Bristol Motor Speedway
Notebook: Eckert glad to snap 8-month drought
By Kevin Kovac
World of Outlaws Late Model Series
Rick Eckert in victory lane at Hagerstown. (wrtwebdesigns.com)
Rick Eckert's March 2 victory in the Hagerstown (Md.) Speedway season opener was far from the richest win of his standout dirt Late Model career, but it was incredibly satisfying. No surprise there considering the York, Pa., driver's triumph in the 30-lapper marked his first visit to victory lane in nearly eight months.
“Oh yeah, it feels good to win again,” a relieved Eckert said after pocketing $2,000 for capturing the unsanctioned event. “Hopefully this gets us going.” | Slideshow
Coming off an uncharacteristically quiet 2007 campaign that saw him go winless on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series for the first time since becoming a series regular in ’04, Eckert is focused on returning to his usual form this season. A taste of victory at a half-mile track that’s just an hour’s drive from his home would seem to be a good start.
Eckert, 42, knows his Hagerstown score doesn’t mean his frustrating 59-race WoO winless streak is about to become history, but experiencing a successful day after putting in so much hard work in preparation for Sunday’s program certainly buoys his confidence.
Following a three-and-a-half-week trip to Georgia and Florida that included a second-place finish (from the 24th starting spot) in the WoO season opener on Feb. 14 at Volusia Speedway Park, Eckert returned to his shop and spent two weeks cutting and welding on his Raye Vest-owned GRT car.
“We worked on both ends of the car,” Eckert said of the machine he entered in the Southeastern events. “We tried some things that I was hoping would make the car better, so I wanted to go somewhere this weekend to run it and see how it worked.”
Eckert, whose previous victory came July 12, 2007 at Delaware International Speedway, originally planned to attend the weekend's Spring Thaw at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn., but wintry weather postponed the show until March 21-22. He ended up taking his orange No. 24 to Hagerstown, an oval he knows very well.
The verdict on the reworked car? Eckert was pleased with its performance after winning a heat race and emerging from a lap-28 scrape with J.T. Spence amid lapped traffic to take the lead with two laps remaining in the feature.
“I feel like the car worked as good as any car I’ve run (at Hagerstown),” Eckert said after his 19th career win at the speedway, which has a WoO event scheduled for May 31. “The track (surface) wasn’t like a typical daytime deal — (turns) one and two was wet and had a cushion for most of the day, and three and four was dry-slick. It was sort of like a nighttime track, so I would like to think we learned something we could use there when we go back."
McCREADIE ADDING TO DIRT SCHEDULE: Another northern driver breaking a long victory drought over the weekend was Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y. The 2006 World of Outlaws champion piloted the Bakersfield, Calif.-based Victory Circle house car Feb. 28-29 at the Las Vegas Dirt Classic, finishing third in the opener and winning the finale. “Everybody needs a win,” said McCreadie, whose lone dirt Late Model triumph in 2007 came in an unsanctioned event in early May at Virginia Motor Speedway. “I sure needed one. I didn’t run too many Late Model shows last year, so a win gets me excited.” With McCreadie's schedule as a development driver for Richard Childress Racing in limbo, he plans more dirt racing in 2008. He's scheduled to drive his Sweetener Plus No. 39 in WoO events on March 28-29 at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss., and April 4-5 at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway. He's scheduled to drive the Steve Francis Racing No. 15 on April 18-19 at the Circle K Colossal 100 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C. — Kevin Kovac
HESS EYES ALLTEL BONUS: In a popularity battle among feature winners at the 37th annual Alltel DirtCar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., Dave Hess Jr. of Waterford, Pa., is leading the Alltel DirtCar All Star Challenge. Voting is determined by online and text message voting by fans at www.alltelallstar.com through March 16. Hess, a modified and Late Model driver in the competition by virtue of a modifed victory at Volusia, is among those eligible for a $12,000 bonus from Alltel. Other Late Model drivers in the running including three-race winner Billy Moyer of Batesville, Ark., Clint Smith of Senioa, Ga., and Josh Richards of Shinnston, W.Va. Hess is in a tight battle with sprint car driver Wayne Johnson. — Eric Westendorf
ULMS ADDS TITLE SPONSOR: Northern Tier Inc. of Rew, Pa., has joined the United Late Model Series as a title sponsor, a move that will help double the ULMS points fund. The Northern Tier ULMS champion will receive $2,000 and the top five drivers in series points will be paid. — Chris Zuver
PPMS PARTNERS WITH PIZZA HUT: The Super Late Model division at Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Motor Speedway will be sponsored by Pizza Hut after an agreement between the track and Jerry Buss, president of Aurora Huts, an operator of more than 50 restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. Besides sponsoring the Pizza Hut Super Late Models, Pizza Hut will also sponsor the track's Late Models events on the Unified Force Race Championship special events. Also, the Pizza Hut Winner's Circle bonus program will pay weekly bonus checks to feature winners who display the Pizza Hut decal on their cars in each of the track's top four divisions. — Matthew Miley
