Colorado Springs, CO — April 19, 2005 — By Bret Emrick, World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® LM Series
With an off week-end on the 2005 World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series schedule, several members of the “Dirty Dozen” ventured elsewhere for their racing fix this past week-end (4/15 – 4/17). One of those “Dirty Dozen” members had a great weekend notching two victories and a fourth place finish. It was a good week end by any standard but what happened in the final event of the three-day racing jaunt is almost unheard of in today’s world of dirt Late Model Racing.
“Dirty Dozen”member Rick Eckert of York,PA along with crew chief Robby Allen and car owner Raye Vest felt that proverbial “monkey on the back”, no make that “gorilla on the back” that has plagued the race team all season long, still wasn’t shaken as they lined up in the 21st starting spot for the $5,000 to win “Spring Fest” held Sunday (4/17) at Challenger Raceway near Indiana,PA. Well, the “gorilla” was along for the ride but he got dumped.
Eckert methodically worked his way through the strong field once the green flag dropped in the 40 lap main event. With 5 laps to go the driver of the Raye Vest Excavating No. 24 Raye Vest Rocket Chassis/Cornett Race Engines Ford Taurus couldn’t believe he had a chance for the win. But, the car kept working towards the point. With two laps to, Eckert grabbed the lead and kept his car in front to score the very popular win at the semi-banked 3/8ths mile oval.
“We had a really good car come race time”, stated Eckert a few days after the run from the rear to the win. “They had the race track really racy for a day time race track. I mean, dirt tracks in the day time aren’t very racy. But, everything worked out. We just worked our way up through there and barely got there just in time.”
When asked what the secret was to getting to the front Eckert stated, “Our car worked really good come feature time. We weren’t that good in the heat race. We started in the back and ran in the back. We worked on it before the “B” Main which we won and it was better and then worked on it again. It probably was good that we had to run the “B” Main ‘cause it made us work on the car.”
Eckert also gave his experience of racing with the World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series as a member of the “Dirty Dozen” kudos for his spectacular drive. “I’m sure racing with the best guys week in and week out last year and again this year makes you race harder. That race track got really slippery and we’re used to a lot of race tracks doing that where you have time trials. So, I’m sure having that experience helped us a good bit.”
The week-end was a good one for the Raye Vest Excavating race team. Eckert pocketed a cool $3,000 for his win at Hagerstown (MD) Speedway Friday followed with a 4th place finish Saturday at Winchester (VA) Speedway and then the drive from the rear to the win at Challenger Raceway Sunday.
Eckert and the rest of the “Dirty Dozen” will have this coming week-end off before the World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series returns to action Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver,PA and Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown,MD respectively.
The World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series is brought to the fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Stacker 2®, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, VP Racing Fuels, and SPEED CHANNEL. Promotional Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, HUMMERSGONEWILD.COM, Zippo Lighters, and The University of Northwestern Ohio. Contingency sponsors include DART Machinery, MSD Ignitions, Wrisco Industries, and Quarter Master.
With an off week-end on the 2005 World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series schedule, several members of the “Dirty Dozen” ventured elsewhere for their racing fix this past week-end (4/15 – 4/17). One of those “Dirty Dozen” members had a great weekend notching two victories and a fourth place finish. It was a good week end by any standard but what happened in the final event of the three-day racing jaunt is almost unheard of in today’s world of dirt Late Model Racing.
“Dirty Dozen”member Rick Eckert of York,PA along with crew chief Robby Allen and car owner Raye Vest felt that proverbial “monkey on the back”, no make that “gorilla on the back” that has plagued the race team all season long, still wasn’t shaken as they lined up in the 21st starting spot for the $5,000 to win “Spring Fest” held Sunday (4/17) at Challenger Raceway near Indiana,PA. Well, the “gorilla” was along for the ride but he got dumped.
Eckert methodically worked his way through the strong field once the green flag dropped in the 40 lap main event. With 5 laps to go the driver of the Raye Vest Excavating No. 24 Raye Vest Rocket Chassis/Cornett Race Engines Ford Taurus couldn’t believe he had a chance for the win. But, the car kept working towards the point. With two laps to, Eckert grabbed the lead and kept his car in front to score the very popular win at the semi-banked 3/8ths mile oval.
“We had a really good car come race time”, stated Eckert a few days after the run from the rear to the win. “They had the race track really racy for a day time race track. I mean, dirt tracks in the day time aren’t very racy. But, everything worked out. We just worked our way up through there and barely got there just in time.”
When asked what the secret was to getting to the front Eckert stated, “Our car worked really good come feature time. We weren’t that good in the heat race. We started in the back and ran in the back. We worked on it before the “B” Main which we won and it was better and then worked on it again. It probably was good that we had to run the “B” Main ‘cause it made us work on the car.”
Eckert also gave his experience of racing with the World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series as a member of the “Dirty Dozen” kudos for his spectacular drive. “I’m sure racing with the best guys week in and week out last year and again this year makes you race harder. That race track got really slippery and we’re used to a lot of race tracks doing that where you have time trials. So, I’m sure having that experience helped us a good bit.”
The week-end was a good one for the Raye Vest Excavating race team. Eckert pocketed a cool $3,000 for his win at Hagerstown (MD) Speedway Friday followed with a 4th place finish Saturday at Winchester (VA) Speedway and then the drive from the rear to the win at Challenger Raceway Sunday.
Eckert and the rest of the “Dirty Dozen” will have this coming week-end off before the World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series returns to action Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30 at Lernerville Speedway in Sarver,PA and Hagerstown Speedway in Hagerstown,MD respectively.
The World Of Outlaws Stacker 2® Late Model Series is brought to the fans across the country by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Stacker 2®, Hoosier Racing Tire, Sunoco Race Fuels, VP Racing Fuels, and SPEED CHANNEL. Promotional Partners include AMB i.t., RACEceiver, HUMMERSGONEWILD.COM, Zippo Lighters, and The University of Northwestern Ohio. Contingency sponsors include DART Machinery, MSD Ignitions, Wrisco Industries, and Quarter Master.
