Kevin Kovac's Take Five
Take Five: Eckert spices WoO field at World Finals
In a new feature appearing regularly on DirtonDirt, senior writer Kevin Kovac will offer readers five things worth mentioning from around the Dirt Late Model landscape (index to previous Take Fives):
No. 1: Here’s an unexpected but interesting addition to the roster for Nov. 4-7’s Dave Smith Motors World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.: former World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion Rick Eckert of York, Pa. The 60-year-old veteran will make his first start at the 4/10-mile oval in six years driving a Rocket Chassis fielded by Tyler Siri of Horseheads, N.Y., a big-block modified driver who also owns and promotes Outlaw Speedway in Dundee, N.Y. Siri made his Dirt Late Model debut in his new Rocket with a 17th-place in Sept. 18’s Jay’s Automotive United Late Model Series feature at Outlaw but has enlisted Eckert for an assault on Charlotte, where Siri suffered multiple injuries — concussion, broken ribs, sternum and arm — in a vicious turn-three crash during last year’s World Finals finale for the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds.
No. 2: While Eckert has never won a World Finals feature, he entered the event every year from its launch in 2007 through ’19 and finished as high as second in features during the 2010, ’12 and ’13 editions of the season-ending spectacular for the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. This weekend, however, will mark his first action at Charlotte since 2020 when he competed in the WoO Last Call, a midweek doubleheader that replaced the World Finals amid Covid-19 restrictions on grandstand attendance.
No. 3: Eckert’s presence for this year’s World Finals brings back my most indelible memory from the event. I’ve never missed a World Finals since its birth in 2007 and nothing I’ve seen there sticks in my head like the 2011 weekend finale — the feature in which Eckert captured his lone WoO championship in truly unforgettable fashion. Locked in a tight points battle with Josh Richards, Eckert appeared resigned to settling for second in the final standings as he headed to the white flag of the 50-lapper running mid-pack three positions behind Richards, but then Richards pulled up lame with a flat right-rear tire, allowing Eckert to glide by and clinch the title with a 12th-place finish. I recall Charlotte’s grandstand going absolutely nuts upon that dramatic last-lap turn of events, and then Eckert and his team celebrating wildly after reaching the tour’s pinnacle in his eighth season as a regular. And oh yeah, I’ll never forget the look on Eckert’s face when four Pennsylvania fans dressed in colorful Teletubbies costumes joined him for a photo during the postrace ceremonies.
No. 4: The World Finals is a big deal for Longhorn Chassis, which is headquartered 25 miles north of The Dirt Track in China Grove, N.C. With so many people from the dirt-track world in the area for the week, managing partner Steve Arpin has again scheduled an open house from noon-2 p.m. Friday. Fans can visit Longhorn for shop tours, opportunities to purchase merchandise and driver meet-and-greets with several familiar Longhorn racers including Jonathan Davenport, Nick Hoffman, Hudson O’Neal, Devin Moran and Dustin Sorensen.
No. 5: I noted in a Take Five on Sunday that Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Rookie of the Year Josh Rice of Crittenden, Ky., asserted after his third-place finish in Saturday’s Halloween Nationals finale at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park that he was “headed to the deer stand” to unwind before his participation in this week’s World Finals. A photo he posted to his Facebook page Sunday confirmed that he did indeed go into the woods on Sunday and have a successful hunt, nabbing a large 12-point buck.
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