Texas Speedzone - Robert Richardson Finds ‘Lucky 13’ at Kentucky

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May 16, 2005

Contact: Dani Promotions, 512.255.3190

Robert Richardson Finds ‘Lucky 13’ at Kentucky

McKinney, TX ( May 16, 2005) - Even though his weekend lasted one day longer than scheduled, Robert Richardson (McKinney, TX) and his Bob Schacht Motorsports/ Richardson Racing – Jan Gibson Ford racing team found it to be well worth the wait.

Richardson claimed his best finish in the ARCA RE/MAX series to date, coming home 13th in Sunday’s Harley Davidson of Cincinnati 150 at Kentucky Speedway. The race was originally scheduled for Saturday but rain pushed both qualifying and the race back one day.

Richardson, who ran “about 28th or 29th in practice” on Friday, corrected his problems once he hit the 1.5-mile asphalt tri-oval track Sunday morning for qualifying.

“We were the 37th car to go out and qualify on Sunday morning,” Richardson stated. “The track was somewhat slick since the rain (from the weekend) had washed off most of the oil and tire (wear). Some guys had problems coming out of Turn 2; that turn was eating everyone’s lunch. So, I decided to take it easy on the first qualifying lap. I wanted to be sure the car would stick (on the track).”

Richardson continued, “The track felt pretty good on that first lap, so on the second lap I just went for it. The car felt good going all the way around and we qualified with our best starting spot ever in an ARCA race.” Richardson’s second lap was timed at 32.08 seconds (168.324 MPH), earning him the 10th starting spot for the race and easily putting him into the 40-car field for the race. Fifty-one drivers attempted to qualify for the starting field.

The 40 cars didn’t even get around the track once after the green flag fell. “My (Bob Schacht Motorsports) teammate, Stuart Kirby – who started on the outside of the front row – spun out right in front of me on the first lap,” Richardson revealed. “I was lucky to make it through without any damage. Man, I couldn’t believe we came that close to having our race end of the very first lap! That would have been horrible.”

Once the race was restarted, Richardson said things went well. “We worked our way up the field, then fell back a little. That’s pretty much how things went most of the day. There weren’t too many yellow flags (there were 8 cautions for 39 laps for the race) so we got some good runs in. We were running in the top 10 with 15 laps to go but the car developed a push. I just rode that out and came home 13th.”

Richardson added, “Despite the rain, we had the most fun we’ve had at an ARCA race. I’m very encouraged we keep getting better with our finishes (Richardson started the season with a 26th-place finish at Daytona, then a 14th-place finish at Nashville) and the top 10 starting spot.”

Richardson also races the #33 Victorylanegirl.com Chevrolet Monte Carlo in the United States Racing Association (USRA-TX) Super Late Models series.