Josh Rice appears to have found something with his team as he is bringing speed everywhere he goes and has been getting the finishes to prove it as well. Unfortunately, Saturday night at Mansfield Speedway during the Blaster 57 Special saw mechanical issues derail his chances at a win and $100,057.
Coming off his Cowboy Classic win with the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series at Lucas Oil Speedway and then a 14th place finish during the Show-Me 100, Rice finished just off the podium in fourth in the opening night of the Blaster 57 Special on Friday night.
On Saturday, he showed that his performance at Lucas Oil Speedway and in the preliminary race at Mansfield was not a fluke. He qualified fastest in Group B and cruised to a heat win in heat 3. In the redraw he pull the four pill to start in fourth. Rice quickly worked his way forward, moving to second in the first corner of the race.
After two early cautions, Rice found himself in some really good battles with eventual race winner Nick Hoffman for second place. However, Rice was up to the challenge and was able to secure the position. He then began hunting down Garrett Alberson during a decent green flag run. He would eventually track him down and then stalked him for about 10 laps until they got into lap traffic. Some of the laps specifically Tristan Chamberlain gave him some fits and he fell back into the clutches of Hoffman, who was able to get the second position.
A caution for Dustin Sorensen flew on lap 38 of the 57-lap feature, Hoffman would choose the preferred outside lane, putting Rice to the bottom. He struggled on the restart and dropped a couple of positions to fifth with Hudson O’Neal and Tyler Erb getting past him. Rice would battle back against Erb and reclaim the fourth position on lap 44.
Three laps later and Rice would be the cause of a caution on lap 47. As he pulled into the hot pit white smoke began billowing from the car as his promising night was over.
On Facebook, Rice explained what happened, “Felt like we had a great car, followed Garrett Alberson until a little past halfway, then had a rear end and radiator go out together, forcing Josh to exit the event in 18th. Not the finished we wanted, but certainly showed we’ve got the speed to compete in these events!”
Rice and his JRR Motorsports team will be back in action at Eldora Speedway for the Dirt Late Model Dream. He will be looking to defend his Thursday preliminary win from last year against some of the best in the nation including Alberson, Bobby Pierce, Ricky Thornton Jr., Hudson O’Neal, Tim McCreadie, Ethan Dotson, Carson Hocevar, Chris Ferguson, and more.
But he is not just satisfied with defending his Thursday night preliminary win, he and his team are looking to pocket $100,000 and winning the Dream and putting a stop to Jonathan Davenport’s incredible three-race win streak at the event.
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