RPW Exclusive: Josh Rice Finds Speed In New Car; Finishes Third In Thursday Dream Prelim With Broken Steering
Column By: ROBERT SYMONDS / RPW – ROSSBURG, OH – Josh Rice, the two time Ralph Latham Memorial winner and defending Northern All Stars Series Champion, knew he had a big hill to climb when it came to the Dirt Late Model Dream. Rice has always been a contender against some of the best drivers in the nation but Rice was an unlikely pick heading into Thursdays Prelim. When the checkered flags flew however, he is now a likely pick to win the $100,030 paycheck with Saturday’s main event.
Rice started Thursday with a Group A Qualifying Time of 15.299, ending up in third behind Ricky Thornton Jr and Daulton Wilson with being 5th overall. Starting third in his heat behind Tanner English and Scott Bloomquist with Ricky Thornton Jr to his outside, Rice had a tough hill to climb. Off the start, Rice goes three wide with English and Thornton for second as Bloomquist leads.
Rice would then fend off English and Thornton Jr to take over second. As the laps click off, Rice solidly holds down the second spot until a caution with 6 laps to go. On the ensuing restart, Rice used the bottom side of the speedway to slide up in front of Bloomquist and take the lead. After fending off a charge by the 20RT, Rice would go on to win heat race 1.
“We kinda started the night off on the wrong foot, we weren’t really good in hot laps,” Josh Rice explained in post race tech. “This is a new car because earlier this year we junked what we considered our best car but this one is giving it a run for its money for sure. Gotta thank James, Shawn, Noah, Cole, and everybody. We threw a lot of stuff at it and it put us in a good spot for qualifying tonight.”
Heading into the feature, the driver out of northern Kentucky started on the pole for the $25,000 to win 50 lap Thursday night Preliminary Feature. Off the green flag, Rice struggled to get the car rolling as the Rick Jones owned 11R would fall to 4th behind the likes of Daulton Wilson and Tim McCreadie. Rice would hold 4th and battle McCreadie for third in the opening stages until Bobby Pierce gets by for fourth.
Continuing to stay strong through the entirety of the event, Rice would end up third when the checkered flag flew on lap 50 behind Ricky Thornton Jr and hard charging Hudson O’Neal.
“We’re excited for Saturday and a day off tomorrow but we still have quite a bit of work to do. Tonight I had some power steering and transmission issues but apart from that I think we will be alright come Saturday.”
The Rice Brothers Racing team will possibly need to replace a power steering pump, a steering rack and a transmission tomorrow despite not racing until Saturday. Keep it locked here to Race Pro Weekly for more on Josh Rice and the 30th Dirt Late Model Dream.
