RaceJunkie
08-12-2008, 10:42 AM
World of Outlaws Late Model Series Regulars Hope To Rekindle Past Success In Tour’s First Visit To North Carolina Track On Friday Night (Aug. 15)
FAYETTEVILLE, NC – Aug. 12, 2008 – There’s two World of Outlaws Late Model Series regulars who enter Fayetteville Motor Speedway’s first-ever tour event this Friday night (Aug. 15) as proven big-show winners at the four-tenths-mile oval.
And interestingly, both drivers hail from the same state north of the Mason/Dixon Line.
Pennsylvanians Rick Eckert and Chub Frank hold a special distinction among their traveling WoO LMS brethren, standing as the only drivers from the group with national touring-series feature wins at Fayetteville on their resumes.
It’s been a while, but Eckert and Frank return to Fayetteville for Friday night’s 50-lap, $10,000-to-win spectacular as accomplished FMS winners. Eckert was triumphant at Fayetteville on April 20, 2000, in an event that was part of the defunct Hav-A-Tampa/Xtreme DirtCar Series, and Frank scored a victory on April 21, 2001, in another HAT/Xtreme program.
Whether their past successes stamp them as pre-race favorites in 2008, however, is open for discussion.
“I’ve only raced at the place a handful of times,” said Eckert, a 42-year-old from York, Pa. “I haven’t even been there since the last Hav-A-Tampa race (in 2001), so for all I know the track could have a totally different surface now. We’ll just go in there and try to do the best we can.”
“I can’t take much from that race I won there,” said Frank, 46, of Bear Lake, Pa. “That’s the only time I’ve ever raced there, so I’m not sure what to expect.”
Eckert’s Fayetteville victory in 2000 was actually one of the most memorable checkered flags in his career. He crossed the finish line second behind 2004 WoO LMS champion Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., but was handed the top prize when Bloomquist’s car weighed in 42 pounds light at the scales.
“I remember getting into a hole and bending the front bumper down while I was leading,” said Eckert, who is still driving the Raye Vest-owned No. 24 that he steered to his Fayetteville win. “Bloomquist passed me with a few laps to go, but I felt happy to hold on and finish second with the way my front end was bent.
“Then I pulled up behind Bloomquist at the scales and they disqualified him for being light. That put a big smile on my face. It’s still the only time I ever won a race like that.”
Eckert, who also won an A-Main at Fayetteville with the regional STARS/Renegade Series on Aug. 6, 1994, hopes his ’08 visit to the Tar Heel State facility is another positive one. A winner just once in his last 88 WoO LMS starts, Eckert is in dire need of a strong run after experiencing myriad problems during the grueling 13-race stretch of tour competition from July 9-29.
“I think we have everything back in good shape now,” said Eckert, who tumbled from third to seventh in the WoO LMS points standings during July’s rush of racing. “We spent the last couple weeks getting our stuff back together and we’re ready for this next swing.”
Frank, meanwhile, made his trip to Fayetteville’s promised land in ’01 with a nearly flawless performance.
“We qualified good, won our heat, started up front in the feature and picked the right tires,” bottom-lined Frank, who remains an owner-operator like he was when he triumphed at Fayetteville. “It was just a night where everything went our way. I know that for a fact because (Steve) Francis (the 2007 WoO LMS champion) passed me for the lead with a few laps to go when his tires were coming on, but then a yellow (flag) came out to let my tires cool down and keep my in front.”
If there’s one thing that stood out to Frank about his Fayetteville win, it’s that he was a bit anonymous to the southern fans when he took the checkered flag.
“At that time they didn’t really know who we were yet,” quipped Frank, who was a STARS/Renegade Series regular in 2001 and decided to enter the Fayetteville HAT/Xtreme event only because he had an opening on his schedule. “We were still just starting to get out there and run some more places.”
Frank has, of course, become one of the country’s most recognizable dirt Late Model drivers. Last year he was the winningest driver on the WoO LMS, and this season he sits fourth in the tour’s points standings entering this weekend’s Southeastern swing at Fayetteville and Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. (Sat., Aug. 16).
On Friday night, Fayetteville Motor Speedway’s pit gates are scheduled to open at 12 noon and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 2 p.m. On-track action for the show, which also includes five weekly divisions, is tentatively set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Grandstand general admission is $30 and pit admission is $40.
