IT'S TIME TO RACE!!

February 9, 2009 Josh Richard Voted Overwhelming Favorite to Win 2009 Championship in 2nd Annual World of Outlaws Late Model Serie CONCORD, NC – Feb. 9, 2009 – Josh Richards is ready to reach the mountaintop of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. That’s the press contingent’s consensus opinion of the 20-year-old sensation from Shinnston, W.Va., who was voted the overwhelming favorite to win the national tour’s 2009 points championship in the second annual WoO LMS Pre-Season Media Poll. Two-dozen writers, photographers and broadcasters who cover the WoO LMS participated in the poll, which asked the press members to predict the top-five finishers in the tour’s 2009 points standings. Points were distributed to each driver named on the media ballots using a 5-4-3-2-1 system. Richards tallied 106 points in the poll, including an impressive 17 first-place votes. No other driver received more than three first-place selections and Richards appeared on all 24 media ballots – a clear sign of the good feelings swirling around the young driver entering the 2009 WoO LMS campaign, which kicks off on Feb. 12 and 14 with a pair of programs during the 38th annual Alltel DIRTcar Nationals by UNOH at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla. Coming off a breakout 2008 season that saw him win a career-high six A-Mains (tied for the series lead) and finish second in the points standings, Richards carries plenty of momentum into the new year. He captured the tour’s ’08 season finale during the VAULT World Finals at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., and tuned up for the WoO LMS by winning three features last week in other Florida action. The 2005 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year is set to make his fifth fulltime assault on the tour behind the wheel of his father Mark’s Seubert Calf Ranches-sponsored Rocket Chassis house car. Prior to his runner-up finish in last year’s points battle, he placed eighth (2005), ninth (2006) and sixth (2007) in the standings. One media member provided a comment that neatly sums up the general feeling about Richards’s prospects in 2009. “He kicked off 2008 with a win (at Volusia) and closed it with a win,” wrote the journalist. “This year he’ll be good the whole year – ‘Kid Rocket’ becomes ‘King Rocket.’” Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., who won the 2007 WoO LMS championship but settled for third place in the ’08 standings, finished second in the Pre-Season Media Poll. The 41-year-old driver of Maryland car owner Dale Beitler’s familiar No. 19 was also listed on all 24 top-five surveys, accumulating 79 points on the strength of one first-place vote and 12 second-place picks. Finishing third in the poll was Shane Clanton, 33, of Locust Grove, Ga., who won a personal-best four A-Mains and finished fourth in the 2008 points standings. He appeared on 19 ballots and registered 56 points, including three first-place votes – the second-highest total behind Richards. Rick Eckert, 43, of York, Pa., placed fourth in the poll with 46 points, including two first-place votes. One of only two drivers (Francis is the other) who has started all 197 WoO LMS A-Mains since 2004, Eckert has just one win in his last 100 tour starts but enters the ’09 campaign with renewed vigor thanks to his move to Bloomquist Chassis cars – a switch that one media type believes “is going to pay off quite nicely for Scrub.” Defending WoO LMS champion Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., completed the top five in the poll, picking up 43 points. He appeared on 19 ballots but did not receive a first-place vote. Of course, Lanigan, 38, defied the media’s expectations in 2008, rolling to his first career title after receiving just a single top-five vote (fourth place) in the inaugural poll. He is aiming to become the first driver to repeat as WoO LMS champion since the tour came under the World Racing Group’s banner in 2004. Chub Frank, 47, of Bear Lake, Pa., was the only other driver to receive a first-place vote, picking up one. He earned fifth-place votes on 10 of the 13 ballots in which his name appeared, giving him 20 points and a sixth-place finish in the poll. Rounding out the drivers earning votes in the poll were Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who received two fourth-place votes; Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., who tallied one third-place vote; and Rookie of the Year applicant Brady Smith of Solon Springs, Wis., who earned one fourth-place nod. As part of the poll, media members were also asked to predict who will win the most WoO LMS A-Mains in 2009 as well as the victors of the $50,000-to-win Circle K Colossal 100 on March 27-28 at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway and the $30,000-to-win Firecracker 100 on June 26-27 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver, Pa. After tying Francis for the WoO LMS win lead in 2008, Richards was far-and-away the top choice of the media to lead the tour in victories this season. He received 15 votes in the top-winner category, besting Francis (five), Clanton (three) and Frank (one). Media members predicted that Richards will lead the tour with as many as 11 wins or as few as six. The runaway Media Poll favorite to win the Circle K Colossal 100 was Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., who captured the first two editions of the event in 2006-2007. He received 13 votes. Eckert was the only other driver selected multiple times as a potential Colossal 100 winner, with two votes. Receiving single votes was Clanton, Francis, Richards, Brian Birkhofer of Muscatine, Iowa, Chris Madden of Gaffney, S.C., Dale McDowell of Chickamauga, Ga., Jimmy Owens of Newport, Tenn., and Earl Pearson Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla. Frank received the most votes in the Firecracker 100 poll, picking up six selections. Bloomquist, who won the inaugural event in 2007, and Eckert were next with four votes apiece, followed by Francis (three), defending race champion Birkhofer (two), Richards (two), Clanton (one), Lanigan (one) and Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., (one). For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com. 2009 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Pre-Season Media Poll (Driver/first pl. votes/2nd pl/3rd pl/4th pl/5th pl/total points on 5-4-3-2-1 tabulation system): 1. Josh Richards 17-2-3-2-0 = 106 points 2. Steve Francis 1-12-7-1-3 = 79 points 3. Shane Clanton 3-4-4-5-3 = 56 points 4. Rick Eckert 2-5-2-3-4 = 46 points 5. Darrell Lanigan 0-1-6-9-3 = 43 points 6. Chub Frank 1-0-1-1-10 = 20 points 7. Tim Fuller 0-0-0-2-0 = 4 points 8. Clint Smith 0-0-1-0-0 = 3 points 9. Brady Smith 0-0-0-2-0 = 2 points 10. Vic Coffey 0-0-0-0-0 = 0 points Have an opinion on this story? Post a message on our Message Board! or Email KARNACto send a letter to the editor!