DRUMMONDVILLE, Quebec — Rick Eckert doesn’t have to answer the questions anymore.
With his frustrating winless streak on the World of Outlaws Late Model Series approaching two full years, Eckert finally broke through with a flag-to-flag victory in Saturday night’s second-annual Quebec 50 at Autodrome Drummond.
“It’s been a long time between wins and a lot of grief,” said Eckert, who went without a win in 71-straight races since his last WoO LMS triumph, July 8, 2006, at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, Ohio. “I’m just glad it’s over now — and hopefully, the next one won’t take nearly so long to come.”
Eckert, 42, surged off the outside pole to grab the lead at the start and never looked back. He built an edge as large as a full straightaway before turning back a final-lap challenge from Tim McCreadie, who settled for runner-up money in an event that was contested in front of a standing-room-only crowd at the four-tenths-mile oval.
Darrell Lanigan extended his WoO LMS point lead with a third-place finish, while Shane Clanton placed fourth and polesitter Josh Richards was fifth.
Driving a Raye Vest-owned GRT car that he debuted June 17 at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, Eckert was flawless from start-to-finish. His only real scare came when he reached the pack of lapped traffic on the 48th circuit.
“The first half of the race, the racetrack was nice and you could pass lapped cars without a problem, but then it sort of one-laned up — and that’s terrible for the leader,” said Eckert. “I was dreading the lapped cars, so when I caught them with two to go I was like, ‘This is not gonna happen.’”
The finish:
Rick Eckert, Tim McCreadie, Darrell Lanigan, Shane Clanton, Josh Richards, Chub Frank, Neil Baggett, Jeremy Miller, Billy Decker, Ricky Elliott, Tim Fuller, John Blankenship, Dan Stone, Tony Knowles, Peter Mantha, Jr., Steve Francis, Greg Oakes, Rick Briggs, Danny Johnson, Clint Smith, Adam Ferri, Joe Isabell, Shannon Babb, Yan Bussiere, Sean Beardsley.