[ fast facts --- highlights --- career story ]

 

As have many other drivers in the modern era of stock car racing, Rick Eckert had aspirations of becoming one of motorsports toughest and fierce competitors. In order to achieve these high goals and a standard of excellence set by his team, Eckert knew that the road to success would hold many obstacles and barriers that only hard work and experience would overcome. With the accelerated and progressive manner in which Rick and team owner Raye Vest have met their day-to-day approach of operating their motorsports efforts as a successful business, it’s no surprise that Raye Vest Racing and Eckert have met the challenge. The team has matured into one of the premiere total packages in dirt late model racing.

Beginning with his early years at regional tracks near his York, Pennsylvania home, Rick quickly cast the mark of a champion with track titles at both Bedford and Lincoln speedways. Rick made his tear through the local tracks and onto regional touring scene elevating his campaign to a national level throughout the 90’s. Since then, Eckert has garnered headlines and maintained the attention of the media and a strong fan following with numerous impressive major wins including a $100,000 win in 1999 at the “Dream “ race for dirt late models. Eckert and the Raye Vest team closed the books on the year 2000 season with the biggest win of the season on the STARS National DirtCar Racing League, taking the season-ending $30,000 to win ‘Fall Nationals’ at Tampa, FL’s East Bay Raceway.

The win in Tampa wasn’t the first of the year for Eckert, as it was at the testy third-mile oval where Eckert set a new record on the prestigious Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series, sanctioned by the United Dirt Track Racing Association, in February by winning the 3rd straight race of a new UDTRA season. In the tough and highly competitive UDTRA series points battle of 2000, Rick led the way as the standings leader throughout a major portion of the first half of the year. In fact, he was never ranked lower than fourth-place in the standings throughout 2000. Rick upped that achievement in 2001 by winning six UDTRA sanctioned races on his way to capturing his first ever UDTRA Pro Dirtcar Series National Points Championship! Rick backed up his 2001 championship with another UDTRA Series triumph in 2002. The 2003 season brought a new name to the UDTRA Series, as they became the Xtreme Dirtcar Series. The team finished fourth in their effort for a 3-peat.

In the 2004 racing season, Rick competed with the newly formed World of Outlaws Late Model Series. Rick finished third in the inaugural point standings for the series. Along the way, Rick racked up five feature victories with the WoO Series. Overall in 2004, Rick amassed nine victories, 31 Top Five's, and 54 Top Ten finishes. Among those victories were prestigious events such as: the Dirt Track World Championship ($60,000), the National 100 ($30,000), and the Bama Bash ($15,000). In addition to those accomplishments, Rick also set a New Track Record at the famed Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, OH. Rick toured the high-banked, 1/2-mile dirt oval in 15.215 seconds.

2005 brought a myriad of accomplishments for the #24 team. Rick finished fourth in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series point standings after collecting two series feature wins. Overall in 2005, Rick accumulated eleven wins, 41 Top Five runs, and 61 Top Ten finishes in his 74 starts. A couple of those wins included the $30,000 to win 'Scorcher 100' at the Volunteer (TN) Speedway, the $30,000 to win 'National 100' at the East Alabama Motor Speedway, and a $10,000 to win ESPN2 event at the Virginia Motor Speedway.

Rick and his #24 racing team enjoyed a very successful 2006 campaign, as they accumulated eleven wins, thirty-three Top Five finishes, and forty-six Top Ten efforts in the seventy-three events that they entered. Of those eleven victories, eight came on the ultra-competitive World of Outlaws Late Model Series circuit. The Raye Vest Racing team was also lethal in front of the SPEED Channel cameras. Rick captured three wins in televised events, while also registering eight Top Five finishes and nine Top Ten performances.

The Raye Vest Racing team entered seventy-six Dirt Late Model events in 2007 and recorded two victories, twenty Top Five finishes, and forty-three Top Ten performances. In World of Outlaws Late Model Series competition, Rick earned twelve Top Fives and twenty-seven Top Tens in the forty-four series races held in '07. In addition to his two unsanctioned wins at the Williams Grove (PA) Speedway and the Delaware International Speedway, other highlights for "Scrub" included a third place effort in the $46,000 to win 'Topless 100' and a fifth place finish in the $20,000 to win 'Scorcher 100.'

In 2008, Rick and his #24 team once again ran full-time with the World of Outlaws Late Model Series. They finished seventh in WOOLMS points after accumulating one victory, twelve Top Fives, and twenty-four Top Tens. Overall, Rick recorded three victories during his '08 campaign while racking up twenty-two Top Fives and forty-three Top Tens. His biggest win came at the Autodrome Drummond in Canada, where Rick scored a $10,000 WOOLMS triumph.

Not only has Rick proved that he is a powerhouse on dirt, but he has also shown the motorsports community that he is a well-rounded driver by registering frequent successful finishes on the ARCA series on America’s asphalt superspeedways. Rick Eckert has proven his racing abilities are real, which means one thing - bad news for his competitors!

 

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