For more information, visit www.fayettevillemotorspeedway.net or call 910-223-RACE.
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.
FAYETTEVILLE, NC – Aug. 12, 2008 – There’s two World of Outlaws Late Model Series regulars who enter Fayetteville Motor Speedway’s first-ever tour event this Friday night (Aug. 15) as proven big-show winners at the four-tenths-mile oval.
And interestingly, both drivers hail from the same state north of the Mason/Dixon Line.
Pennsylvanians Rick Eckert and Chub Frank hold a special distinction among their traveling WoO LMS brethren, standing as the only drivers from the group with national touring-series feature wins at Fayetteville on their resumes.
It’s been a while, but Eckert and Frank return to Fayetteville for Friday night’s 50-lap, $10,000-to-win spectacular as accomplished FMS winners. Eckert was triumphant at Fayetteville on April 20, 2000, in an event that was part of the defunct Hav-A-Tampa/Xtreme DirtCar Series, and Frank scored a victory on April 21, 2001, in another HAT/Xtreme program.
Whether their past successes stamp them as pre-race favorites in 2008, however, is open for discussion.
“I’ve only raced at the place a handful of times,” said Eckert, a 42-year-old from York, Pa. “I haven’t even been there since the last Hav-A-Tampa race (in 2001), so for all I know the track could have a totally different surface now. We’ll just go in there and try to do the best we can.”
“I can’t take much from that race I won there,” said Frank, 46, of Bear Lake, Pa. “That’s the only time I’ve ever raced there, so I’m not sure what to expect.”
Eckert’s Fayetteville victory in 2000 was actually one of the most memorable checkered flags in his career. He crossed the finish line second behind 2004 WoO LMS champion Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., but was handed the top prize when Bloomquist’s car weighed in 42 pounds light at the scales.
“I remember getting into a hole and bending the front bumper down while I was leading,” said Eckert, who is still driving the Raye Vest-owned No. 24 that he steered to his Fayetteville win. “Bloomquist passed me with a few laps to go, but I felt happy to hold on and finish second with the way my front end was bent.
“Then I pulled up behind Bloomquist at the scales and they disqualified him for being light. That put a big smile on my face. It’s still the only time I ever won a race like that.”
Eckert, who also won an A-Main at Fayetteville with the regional STARS/Renegade Series on Aug. 6, 1994, hopes his ’08 visit to the Tar Heel State facility is another positive one. A winner just once in his last 88 WoO LMS starts, Eckert is in dire need of a strong run after experiencing myriad problems during the grueling 13-race stretch of tour competition from July 9-29.
“I think we have everything back in good shape now,” said Eckert, who tumbled from third to seventh in the WoO LMS points standings during July’s rush of racing. “We spent the last couple weeks getting our stuff back together and we’re ready for this next swing.”
Frank, meanwhile, made his trip to Fayetteville’s promised land in ’01 with a nearly flawless performance.
“We qualified good, won our heat, started up front in the feature and picked the right tires,” bottom-lined Frank, who remains an owner-operator like he was when he triumphed at Fayetteville. “It was just a night where everything went our way. I know that for a fact because (Steve) Francis (the 2007 WoO LMS champion) passed me for the lead with a few laps to go when his tires were coming on, but then a yellow (flag) came out to let my tires cool down and keep my in front.”
If there’s one thing that stood out to Frank about his Fayetteville win, it’s that he was a bit anonymous to the southern fans when he took the checkered flag.
“At that time they didn’t really know who we were yet,” quipped Frank, who was a STARS/Renegade Series regular in 2001 and decided to enter the Fayetteville HAT/Xtreme event only because he had an opening on his schedule. “We were still just starting to get out there and run some more places.”
Frank has, of course, become one of the country’s most recognizable dirt Late Model drivers. Last year he was the winningest driver on the WoO LMS, and this season he sits fourth in the tour’s points standings entering this weekend’s Southeastern swing at Fayetteville and Screven Motor Speedway in Sylvania, Ga. (Sat., Aug. 16).
On Friday night, Fayetteville Motor Speedway’s pit gates are scheduled to open at 12 noon and the grandstand gates will be unlocked at 2 p.m. On-track action for the show, which also includes five weekly divisions, is tentatively set to begin at 6:30 p.m.
Grandstand general admission is $30 and pit admission is $40.
For more information, visit www.fayettevillemotorspeedway.net or call 910-223-RACE.
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.