Josh Richards roars to Pittsburgher 100 victory

[NickHolt]

Richards Roars to Pittsburgher 100 Victory

 

IMPERIAL, PA (October 8, 2016) - Josh Richards roared to the lead on lap 25 and never looked back - winning his second career Pittsburgher 100. The victory for his team was worth $20,000 on Saturday night at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway. Richards took over the point from the early pace-setter and new track record holder, Michael Norris.

 

Courtesy of LOLMDS PR

 

Richards' Mark Richards Racing/Valvoline/Seubert Calf Ranches/Durham Race Engines/Rocket Chassis house-car captured his sixth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series win of the season over Scott Bloomquist, Gregg Satterlee, Don O'Neal, and Jimmy Owens.

Norris was making his first career LOLMDS start and looked strong early on in the race, but Richards went by him on lap 25. O'Neal then got by Norris for second as Bloomquist - who started tenth - began to make his way to the front.

The 28-year-old Richards held a healthy lead despite several caution flags in the first half of the race. O'Neal and Bloomquist had a terrific side-by-side race for second for several laps, but Bloomquist was finally able to clear O'Neal for the runner-up spot on lap 61.

With no caution flags for the second half of the 100-lap event, Bloomquist constantly cut into Richards' advantage, but Richards was able to maneuver around traffic and keep enough of distance between him and the current LOLMDS point leader to claim the win.

"It feels good to win this race for a second time. This is my favorite race track. I have said this since I was little. There is nowhere else like it. It's a great place to race at. The fans are great. Our hearts go out to Mike Farr who passed away last night and to John Flinner for a speedy recovery. We are hoping that John is ok and will get back in a race car soon," said the winner afterwards.

"I gambled on tires, and I didn't know how it would turn out. At the end of the race I started to lose it a little. I couldn't roll through the top like I did earlier in the race. I knew when I saw Scott [bloomquist] on the board that he would be coming too."

Bloomquist was looking for an unprecedented sixth Pittsburgher 100 win, but came across the finish line in second. "I had a good car all night. Our Andy Durham Race Engine ran well all night. Thanks to Crop Production Services, Reece Monument, Steve Sorbera Chiropractic, Horton Coal, and the rest of our sponsors who make this possible."

Satterlee started 14th and thrilled his home-state fans with his third place finish for the Satterlee Petroleum/Rocket Chassis. "We didn't have enough for those two guys up front. From the position we started off, our night turned out well. I got behind when we qualified and made some questionable moves in the heat race. We started too far back. You can't give these guys that much real estate ahead of you. We changed all four corners on the car after the heat race and it paid off," said Satterlee who joined Richards and Bloomquist on the podium.

Completing the top ten were Dennis Erb Jr., Tim McCreadie, Earl Pearson Jr., Darrell Lanigan and Michael Norris.

In preliminary action, Michael Norris set the overall Miller Welders Fast Time (Group A) amongst the 46 entrants, with a lap of 17.106 seconds. Jon Mollick set the fastest time in Group B with a time of 17.746 seconds. Michael Norris, Josh Richards, Earl Pearson Jr. and Tim McCreadie won their respective heat races. Rick Eckert and Jared Miley won their respective B-Mains.

 

Race Summary:

Saturday, October 8th, 2016 - 28th Annual Pittsburgher 100 - Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway - Imperial, PA

 

Miller Welders Fast Time Group A: Michael Norris / 17.106 seconds
Miller Welders Fast Time Group B: Jon Mollick / 17.746 seconds

 

Eibach Springs Heat Race #1 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Michael Norris, Don O'Neal, Jimmy Owens, Dennis Erb, Jr., Brandon Burgoon, Davey Johnson, Dave Hess, Jr., Kent Robinson, Bump Headman, Steve Pyeritz, Colton Flinner, John Flinner-DNS

 

FK Rod Ends Heat Race #2 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Josh Richards, Steve Francis, Dylan Yoder, Alex Ferree, Rick Eckert, Tony Musolino, Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr., Jake Gunn, Tommy Beck, Matt Dobnak, Tom Duratz

 

Simpson Performance Products Heat Race #3 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Earl Pearson, Jr., Mason Zeigler, Scott Bloomquist, Gregg Satterlee, Jared Miley, Eric Wells, Brian Ruhlman, Chub Frank, Mike Pegher, Dan Angelicchio, Josh Holtgraver, John Mollick

 

QA1 Heat Race #4 Finish (10 Laps, Top 4 Transfer): Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Jonathan Davenport, Brandon Sheppard, Jason Covert, Keith Barbara, Christian Schneider, Boom Briggs, Andrew Wylie, Jon Hodgkiss, Jared Hawkins

 

Fast Shafts B-Main #1 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Rick Eckert, Davey Johnson, Kent Robinson, Brandon Burgoon, Tony Musolino, Colton Flinner, Tommy Schirnhofer, Jr., Bump Headman, Jake Gunn, Matt Dobnak, Steve Pyeritz, Tom Duratz, Dave Hess, Jr., Tommy Beck, John Flinner-DNS

 

Keyser MFG B-Main #2 Finish (12 Laps, Top 3 Transfer): Jared Miley, Keith Barbara, Eric Wells, Jason Covert, Brian Ruhlman, Mike Pegher, Boom Briggs, Josh Holtgraver, Christian Schneider, Jon Hodgkiss, Andrew Wylie, Chub Frank, Dan Angelicchio-DNS, Jared Hawkins-DNS, John Mollick-DNS

 

Feature Finish (100 Laps):

 

 

Race Statistics
Entrants: 46
Lap Leaders: Michael Norris (Laps 1 - 24); Josh Richards (Laps 75 - 100)
Cautions: Mason Zeigler (Lap 8); Brandon Sheppard (Lap 26); Rick Eckert (Lap 28); Dylan Yoder (Lap 31); Keith Barbara (Lap 35); Jason Covert (Lap 38)
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Provisionals: Colton Flinner
Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Emergency Provisionals: n/a
Miller Welders Fast Time Provisional: Jon Mollick
Pittsburgh's PA Motor Speedway Provisionals: Jason Covert, Brandon Burgoon
Wrisco Feature Winner: Josh Richards
Optima Batteries Hard Charger of the Race: Gregg Satterlee (Started: 14th; Finished: 3rd; Advanced 11 Positions)
Midwest Sheet Metal Spoiler Challenge Point Leader: Scott Bloomquist
Allstar Performance Power Move of the Race: Josh Richards
Sunoco Race for Gas Highest Finisher: Josh Richards
Hot Rod Processing Rookie of the Race: Colton Flinner
COMP Cams Engine Builder of the Race: Andy Durham Racing Engines
Ohlins Shocks Chassis Builder of the Race: Rocket Chassis
Outerwears Crew Chief of the Race: Cody Mallory (Scott Bloomquist
Fastest Lap of the Race: Michael Norris (Lap #10 - 18.6072 seconds)
Most Laps Led: Josh Richards (76 Laps)
PFC Brakes Tough Brake Award: Colton Flinner
Time of Race: 53 minutes 04 seconds