.043
2 3s Brian Shirley 15.058
3 25 Shane Clanton 15.081
4 1 Josh Richards 15.102
5 6 Jonathan Davenport 15.145
6 25s Chad Simpson 15.172
7 76 Brandon Overton 15.194
8 7 Rick Eckert 15.203
9 C9 Steve Casebolt 15.222
10 15 Steve Francis 15.274
11 99B Boom Briggs 15.289
12 15A Nick Anvelink 15.293
13 91 Tyler Erb 15.326
14 32s Chris Simpson 15.383
15 1p Earl Pearson Jr. 15.415
16 4 Cody Mahoney 15.477
17 93 Ray Moore 15.513
18 1* Chub Frank 15.516
19 B1 Brent Larson 15.559
20 51F Matthew Furman 15.584
21 11 Gordy Gundaker 15.644
22 2M Allen Murray 15.684
23 98 Jason Rauen 15.692
24 96T RC Whitwell 15.958