Atomic Speedway
Rice overcomes for pair of fourth-place finishes
By Kyle McFadden
DirtonDirt staff reporter
Josh Rice (11) works the high groove at Atomic. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
ALMA, Ohio (March 29) — Josh Rice doesn't dwell on his shortcomings this early in the Dirt Late Model season, but a few gnaw at him — two weekend instances on the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and another that’s still taking time to shake off.
On Saturday at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway, the Crittenden, Ky., driver spun while battling for the lead in his heat race, forcing him to transfer through a B-main and start 17th in the feature. He responded with a dazzling 50-lap charge to fourth.
A night later at Ohio’s Atomic Speedway, a midpack qualifying effort put him 10th in the starting lineup, but he again turned some of the fastest laps of the race and charged to another fourth-place finish.
And, of course, the one that still stings most: all of Georgia-Florida Speedweeks.
“I wish I could go and redo the heat race Saturday because I kind of stepped on it a little bit,” the 27-year-old Rice said. “Yeah, we’ve had a really good car. We got Vinny (Guliani) on board and it’s been huge for us. I can’t thank Dan (Clark) and ‘Snack’ (Keir Hoover) enough. They’re a hard-working bunch. They made it through Florida.
“We’re obviously headed in the right direction. It was good to get back up here and get back on familiar dirt and learn the car. Like I say, Vinny’s been a really good help. We had a pretty ugly Florida there. Now I wish we could go back and redo it because I feel like we have a pretty good base under us. We’re headed in the right direction.”
Since Rice and his JRR Motorsports team brought on Vinny Guliani — the Bilstein Shocks insider and consultant who played a role in Devin Moran’s first Lucas Oil title last year and Garrett Alberson’s rise as a national touring winner — just after Speedweeks, the series rookie has looked more like himself.
In his first weekend with Guliani, also his first competition following the departure of crew chief Randall Edwards, Rice led March 21’s Northern All Stars Series opener at his home track, Florence Speedway, until lap 46 when a vibration slowed his pace in the final laps, helping teammate Justin Rattliff grab a five-figure payday.
“As soon as we tested some of his stuff, I was like, ‘Man!’ I told (team owner) James Rattliff, we’re going to be good,” Rice said. “Just slid that lapped car wrong at Florence and knocked the mud cover in. Got it packed full of mud and it beat the bearings out of it, and ruined the right-rear shock. It was cool Justin won, obviously, but I can’t get one. If I could ever break through and get one, I think it’s going to be on.”
On Sunday, Rice trailed early leader Brandon Sheppard by 5.5 seconds while running sixth on lap 20. Eight laps later, he trimmed his deficit to less than three seconds. With five laps remaining, it was under two seconds. He ultimately closed to within 1.3 seconds of the leaders but couldn’t crack a podium spot because of Brandon Overton’s superb defense. Rice stayed within a few lengths of Overton over the final 15 laps, but never found a way around.
“If I could’ve ever gotten by Brandon — me and Brandon had a heckuva race going — he did a good job of getting wide and held off for a podium,” Rice said. “If I could’ve ever gotten by him, I could’ve had a really good at run at ‘em. We were both catching the leaders. Another five (laps) probably would’ve been really fun.”
Rice and the JRR Motorsports team welcome the luxury of three consecutive open weekends before the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series returns to tracks unfamiliar to him on April 24-26: Georgetown (Del.) Speedway, BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pa., and Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway.
That preparation time should be critical for Rice, a longtime Rocket Chassis driver still working to get comfortable in his Longhorn. He’s slated to race Friday in the Jeff Gullett Memorial at Ponderosa Speedway in Junction City, Ky., and Saturday at Mudlick Valley Raceway in Wallingford, Ky., both with the Northern Allstars Late Model Series.
The following weekend gives him the option of joining the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for April 10-11’s Illini 100 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway — perhaps valuable seat time at a track the Lucas Oil tour visits in May — or stay closer to home for April 11’s Northern All Stars event at Montpelier (Ind.) Speedway.
Wherever he goes, Rice’s priority is breaking in a second car so he has two reliable race machines ahead of a busy stretch — 13 races in 30 days from April 24 at Georgetown through May 23’s Show-Me 100 at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
“We need to get another car out and race around home and get to where we have two good cars under us,” Rice said. “If we have a good car, we’re going to run it to death. We really need to get another one out, build a good base with it and make sure we have two good ones.”
“We found a lot of stuff wrong on (the car) initially and never really had a fair shot at it early on. We had some wrong parts on it and things like that. Like I say, Vinny’s got us on the right track. He’s been really good.”
Rice admitted the sting of a difficult Speedweeks has lingered, a stretch that produced twice as many DNQs (six) as top-10 finishes (three) across 19 full-field national touring starts. But he’s starting to turn things around in confidence.
“Just can’t thank Tim Tungate, Justin Rattliff, Jason Jameson — everybody — enough for giving me this opportunity and sticking with me,” Rice said. “Luckily I’ve got a really good car owner that’s got my back. I feel like everybody’s behind me. Now I want to do good for them so bad it’s driving me crazy. If I can just get that out of my head and keep doing what I’m doing, I think we’ll be fine. I think we’re going to be good.”
