World Of Outlaws Late Model SeriesJul 31, 2017 by Dan Beaver
Josh Richards Grabs Lead After Three Wins In His Last Five Races
Josh Richards Grabs Lead After Three Wins In His Last Five Races
Three wins and a second-place finish in his last five races elevated Josh Richards into a points' tie with Brandon Overton, but Richards has had more success overall in the past 60 days.
In the past 60 days, Josh Richards has been as close to perfect as possible with only one result worse than sixth. That has been enough to elevate him to the No. 1 position in the FloRacing Dirt Late Model Power Rankings.
After finishing sixth in the Clash at the Mag at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbia, MS, on June 17, Richards responded by winning the next two races. He barely slowed in the coming weeks with a nine-race streak of top fives that included another pair of wins at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL, and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. His streak ended July 22 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE, but he immediately reclaimed his winning ways at Macon (IL) Speedway.
Richards jumped three positions this week from fourth to first.
That put Richards in a tie for percentage points with Brandon Overton, but with only five starts to his credit in the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series, Overton has had fewer occasions to find Victory Lane. He's made the most of his opportunities, however, with wins at Lernerville (PA) Speedway and Cherokee Super Speedway in Gaffney, SC. A case could be made that he has performed slightly better since he finished second to Richards' sixth in their only head-to-head meeting in the Clash at the Mag.
Brandon Sheppard lost two spots in the rankings and fell to third despite winning in his last outing at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL. His undoing came because of a 17th-place finish in the Lucas Oil St Louis U-Pic-A-Part 100 at Macon. However, that is only the second time in his last 21 major league starts that he finished outside the top five.
Shannon Babb advanced five spots to fourth, and he has done so without a single victory in the past 60 days. Racing mostly in series that are not tracked for the purposes of FloRacing's Power Rankings, Babb has only four starts in Lucas Oil or the Outlaws during that period. Three of those ended in results of sixth or better including a second to Richards at Macon.
Mike Marlar rounds out this week's top five. He was sixth last week, but a combination of speed and consistency allowed him to leapfrog over Tim McCreadie. In the past 60 days, he has started 10 events in the Lucas Oil and Outlaws series combined and earned six top fives and eight top 10s as a result.
Dirt Track Power Rankings
1. Josh Richards, 93.33 percentage points
2. Brandon Overton, 93.33
3. Brandon Sheppard, 90.87
4. Shannon Babb, 85.60
5. Mike Marlar, 83.64
6. Jimmy Mars, 80.00
7. Tim McCreadie, 80.00
8. Shane Clanton, 79.92
9. Tyler Erb, 77.92
10. Chris Madden, 76.33
View Full Late Model Rankings
After finishing sixth in the Clash at the Mag at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbia, MS, on June 17, Richards responded by winning the next two races. He barely slowed in the coming weeks with a nine-race streak of top fives that included another pair of wins at Tri-City Speedway in Granite City, IL, and Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO. His streak ended July 22 at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE, but he immediately reclaimed his winning ways at Macon (IL) Speedway.
Richards jumped three positions this week from fourth to first.
That put Richards in a tie for percentage points with Brandon Overton, but with only five starts to his credit in the World of Outlaws and Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series, Overton has had fewer occasions to find Victory Lane. He's made the most of his opportunities, however, with wins at Lernerville (PA) Speedway and Cherokee Super Speedway in Gaffney, SC. A case could be made that he has performed slightly better since he finished second to Richards' sixth in their only head-to-head meeting in the Clash at the Mag.
Brandon Sheppard lost two spots in the rankings and fell to third despite winning in his last outing at Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL. His undoing came because of a 17th-place finish in the Lucas Oil St Louis U-Pic-A-Part 100 at Macon. However, that is only the second time in his last 21 major league starts that he finished outside the top five.
Shannon Babb advanced five spots to fourth, and he has done so without a single victory in the past 60 days. Racing mostly in series that are not tracked for the purposes of FloRacing's Power Rankings, Babb has only four starts in Lucas Oil or the Outlaws during that period. Three of those ended in results of sixth or better including a second to Richards at Macon.
Mike Marlar rounds out this week's top five. He was sixth last week, but a combination of speed and consistency allowed him to leapfrog over Tim McCreadie. In the past 60 days, he has started 10 events in the Lucas Oil and Outlaws series combined and earned six top fives and eight top 10s as a result.
Dirt Track Power Rankings
1. Josh Richards, 93.33 percentage points
2. Brandon Overton, 93.33
3. Brandon Sheppard, 90.87
4. Shannon Babb, 85.60
5. Mike Marlar, 83.64
6. Jimmy Mars, 80.00
7. Tim McCreadie, 80.00
8. Shane Clanton, 79.92
9. Tyler Erb, 77.92
10. Chris Madden, 76.33
View Full Late Model Rankings