Tag: duck river raceway

Josh Richards Collects WoO Late Model Win Number 77 at Ducktona

~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment

Josh Richards Challenged by Dennis Erb Jr. at Duck River Raceway, Friday, March 6, 2020

Josh Richards is the winningest driver ever in the World of Outlaws Late Model series, but it’s been more than three years since his last victory. Richards was strong throughout the night at Duck River Raceway in Wheel, Tennessee.

Another driver who had been fast all night was Dennis Erb Jr. Erb was reeling Richards in on the bottom of the quarter-mile high-banked oval as the laps were running out. Richards stuck to his middle-top line until his crew indicated to him that he was losing ground to Erb.

“At the end, I saw my guys, they were showing I had a gap when I was running the top. And then they were closing it up so I switched and went to the bottom and just tried to ride it out,” Richards said.

The last time Josh Richards visited the WoO Winner’s Circle was in October of 2016 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. At that time he was still driving the car owned by his father, Mark. This time around, Richards is driving for Clint Bowyer Racing.

Dennis Erb Jr. mounted several challenges on Richards but he could never really make it stick well enough to hold the lead. Erb stuck to the bottom as Richards ran the top line, but the top eventually went away and Richards moved down and effectively blocked Erb from passing.

“I was hoping [Richards] wouldn’t [move down], but I kinda was thinking that he should’ve. When he moved down there, it was going to be pretty tough for me to get around him,” Erb said.

Point leader Brandon Sheppard started eighth on the field, then came back to finish fourth, another good finish for the defending champion. Sheppard extended his point lead over Ricky Weiss who finished eighth.

The Late Models head next to east Tennessee and Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville for the Tennessee Tipoff. Smoky Mountain is s four tenths mile banked track that provides excellent racing action.

WoO Late Models Wheel Their Way to Duck River Raceway

~ Jeff Kendrick ~ Leave a comment
World of Outlaws Late Models at Duck River Raceway
World of Outlaws Late Models at Duck River Raceway

The World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series wheels its way to Wheel, Tennessee for a sixth visit to the bowl-shaped high banks of Duck River Raceway. The main event of the night will be a fifty lap feature that pays $10,000 to win. Series champion Brandon Sheppard won the last WoO Late Model race at Duck River. He was victorious in last year’s race after a good battle with rookie driver Chase Junghans.

Sheppard is the current series point leader thanks to one win, three second-place finishes, and a total of seven top tens in seven starts in Florida and New Mexico. He leads Darrell Lanigan, Ricky Weiss, Scott Bloomquist and Chris Madden.

Support divisions for Friday night’s event include the Crate Racin’ USA Street Stocks and 604 Late Models, Hobby Stocks, Limited Late Models and the Pure Pony stocks. Hot laps get under way at 6:00 pm local time.

Tickets for the race can be purchased at the Duck River Raceway gate. Adult general admission is $30. Pit passes are $40. You can also watch the entire race on DIRTVision.