After the Checkers
Instant reaction, analysis of Rice's Florence peak
By Kevin Kovac
DirtonDirt senior writer
James Rice hugs winning brother Josh. (heathlawsonphotos.com)
UNION, Ky. (Aug. 8) — Instant reaction and analysis from Saturday’s Sunoco North-South 100 at Florence Speedway, a $75,000-to-win Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series-sanctioned event captured by Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky.:
BREATHTAKING: How can you even begin to describe the 44th North-South 100? Yes, it was a marathon that lasted nearly two hours thanks to a pair of red flags and 11 cautions, but there’s never been a race of such length that ended up being so unforgettable. Race of the Year frontrunner? You better believe it. It’s doubtful anything can top a 100-lap crown jewel event that had so many twists, turns, comebacks and downright shake-your-head-in-amazement moments. The final 19-lap run of uninterrupted action to close the feature was absolutely exhilarating as Florence’s favorite son Josh Rice brought the standing-room-only crowd to a boil with a determined charge — after pitting three times and changing four tires — that landed him in to battle for the $75,000 prize with two-time race winner Jonathan Davenport. It was amazing to see the stands become a rolling wave of support for Rice as he went after Davenport, who knew Rice was coming hard just by glancing up at the cheering fans. After Rice led the final two circuits by executing a deft crossover move under J.D. exiting turn four with the checkered flag flying, the whole place erupted in a scene that had to be experienced in person to truly be believed. Fans hugged and high-fived, hooted and hollered. Their boy finally won his home track’s biggest show in his 11th try (and ninth feature start). Florence Y’all? More like Rice Brothers, Y’all.
LONG TIME COMING: It’s really hard to put into perspective just how much Florence Speedway means to Josh Rice, his older brother James and their father Jerry, all racers who have spent the entirety of their lives with the track as their focal point. They’ve been pursuing a victory in the North-South 100 since Jerry starting running it in the late ‘80s upon his move to the Dirt Late Model division, and in 2006 Jerry came close with a runner-up finish to Steve Shaver. It took the youngest Rice, the one who’s become a full-time national touring driver this season, to finally bring the huge North-South trophy home. Josh nearly passed out during his postrace interview from the physically draining drive and outpouring of emotion he experienced. James found it difficult to put the moment into words. And Jerry? Well, when I approached him in the pit area for an interview, he brushed off my congratulatory handshake and said he had to go in for a hug instead. The tears that periodically sprouted from his eyes as he spoke demonstrated the significance of what he had just seen his son accomplish in such dramatic fashion. This was a feel-good story of not only the year, but in Dirt Late Model history.
THE BIG ONE: The race shifted drastically on a lap-11 restart when Dan Ebert, who started from the pole and led laps 1-7, broke a lift bar and driveshaft running second and suddenly slowed in front on the firing field. Mayhem ensued on the homestretch — one of the biggest Dirt Late Model wrecks ever seen in a crown jewel event, in fact. More than half of the 27-car field was swept up to a significant degree in the wreck, most notably three pre-race favorites in Brandon Sheppard, Mike Marlar and Bobby Pierce, who was gunning for a fourth consecutive North-South 100 victory. Sheppard’s Rocket1 machine was lifted into the air and twirled around before coming to rest sitting on the Marlar and Pierce cars; all three were done. Shannon Babb and Frank Heckenast Jr. were the only other drivers immediately eliminated, but damage from the wreck was evident on multiple cars that continued. How might the race have played out if the incident hadn’t occurred? We’ll never know, but the way it did ultimately conclude was so spectacular that the accident seemed like it happened in a different race.
SCARY MOMENT: When Garrett Alberson’s car stopped in turn two to draw a caution flag on lap 60, it seemed he had experienced a run-of-the-mill problem. But the situation was clearly more serious when he climbed out of the cockpit, dropped to his knees and motioned for assistance. Alberson, running seventh, absorbed a strike to his helmet from a rock or mud club, stunning him and causing a laceration near his left eye. The emergency responders tending to him placed him on a backboard, put him on a cart and took him to an ambulance in the pit area for transport to a local hospital. Initial late-night reports indicated that Alberson would remain hospitalized overnight for treatment.
JAM-PACKED RACE: During the North-South 100, people near my vantage point in the infield kept asking me if I had enough material to fill my notebook, and I responded that I certainly did. It was hard to sift through all the storylines beyond the biggest — Rice’s victory, of course, and the huge crash. So much was worth mentioning. Davenport’s rebound from a lap-50 scrape while battling Kyle Bronson for the lead that sent him spinning backwards into the inside wall on the back straight. Bronson running an absolutely relentless high line while leading laps 25-62 but fading to a 10th-place finish as his race car’s tires and parts gave out under the stress. Brandon Overton looking like he was running a perfect, unscathed race as he reached second but then fading slightly to a fifth-place finish over the final 25 laps. Devin Moran’s crew patching his car back together after he rear-ended Ebert’s machine in the massive crash sufficiently for him to rise all the way to the lead for laps 63-82 and 85 before losing ground late to place fourth. Unheralded first-time Lucas Oil Series starter Luke Morey spraining his right wrist in the big crash but dicing it up with the leaders late to score a totally unexpected third-place finish. It’s no wonder I wrote down so many notes during the 100-lapper.
STAT OF THE NIGHT: Josh Rice became just the second home-state driver to win the North-South 100 since its birth in 1983, joining the late Jack Boggs of Grayson, Ky., who captured the race in 1986, ’92 and ’94. Four Kentucky racers had finished second in the race since Boggs’s last victory, including Josh’s father Jerry (2006), Ashland’s Steve Francis (’03), Union’s Darrell Lanigan (’98) and Independence’s Troy Green (’95).
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