Josh Richards had a near perfect night at the Weedsport Speedway on Tuesday for the second edition of the Finger Lakes 40. The current World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series points leader padded his lead with an impressively dominating performance in the Series’ lone stop in New York this season.
A lap of 15.338 sent Frank Heckenast Jr. to the top of the scoreboard in qualifying for his first quick time of the season. Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Chub Frank, and Brandon Overton round out the top five. Heat race action saw the fastest trio in qualifying, Heckenast, Richards, and Eckert, pick up heat race wins. Richards and Heckenast would then go on to claim the front row in the redraw, with Richards firing from the pole and Heckenast from the outside.
Josh Richards wasted zero time in taking advantage of his starting spot, jumping out to a huge lead in the first couple laps with Heckenast in tow. Lapped traffic came into play early and often on the slick 3/8th mile, with Richards catching the tail of the field by lap 8.
The man to watch was Shane Clanton. The defending race winner started in the back half of the top 10 and slowly marched forward throughout the 40 lap feature. After getting by Eckert, Clanton set his sights on quick timer and heat winner Heckenast, searching for an improbable clean sweep of the night. However, the Clanton machine was able to roll the bottom through lapped traffic and clear Heckenast for the runner up position. Brandon Overton was also moving, and was able to get by Eckert as well to reach fourth, but that’s as far as Overton would get.
In the meantime, Josh Richards had took off like a rocket. Richards was able to maneuver lapped traffic extremely well, and without the aid of any cautions in the incident-free 40 lap affair, was able to extend his lead to over half a track over runner up Clanton. As the checkered flag fell on the caution free event, Richards had circled the track and drawn up to the rear bumpers of the Overton and Eckert machines, lapping up to the top 5. Richards’ victory further extends his points lead over runner up Clanton, with Heckenast, Overton, and Eckert completing the top 5.
The NAPA Auto Parts Sportsman Shootout Series took to the track for their second event of the season, with Corey Barker and Connor Cleveland leading the stout field to the green. Barker would grab the lead at the initial green, but a first lap incident would reset the field. However, Barker was able to jump into the top spot once again, with Rocky Warner following closely.
IMG_8415On lap 9, Rocky Warner moved to the top of the racetrack and around Barker for first. Connor Cleveland had settled into third as the top two entered lapped traffic. Off a restart on lap 13, Cleveland would take over the second position, as Barker, Dave Marcuccilli, and Todd Root swapped positions three through five for multiple laps in a row. Barker and Marcuccilli would eventually separate themselves from Root, with Marcuccilli narrowly coming out on top.
Connor Cleveland made a late and serious bid for the lead, but the Flying Squirrel would not be denied his first trip to Victory Hill. Cleveland would cross in second, with Marcuccilli, Barker, and Root completing the top five.
Weedsport Speedway is back in action on Monday, July 4th with the third edition of the Sportsman Classic 75. For more information, visit www.weedsportspeedway.com.
Results
Craftsman World of Outlaws Late Models (40 Laps):
JOSH RICHARDS, Shane Clanton, Frank Heckenast Jr., Brandon Overton, Rick Eckert, Steve Casebolt, Chase Junghans, Dave Hess, Brian Shirley, Morgan Bagley, Austin Smith, Chub Frank, Billy Moyer Jr., Boom Briggs, Bryan Bernheisel, Dan Stone, Tyler Erb, Eric Wells, David Zona, Joey Coulter, Brandon Ford, Chris Fleming, Greg Oakes, Jason Occhino
Napa Sportsman Shootout Series (25 Laps):
ROCKY WARNER, Connor Cleveland, Dave Marcuccilli, Corey Barker, Todd Root, Ricky Newton, Jim Spano, Ron Davis III, Jeremy Pitcher, Tony Finch II, Zach Sabotka, Rocco Leone, Tyler Trump, Dylan Zacharias, Earl Rudy, Matt Guererri, Ray Bliss, Matt Farnham, Tom Collins, Tyler Singleton, Nick Krause, Will Shields, Joe Kline, Tommy Paige, Adam Hilton, Kevin Root, Ben Wheeler, Kyle Inman, Nick Guererri