CONCORD, NC – Aug. 20, 2007 – With a new car and a   reenergized attitude, Rick Eckert is ready to turn around his unspectacular   season on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series.
 
Eckert, 41, of York, Pa., heads to the tour’s $20,000-to-win ‘Scorcher 100’ at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap., Tenn., this week (Aug. 21-23) with a clean slate after making a mid-season decision to change chassis builders. He hopes the move helps jump-start his winless WoO LMS campaign.
 
“I’m excited about the new car,” said Eckert, whose debut run in a fresh GRT dirt Late Model produced a strong third-place finish in Saturday night’s prestigious ‘Topless 100’ at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove, Ark. “It felt good right out of the box, so I’m glad that there’s only a couple days until the next race.”
 
It’s been a rough 2007 season for Eckert, who is tied with Scott Bloomquist of Mooresburg, Tenn., for the most WoO LMS wins (15) since 2004 but hasn’t visited Victory Lane yet in 32 events this year. Eckert, whose eight WoO LMS triumphs in 2006 doubled the next closest driver’s total, is the only driver in the top 10 of the tour’s current points standings who remains winless.
 
Eckert does have five runner-up finishes in WoO LMS action this season – and he’s won unsanctioned events at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and Delaware International Speedway in Delmar – but that’s no small consolation because of his position in the points standings. After failing to record a top-10 finish in the last six tour events, he sits sixth in the points rundown, 146 markers behind leader Steve Francis of Ashland, Ky.
 
“It’s been frustrating, embarrassing – whatever you want to call it,” Eckert said of his uncharacteristic performance in ’07. “I haven’t run this bad in a few years, but you’ll have years like this. You just have to try to keep working hard and get out of the rut.”
 
Eckert, whose Raye Vest-owned team ended a long association with Rocket Chassis during the off-season to campaign MasterSbilt cars, felt it was time to make another change after struggling through the end of July. He opted to try a chassis from Joe Garrison’s Greenbrier, Ark.-based GRT shop.
 
“It was actually Clint’s idea,” said Eckert, referring to fellow WoO LMS regular Clint Smith when asked why he chose to join Team GRT. “He was on me to get one these (GRT) cars (Smith runs GRT machines) before the season started, but things didn’t work out back then.”
 
Instead, Eckert went the MasterSbilt route. He struggled to match his driving style to the car, however.
 
“I never got comfortable in the car,” said Eckert. “I couldn’t get the balance with it that I was used to for years.
 
“There’s definitely nothing wrong with (the MasterSbilt). I mean, Jimmy Mars won the race (the Topless 100) in one! I just couldn’t get the feeling I was looking for with it.”
 
Eckert went to the GRT shop on Mon., Aug. 13, and began assembling a new wide-frame car for the Topless 100. Smith was also there and pitched in to help Eckert and his crewman complete the job.
 
The car hit the Batesville surface for the first time during the Thursday-night practice session and Eckert immediately liked what he felt. He went on to win a heat race on Friday – a definite confidence-builder for Eckert, who, believe it or not, has won only one WoO LMS heat all season – and make a strong bid for the $46,000 top prize in Saturday night’s feature.
 
Eckert led the 100 twice – laps 9-33 and 85-87 – and raced up front for the entire distance, but settled for a $10,000 third-place finish. He wore out his tires while spending much of the A-Main battling for the lead and thus couldn’t hold off the late-race charge of Mars, who had fresh rubber after pitting to change a flat at mid-race.
 
Nevertheless, being in the mix for a major victory brought a smile to Eckert’s face.
 
“I felt very comfortable in the car,” he said of his new GRT. “It really had the kind of feel that I’m used to.
 
“Batesville is a place I’ve never really been good at before, so to go there with a new car and have a shot at the win after the way we’ve been running made me feel good.”
 
Now Eckert feels primed to end his excruciatingly long WoO LMS long streak, which has reached 45 races. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he managed to break through on Thursday night in the ‘Scorcher 100,’ an event he won in 2005.
 
Eckert also expects his performance over the season’s remaining 13 WoO LMS events to be enhanced by his GRT association with Smith, who has three wins and ranks second in the tour points standings. They parked side-by-side in the pit area at Batesville and swapped setup ideas throughout the weekend.
 
“It’s a big help to have Clint on the road running a GRT too,” said Eckert, whose last WoO LMS victory came on July 8, 2006, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. “When somebody else has the same car and you get along with them, if you’re off a little bit someplace and that guy’s on, or vice-versa, you can go see what the other guy is doing.
 
“The more cars at a race that are the same as yours, the more information that is available.”
 
Time trials and heat races for the ‘Scorcher 100’ at the high-banked Volunteer Speedway are set for Wed., Aug. 22. The B-Mains and features will be run on Thurs., Aug. 23.
 
For more information on the ‘Scorcher 100,’ visit www.volunteerspeedway.com.
 
The WoO LMS moves on to K-C Raceway in Alma, Ohio, for a $10,000-to-win, 50-lap event presented by National Interstate Insurance on Sat., Aug. 25. Information can be obtained at www.kc-raceway.com.
 
Additional info on the WoO LMS is available by logging on to www.worldofoutlaws.com.