WALTON, Ky. — Josh Rice finally sealed the deal Saturday night, capturing the biggest win of his career at his home track with a victory in the 44th Annual Sunoco Race Fuels North/South 100 Presented by Lucas Oil at Florence Speedway.
Rice earned a career-high $75,000 before a packed grandstand.
Rice and Jonathan Davenport endured a wild, lead-swapping duel, with Rice leading the final two laps to earn the victory at the track where he began his career in an open-wheel modified.
Luke Morey, making his first North-South 100 start, finished third, followed by Devin Moran and Brandon Overton.
Dan Ebert took the lead at the start and paced the first seven laps before Davenport took over the top spot. On a lap-11 restart, Ebert’s driveline broke, causing him to slow coming off turn four and triggering a 15-car pileup.
The incident eliminated LOLMDS championship points leader Brandon Sheppard and Bobby Pierce, who was seeking his fourth consecutive North-South 100 victory.
After a lengthy cleanup, Davenport maintained the lead until lap 25, when Kyle Bronson took over the top spot. Bronson and Davenport were battling for the race lead when the two made contact coming off turn two, sending Davenport spinning into the inside berm.
Bronson then led until lap 62, when Devin Moran took over. Moran held the lead until Davenport, who had pitted for repairs following the lap 51 incident, charged back to the front. Davenport’s lead was short-lived, as Moran regained the top spot on lap 85. Davenport answered immediately, passing Moran to retake the lead on lap 86.
Davenport held the lead until Rice charged from fourth and caught him as the duo raced to the white flag. Rice took the lead off turn four, then lost it between turns three and four after getting into the wall on the final lap. He drove back underneath Davenport to take the checkered flag.
“I am a frickin’ North-South 100 winner,” Rice said. “We put on four different tires, wrecked three different times and we had a Daytona 500 crash on the front stretch. It worked out and I didn’t even know I had a left front. I had about six pep talks when I pitted. I am speechless. What just happened? I can’t thank my dad and mom enough for everything. We have made a mess of this race so many times. I just can’t thank my sponsors enough throughout the years, and just everybody who stuck by me. All of my guys, all of my family and friends are here. It’s incredible.”
Davenport, who was seeking his third career North/South 100 victory, finished second, 0.574 seconds behind Rice.
“I can’t remember everything that happened. We took off pretty good there. I just hated it for all the guys that got taken out there in that wreck,” Davenport said. “It definitely changed the complexion of the race. The first time me and Josh got together, I really thought I left him just enough room and he jumped my right front. It was just a racing deal, and I knew he would probably be mad.”
Morey, who before this weekend had raced only once at Florence in his career, made his first North-South 100 start and rounded out the podium after starting 19th.
“Yeah, that was crazy. It was the first North-South for me,” Morey said. “I had only been here one other time. I am telling you, it was crazy watching Rice and them go after it and the fans freaking out. I would have been thankful to battle for 20th. I never thought we’d be here standing on the frontstretch afterwards.”
44th Annual Sunoco North/South 100 (100 Laps):
Pos – Start – Car # – Competitor – Hometown – Earnings
1 – 9 – 11 – Josh Rice – Crittenden, KY – $75,900
2 – 3 – 49 – Jonathan Davenport – Blairsville, GA – $25,500
3 – 19 – 49M – Luke Morey – Zeeland, MI – $10,000
4 – 5 – 99 – Devin Moran – Dresden, OH – $10,350
5 – 2 – 76 – Brandon Overton – Evans, GA – $9,900
6 – 18 – 13 – Dallon Murty – Chelsea, IA – $7,000
7 – 27 – 6 – Clay Harris – Jupiter, FL – $3,500
8 – 10 – 93F – Carson Ferguson – Lincolnton, NC – $5,900
9 – 26 – 3s – Brian Shirley – Chatham, IL – $5,650
10 – 7 – 40B – Kyle Bronson – Brandon, FL – $5,400
11 – 16 – 71 – Hudson O’Neal – Martinsville, IN – $5,450
12 – 12 – 22 – Daniel Hilsabeck – Earlham, IA – $4,900
13 – 14 – 93L – Cory Lawler – Hanover, PA – $3,750
14 – 25 – 111 – Max Blair – Centerville, PA – $4,600
15 – 6 – 58 – Garrett Alberson – Las Cruces, NM – $4,650
16 – 8 – 1T – Tyler Erb – New Waverly, TX – $3,600
17 – 23 – 17D – Zack Dohm – Cross Lanes, WV – $3,550
18 – 22 – 16 – Justin Rattliff – Campbellsville, KY – $3,500
19 – 11 – 20RT – Ricky Thornton Jr – Chandler, AZ – $4,700
20 – 15 – 8 – Dillon McCowan – Urbana, MO – $4,400
21 – 24 – 5 – Drake Troutman – Hyndman, PA – $3,500
22 – 1 – 60 – Dan Ebert – Lake Shore, MN – $9,400
23 – 4 – 1 – Brandon Sheppard – New Berlin, IL – $4,750
24 – 13 – 157 – Mike Marlar – Winfield, TN – $3,500
25 – 21 – 32 – Bobby Pierce – Oakwood, IL – $3,500
26 – 17 – 99JR – Frank Heckenast Jr – Frankfort, IL – $3,500
27 – 20 – 18 – Shannon Babb – Moweaqua, IL – $3,500
