NickHolt Posted July 31, 2010 Report Share Posted July 31, 2010 Rags To Riches: Eckert Thrills Crowd With Come-From-Behind Victory In Backup Car At Attica Raceway Park ATTICA, OH - July 30, 2010 - Rick Eckert went from rags to riches in the course of one memorable evening at Attica Raceway Park. Just hours after a blown engine during time trials left him contemplating his immediate future on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, Eckert drove his backup car to a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the national tour’s 50-lap Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek A-Main on Friday night at the one-third-mile oval. Eckert, 44, of York, Pa., overcame a host of obstacles to post his second WoO LMS triumph of 2010, including a starting spot deep in the pack (18th); a massive mid-race crash that involved more than half the field; a hasty in-race radiator replacement; and, finally, two former series champions who stood between him and an improbable win. The veteran driver’s stirring rally reached its zenith on lap 47 when he surged ahead of Shinnston, W.Va.’s Josh Richards to take the lead, clinching a $10,575 score that prompted Attica’s big crowd to give Eckert a standing ovation upon his arrival in Victory Lane. Richards settled for second place after leading laps 12-46, good enough to slightly pad his points lead as he chases a second consecutive WoO LMS title. Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky., finished third to end the night second in the points standings, while 12th-starter Shane Clanton of Fayetteville, Ga., placed fourth and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga., took fifth to register his third top-five finish of 2010. “Bad luck, good luck – we experienced it all tonight,” said Eckert, whose 21st career WoO LMS victory was his first since March 26 at Battleground Speedway in Highlands, Texas. “I was ready to go home after we blew the motor (moments after clicking off what would stand as the night’s fourth-fastest qualifying lap). I was about to call it off – I said, ‘We should just load up.’ But we decided to stick it out and now I’m sure glad we did.” Eckert, who is one of only two drivers to start every WoO LMS A-Main contested since 2004, fell one spot short of transferring to the headline event through a heat race before punching his ticket with a victory in the second B-Main. He made his presence known in the feature by moving up to eighth place by lap 23, but then his night took another unexpected turn. After Eckert somehow escaped a lap-23 restart accident that sent Chub Frank of Bear Lake, Pa., into a barrel-roll and left more than a dozen cars scattered across the homestretch (“A hole opened and I just drove right through it,” he said), his apparent change in fortune was quickly tempered by the problem his crew discovered when he stopped in turn four under red-flag conditions. “We were in eighth and three guys ahead of me were in the wreck, so I was thinking, We might have a shot to win this thing,” recalled Eckert. “Then my crew guy, Bob, said, ‘Did you park in a water puddle?’ I said, ‘Nah, I don’t think so. Shove me front and let’s see.’ They pushed me and there was water coming from my car, so we took the hood off and saw there was a hole in the radiator core. I was like, ‘Well, that’s just the way the night’s going.’ “I can’t afford to break another motor, so I said, ‘Let’s go in and fix it right. We’ll change the radiator, and if we don’t get out in time, we don’t get out in time.’” With some help from western Pennsylvania racer Ron Davies and his crew as well as an assortment of other people nearby, Eckert was back on the racetrack well before the field began rolling toward a restart. He proceeded to take full advantage of his new lease on life, using the extreme inside groove around the track to move into contention. Eckert was sixth on lap 35 when a caution flag flew for the stopped car driven by 2009 WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Russell King of Bristolville, Ohio, who was the race’s early story while leading laps 1-11. Two laps after the restart Eckert was third, and, after finally disposing of Lanigan to grab second on lap 42, he quickly ran down Richards. Keeping his Team Zero by Bloomquist car on the inside hub, Eckert slid ahead of Richards exiting turn two on lap 46 and officially assumed command for good as lap 47 was scored. “I just got a good rhythm around the bottom and got to where I could drive up off the corner really hard,” said Eckert. “But when I got to third I had to race Darrell really hard because he changed his line and wouldn’t let me get out on entry like I had been. When I finally got him cleared I could get back to the way I was running and I caught Josh real fast. I showed myself to Josh on the bottom and he did what anybody would do with a couple (laps) to go – he moved down to the bottom into (turn) one, but he got himself loose and skated up the track and left me the opportunity to pass him. “I still wasn’t sure he wouldn’t get up on that cushion and beat it harder. When a guy’s leading he’s not necessarily always running as hard as he can, so I thought he’d maybe gas it back up and I’d have to fend him off.” “That’s the best kind of win – when you come from the back,” added Eckert, who was greeted after the race by his ecstatic wife Kristal. “After everything that happened to us tonight, pulling off a win like this is really exciting.” Richards, 22, was powerless to stop Eckert’s late-race charge to a storybook triumph. “He was able to stick around the bottom and make it work,” Richards said of Eckert. “I don’t know if I could’ve putted around down there and stayed ahead of him or not, but I was more comfortable just carrying my speed and trying to keep my momentum up around the top. “Rick and his guys just did a heck of a job tonight. He just had the better car tonight.” Early in the race, however, it appeared that the 21-year-old King had the car to beat. He powered around the track as the leader for the first 11 laps – and then his night went from bad to worse. First, King spun in turn two on lap 11 to avoid the slowing Mike Knight of Ripley, N.Y. Though King remained in the lead for the ensuing restart because officials ruled that Knight was the reason for the caution, his car’s steering was damaged and he ceded the top spot to Richards. He held on to second until sliding high in turn two on lap 22, and one lap later a scrape with Matt Miller of Waterville, Ohio, sent both drivers sliding off the backstretch and triggered another caution period. King took the lap-23 restart at the rear of the field and was then marginally involved in the race’s biggest incident. Miller, who restarted in third place, made contact with Richards exiting turn four and ended up turned around in front of the field, setting off a tangle that saw Frank flip after overrunning Miller’s machine. There were no injuries in the accident, but Frank and Miller joined Gregg Satterlee of Rochester Mills, Pa., who was fourth at the time, Brent Robinson of Smithfield, Va., and Devin Shiels of Britton, Mich., as casualties of the wreck. King continued, but he was never a factor. After stopping on lap 35 to bring out the race’s third and final caution flag, he limped to a 13th-place finish. Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky., finished sixth – a disappointing result because he was up to second and ready to pressure Richards for the lead on lap 32 when he slid over the track’s bank between turns three and four, causing him to fall to eighth before he recovered. Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., started third but was involved in the lap-23 accident and fell to seventh in the final rundown, ahead of rookie Austin Hubbard of Seaford, Del., who also got a piece of the crash; 23rd-starter Tim Fuller of Watertown, N.Y., who used a provisional after his car was eliminated from heat action by left-front suspension damage; and Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs of Bear Lake, Pa., who earned the $500 ‘Bonus Bucks’ cash for being the highest-finishing driver who hasn’t won a WoO LMS A-Main and isn’t ranked among the top 12 in the series points standings. Francis blistered the track in Ohlins Shocks Time Trials, setting a new track record with a lap of 14.303 seconds. His circuit bettered the existing standard of 14.345 seconds held since 2004 by Matt Miller, who also broke his old record en route to the second-fastest lap of the 45-car qualifying session. Heat winners were Francis, Miller, Lanigan and King, who registered his first-ever victory in a WoO LMS heat race. The B-Mains were captured by Bump Hedman of Sugar Grove, Pa., and Eckert. Ohio-Pennsylvania Speedweek rolls on for two more nights, visiting Muskingum County Speedway in Zanesville, Ohio, on Saturday (July 31) and Eriez Speedway in Hammett, Pa., on Sunday (Aug. 1). Both events feature 50-lap A-Mains paying $10,000 to win. For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com. Results of WoO Late Model Series at Attica Raceway Park (Finishing Position/Start/Driver/Laps Completed/Money Won): 1. (18) Rick Eckert/50 $10,575 2. (6) Josh Richards/50 $5,600 3. (8) Darrell Lanigan/50 $3,600 4. (12) Shane Clanton/50 $3,000 5. (7) Clint Smith/50 $2,500 6. (5) Steve Francis/50 $2,350 7. (3) Tim McCreadie/50 $2,000 8. (10) Austin Hubbard/50 $2,050 9. (23) Tim Fuller/50 $1,700 10. (21) Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/50 $1,600 11. (16) Donnie Moran/50 $1,050 12. (15) Robbie Blair/50 $1,000 13. (2) Russell King/50 $1,450 14. (14) John Mason/50 $900 15. (17) Bump Hedman/50 $900 16. (20) Doug Drown/48 $800 17. (24) Jill George/48 $770 18. (11) Jon Henry/24 $750 19. (4) Matt Miller/23 $730 20. (1) Gregg Satterlee/23 $700 21. (9) Chub Frank/23 $1,200 22. (19) Brent Robinson/23 $1,200 23. (22) Devin Shiels/23 $700 24. (13) Mike Knight/11 $725 * Earnings include Winners Circle program and cash contingency award bonuses Yellow Flags: 3 (Laps 11, 23, 35); 1 Red Flag (Lap 23) Lap Leaders: King (1-11); Richards (12-46); Eckert (47-50) Provisional Starters: Fuller, George Rookie of the Race: Hubbard ($250) WoO LMS ‘Bonus Bucks’ Winner: Briggs ($500) Ohlins Shocks Time Trial Results (Position/No./Driver/Hometown/Best Lap): 1. 15-Steve Francis/Ashland, KY 14.303 (NTR) 2. 7-Matt Miller/Waterville, OH 14.315 3. 29-Darrell Lanigan/Union, KY 14.355 4. 24-Rick Eckert/York, PA 14.423 5. 39-Tim McCreadie/Watertown, NY 14.470 6. 71d-Ron Davies/Erie, PA 14.526 7. 22-Gregg Satterlee/Rochester Mills, PA 14.589 8. 44-Clint Smith/Senoia, GA 14.610 9. 1*-Chub Frank/Bear Lake, PA 15.611 10. 1-Josh Richards/Shinnston, WV 14.636 11. 15H-Jon Henry/Ada, OH 14.649 12. 56-Russell King/Bristolville, OH 14.683 13. 9K-Mike Knight/Ripley, NY 14.684 14. 19H-Austin Hubbard/Seaford, DE 14.770 15. 19-Tim Fuller/Watertown, NY 14.805 16. 99-Donnie Moran/Dresden, OH 14.830 17. 99B-Rick ‘Boom’ Briggs/Bear Lake, PA 14.868 18. 72-John Mason/Millersburg, OH 14.871 19. won11-Robbie Blair/Titusville, PA 14.901 20. 25-Shane Clanton/Fayetteville, GA 15.066 21. 