Josh Richards will reportedly be back in a dirt late model for this weekend’s upcoming 37th Annual Pittsburgher at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series.
FloRacing’s Kevin Kovac reports, “Josh Richards is expected to race again at the Pittsburgher 100 at Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway on Oct. 3-4.”
Richards competing in the Pittsburgher is not at all surprising given his father and Rocket1 co-owner, Mark Richards, informed DirtonDirt.com back in June that it was a race Josh was eyeing. Kovac reported at the time, “He did mention that one race he’d love to see Josh run is Oct. 3-4’s Lucas Oil Series-sanctioned Pittsburgher weekend at Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Motor Speedway in Imperial — an event Josh won in 2007 and ’16.”
Additionally, he shared at the end of August that it was likely he would compete in the Pittsburgher, “We’ll see what happens from here. “It really hinges on what (Sheppard and the Rocket1 team are) doing. For them, it’s a lot of work and a lot of hassle to take me to go race. So as long as things are going smooth, I think (the Pittsburgher) will happen. Now if they have something come up and they tear a car up or something, we’ll just have to see.”
Richards made his return to competitive dirt late model racing earlier this year. First, he had a practice session alongside Brandon Sheppard with the Rocket1 team at Sharon Speedway in the middle of June. he then competed with the Lucas Oil series at Lernerville at the end of August. Unfortunately, he blew a motor in a heat race while running in a transfer spot. He specifically shared with FloRacing that “it threw a rod out of the motor … it kind of went all at one time.”
The blown motor would end his weekend and return. The team chose not to compete on Saturday night for the Hillbilly 100. Rocket1 announced, “Because Josh is not racing for points, we will not be fielding his car tonight after losing an engine last night.”
𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: Because Josh is not racing for points, we will not be fielding his car tonight after losing an engine last night. We will keep everyone updated on future plans! https://t.co/WnxSCPIlJd
— Rocket1 Racing (@Rocket1_Racing) August 30, 2025
Richards reflected on his return telling FloRacing, “it really felt like I didn’t miss a day. Other than my rustiness, it just felt like I was just at a race yesterday. Time goes so fast, and the older you get it just goes faster.”
However, he did admit that there was definitely one area he needed to improve on, “Just knowing what the car’s going to do and your limits. I mean, to compete at this level, to win races at this level, the guys that are good know how far to push it, and know how to take chances and do all that. I mean, for me to just go out in a car and run good laps, I felt like I could do that, but to get back up on that level, again, it’s just something you just got to do.”
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