By Jordan Morris
WILMOT, Wis. – June 15, 2014 – Rick Eckert didn’t wait long after securing his first DIRTcar Summer Nationals victory on Friday night at Cedar Lake Speedway, following it up by leading flag-to-flag and capturing the victory on Sunday night at Wilmot Raceway.
Eckert, of York, Pa., started from the pole position with Ryan Unzicker on his outside. Eckert, the 2011 World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion racing the defending series champion’s Rocket Chassis car, held off Unzicker on the start of the race and after two early cautions.
Eckert finally pulled away from Unzicker after the third and final caution when a hard-charging Shannon Babb, coming from his ninth-place starting position, challenged Unzicker for second. Babb cleared Unzicker, but Eckert was already out to a sizeable lead. Eckert wound up lead all 40 laps, defeating Babb by more than one second, capturing his second checkered flag in as many events.
“Anytime I get to race is fun, and I love racing tracks that I’ve never been to,” said an excited Eckert in victory lane. “We were only going to hit a handful [of events] but now every day I get in the truck, I go wherever they set the GPS to, and they’ve been setting it for the next track. So we will probably see them at the next one.”
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Unzicker, Brian Shirley and Mike Spatola rounded out the top five.
Heat race winners included Eckert, Unzicker and Brandon Sheppard.
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals continues on Tuesday night at Farley Speedway in Farley, Iowa.
DIRTcar Summer Nationals Statistical Report; Wilmot Raceway; Wilmot, Wis.; June 15, 2014
A-Main (40-laps):Â 1. 1-Rick Eckert ($5,000), 2. 18-Shannon Babb, 3. 24-Ryan Unzicker, 4. 81-Brian Shirley, 5. 89-Mike Spatola, 6. 22-Gregg Satterllee, 7. B5-Brandon Sheppard, 8. 96-Tanner English, 9. 10S-Scott Schmitt, 10. 74-Mitch McGrath, 11. 21JR-Billy Moyer Jr, 12. 81JR-Jason Riggs, 13. 1CJ-Gary Christian, 14. 1M-Jim Moon, 15. D7-Jim Letizia, 16. 32-Bobby Pierce, 17. 8R-Bill Rezutek, 18. 5M-Mike Fryer, 19. 21B-Rich Bell.
2014 DIRTcar Summer Nationals Schedule
| Date | Day | Track | Location | Win |
| June 11 | Wed | Brownstown Speedway |
Brownstown, Ind. |
RAIN |
| June 12 | Thur | Kankakee Co. Speedway |
Kankakee, Ill. |
Billy Moyer |
| June 13 | Fri | Cedar Lake Speedway |
Somerset, Wis. |
Rick Eckert |
| June 14 | Sat | Cedar Lake Speedway |
Somerset, Wis. |
RAIN |
| June 15 | Sun | Wilmot Raceway | Wilmot, Wis. | Rick Eckert |
| June 16 | Mon | Off | ||
| June 17 | Tue | Farley Speedway | Farley, Iowa | $10,000 |
| June 18 | Wed | Spoon River Speedway | Canton, Ill. | $5,000 |
| June 19 | Thur | Quincy Raceways | Quincy, Ill. | $5,000 |
| June 20 | Fri | Tri-City Speedway | Pontoon Beach, Ill. | $10,000 |
| June 21 | Sat | Fairbury Speedway | Fairbury, Ill. | $10,000 |
| June 22 | Sun | I-96 Speedway | Ionia, Mich. | $5,000 |
| June 23 | Mon | Peoria Speedway | Peoria, Ill. | $5,000 |
| June 24 | Tue | Off | ||
| June 25 | Wed | Clarksville Speedway | Clarksville, Tenn. | $5,000 |
| June 26 | Thur | Clayhill Motorsports | Atwood, Tenn. | $5,000 |
| June 27 | Fri | Paducah Int. Raceway | Paducah, Ky. | $10,000 |
| June 28 | Sat | Federated Auto Parts Raceway | Pevely, Mo. | $10,000 |
| June 29 | Sun | Lincoln Speedway | Lincoln, Ill. | $5,000 |
| June 30 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 1 | Tue | Belle Clair Speedway | Belleville, Ill. | $5,000 |
| July 2 | Wed | Jacksonville Speedway | Jacksonville, Ill. | $5,000 |
| July 3 | Thur | LaSalle Speedway | LaSalle, Ill. | $5,000 |
| July 4 | Fri | Fayette Co. Speedway | Brownstown, Ill. | $7,500 |
| July 5 | Sat | Highland Speedway | Highland, Ill. | $10,000 |
| July 6 | Sun | Tri-State Speedway | Haubstadt, Ind. | $5,000 |
| July 7 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 8 | Tue | Florence Speedway | Union, Ky. | $5,000 |
| July 9 | Wed | Terre Haute Action Track | Terre Haute, Ind. | $5,000 |
| July 10 | Thur | Macon Speedway | Macon, Ill. | $5,000 |
| July 11 | Fri | Farmer City Raceway | Farmer City, Ill. | $10,000 |
| July 12 | Sat | 34 Raceway | Burlington, Iowa | $10,000 |
| July 13 | Sun | Vermilion Co. Speedway | Danville, Ill. | $5,000 |
| July 14 | Mon | Off | ||
| July 15 | Tue | TBA | ||
| July 16 | Wed | Atomic Speedway | Chillicothe, Ohio | $5,000 |
| July 17 | Thur | Brushcreek Motorsports Complex | Peebles, Ohio | $5,000 |
| July 18 | Fri | Attica Raceway Park | Attica, Ohio | $5,000 |
| July 19 | Sat | Oakshade Raceway | Wauseon, Ohio | $10,000 |
The DIRTcar Summer Nationals “Hell Tour” is brought to fans across the country by many important partners including:Â Arizona Sport Shirts (Official Apparel Company), Hoosier Racing Tires (Official Racing Tires), Racing Electronics (Official Communication), Velocita (Official Uniform), VP Racing Fuel (Official Racing Fuel); in addition to these fine Contingency Partners: Beyea Headers, Cometic Gasket, Comp Cams, Dominator Race Products, Edelbrock, Fox Shocks, JE Pistons, JRI Shocks, Mobil 1, MSD, Quartermaster, Superflow Dynos, Summit Racing Equipment and Wrisco Aluminum; Promotional Partners include: Chevy Performance Parts, Indiana Decal, Intercomp and Petroff Towing.
June 15th, 2014
Heat 1:
1. Rick Eckert
2. Brian Shirley
3. Gregg Satterlee
4. Tanner English
5. Billy Moyer, Jr.
6. Jim Moon
7. Mike Fryer
Heat 2:
1. Ryan Unzicker
2. Rich Bell
3. Mitch McGrath
4. Bobby Pierce
5. Gary Christian
6. Jim Letizia
Heat 3:
1. Brandon Sheppard
2. Mike Spatola
3. Shannon Babb
4. Scott Schmitt
5. Jason Riggs
6. Bill Rezutek
Feature:
1. Rick Eckert
2. Shannon Babb
3. Ryan Unzicker
4. Brian Shirley
5. Mike Spatola
6. Gregg Satterlee
7. Brandon Sheppard
8. Tanner English
9. Scott Schmitt
10. Mitch McGrath
11. Billy Moyer, Jr.
12. Jason Riggs
13. Gary Christian
14. Jim Moon
15. Jim Letizia
16. Bobby Pierce
17. Bill Rezutek
18. Mike Fryer
19. Rich Bell