8-Craig Vosbergen/Perth, Australia 15.069 22. 50Y-Ryan Missler/Bellevue, OH 15.081 23. 22-Jill George/Cedar Falls, IA 15.116 24. 29R-Rocky Owens/Mansfield, OH 15.151 25. 3-Brent Robinson/Smithfield, VA 15.203 26. 15B-Mike Bores/Bellevue, OH 15.235 27. 51-Devin Shiels/Britton, MI 15.261 28. 21-Larry Kingseed/Castalia, OH 15.309 29. 23c-Jeremy Canada/Barberton, OH 15.368 30. B22-Bump Hedman/Sugar Grove, PA 15.381 31. x3-Daniel Wallace/Toledo, OH 15.440 32. 1N-Casey Noonan/Sylvania, OH 15.456 33. 93T-Jeff Esbenshade/Ashland, OH 15.515 34. 40-Wayne Maffett Jr./Mansfield, OH 15.527 35. 27-Ken Hahn/Gibsonburg, OH 15.532 36. 1B-Jeff Babcock/Wayne, OH 15.692 37. 2d-Curtis Deisenroth/Oak Harbor, OH 15.751 38. 83-Bill Hahn/Gibsonburg, OH 15.793 39. 36-Matt Irey/Mansfield, OH 15.859 40. 48-John Bores/Bellevue, OH 16.333 41. 12-Michael Stiltner/Green Springs, OH 16.454 42. 06-Kyle Perry/Perrysburg, OH 16.816 43. 22M-Bobby Michaels/Republic, OH 16.854 44. 1DJ-Doug Drown/Wooster, OH N/T 45. 5H-Ernie Haynes/Rising Sun, MD N/T Heat No. 1 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Francis, McCreadie, Frank, Knight, Robinson, Canada, Esbenshade, Deisenroth, Haynes, Stiltner, Briggs, Vosbergen Heat No. 2 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Miller, Richards, Hubbard, Mason, Missler, M. Bores, Hedman, Davies, Maffett, B. Hahn, Perry Heat No. 3 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): Lanigan, Satterlee, Henry, Blair, George, Wallace, K. Hahn, Irey, Shiels, Fuller, Michaels Heat No. 4 (10 laps – Top 4 Transfer): King, C. Smith, Clanton, Moran, Eckert, Drown, Owens, Kingseed, Noonan, J. Bores, Babcock B-Main No. 1 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Hedman, Robinson, Briggs, Davies, Missler, Maffett, Haynes, Deisenroth, B. Hahn, Perry, Stiltner, Canada, Esbenshade, M. Bores (DNS) Vosbergen B-Main No. 2 (12 laps – Top 3 Transfer): Eckert, Drown, Shiels, K. Hahn, Kingseed, Wallace, George, Irey, J. Bores, Michaels, Noonan, Babcock, Owens (DNS) Fuller World of Outlaws Late Model Series Contingency Award Winners: Arizona Sports Shirts ($50 product certificate): Wayne Maffett Jr./Jill George Armor All (one case of product to highest-finishing non-WoO team in A-Main w/decal): Bump Hedman Eibach Springs (one free spring): Bump Hedman MSD Ignition ($75 cash award): Rick Eckert MSD Ignition ($25 cash award): Mike Knight Ohlins Pole Award ($50 cash award to fastest qualifier w/decal): Steve Francis Pink Carburetors ($100 product certificate): Rick Eckert Pink Carburetors ($50 product certificate): Jill George Quartermaster ($100 product certificate): Rick Eckert Quartermaster ($50 product certificate): Tim McCreadie Quartermaster ($25 product certificate): Bump Hedman R2C Performance ($100 certificate): Rick Eckert STP ($50 cash award): Bump Hedman VP Racing Fuels ‘Nice Jugs Award’ (two five-gallon plastic fuel jugs to fastest qualifier who does not make the A-Main if decal is displayed): Craig Vosbergen Wrisco Aluminum (three sheets of aluminum to A-Main winner w/decal): Rick Eckert 2010 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Point Standings as of July 30 – 31 A-Mains completed (rank/driver/points/deficit to leader): 1. Josh Richards 4162 2. Darrell Lanigan 4130 (-32) 3. Tim McCreadie 4128 (-34) 4. Steve Francis 4032 (-130) 5. Shane Clanton 3928 (-234) 6. Austin Hubbard 3912 (-250) 7. Rick Eckert 3890 (-272) 8. Tim Fuller 3854 (-308) 9. Chub Frank 3776 (-386) 10. Clint Smith 3704 (-458) 11. Russell King 3496 (-666) 12. Brent Robinson 3134 (-1028) 13. Brady Smith 2786 (-1376) 14. Jill George 2332 (-1830) 15. Brian Birkhofer 1566 (-2596) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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