{"id":14003,"date":"2012-09-21T14:43:55","date_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:43:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/?p=14003"},"modified":"2012-09-21T14:43:55","modified_gmt":"2012-09-21T14:43:55","slug":"eckert-shines-during-thursdays-open-practice-for-keyser-manufacturing-down-dirty-100-presented-by-napa-at-berlin-raceway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/front-page-news\/eckert-shines-during-thursdays-open-practice-for-keyser-manufacturing-down-dirty-100-presented-by-napa-at-berlin-raceway\/","title":{"rendered":"Eckert Shines During Thursday’s Open Practice For Keyser Manufacturing ‘Down & Dirty 100’ Presented by NAPA At Berlin Raceway"},"content":{"rendered":"

Teams Test Michigan Track\u2019s Smooth Dirt Surface In Preparation For Historic World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

MARNE, MI \u2013 Sept. 20, 2012 \u2013 Rick Eckert was reminded of another racetrack as soon as he took his first practice laps around the newly dirt-covered Berlin Raceway on Thursday.<\/p>\n

But the defending World of Outlaws Late Model Series champion wouldn\u2019t publicly declare the name of the speedway he likens to Berlin, a well-known 7\/16 th<\/sup>-mile paved oval that has been transformed into a dirt track for this weekend\u2019s historic $20,000-to-win Keyser Manufacturing \u2018Down & Dirty 100\u2019 presented by NAPA Auto Parts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d rather not say what I think it\u2019s close to,\u201d Eckert said during a break in Thursday\u2019s open practice session that saw 20 dirt Late Models tour the unique, D-shaped oval. \u201cI already told (Tim) McCreadie and he\u2019s making all the changes to his\u00a0car for that<\/em> track, so I\u2019m not saying what track I think (Berlin) races like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Considering the speed he flashed on Thursday, Eckert, 46, of York, Pa., has hit on a solid setup. He turned the fastest lap in three of the four practice sessions \u2013 and in the fourth, he timed second-fastest behind WoO LMS points leader Darrell Lanigan of Union, Ky.<\/p>\n

Eckert recorded the quickest circuit of the day during the first session, clicking off a lap of 16.673 seconds in his Team Zero by Bloomquist car. He went 17.919 seconds during the second session and 18.103 seconds during the fourth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like we\u2019re where we need to be right now,\u201d said Eckert, who owns 27 career WoO LMS A-Main victories (fourth on the tour\u2019s win list since 2004) but has never captured a 100-lap race on the circuit. \u201cThe weird thing is, we\u2019ve made some big changes and it hasn\u2019t changed our times much. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s because of the line we\u2019re running or what, but I\u2019m happy with how our car is working so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eckert was impressed with Berlin\u2019s surface, a one-foot-thick layer of dirt that was applied last week. Over 300 truckloads of clay were spread around the speedway under the watchful eye of Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park promoter Jeremie Corcoran, a former DIRTcar big-block Modified driver who was brought in by Berlin Raceway management to handle track preparation for the track\u2019s first dirt race since 1965.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they get moisture in the whole thing, it\u2019ll be \u2018hold-your-breath\u2019 all the way around \u2013 it\u2019s a big circle. You carry so much speed through three and four that off of four you pucker because you\u2019re almost gonna hit the wall at the flagstand. It makes you think \u2013 you\u2019ve got the wheels turned and you\u2019re pushing and pushing, and finally, at the last second, it comes back around there (toward turn one) and then you take a breath again.\u201cThey did a nice job putting it on,\u201d said Eckert. \u201cIt\u2019s smooth \u2013 real<\/em> smooth. Down there in (turns) three and four, where it was shaded all day long, it\u2019s held some moisture, but everywhere else it\u2019s dry and slick.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely an interesting place,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n

Lanigan, 42, was fastest during the third session with a lap of 18.103 seconds, nipping Eckert\u2019s clocking of 18.226 seconds. Lanigan has already won a record 14 WoO LMS A-Mains this season and will bid for an unprecedented third 100-lap tour victory in a single season when the \u2018Down & Dirty 100\u2019 is contested on Saturday night (Sept. 22).<\/p>\n

Eckert was one of three drivers to time among the top five in all four practice sessions, joining Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., and Clint Smith of Senoia, Ga.<\/p>\n

WoO LMS Rookie of the Year leader Bub McCool of Vicksburg, Miss., was the lone tour regular not on hand for Thursday\u2019s practice. He will make his first laps at the track on Friday.<\/p>\n

A surprise participant in Thursday\u2019s hot laps was former NASCAR Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Benson, a native of nearby Grand Rapids, Mich., who launched his racing career on Berlin\u2019s asphalt. He was behind the wheel of Michigan driver Dave Hartman\u2019s full-fender machine.<\/p>\n

A steady stream of fans filed through the Berlin Raceway gates throughout Thursday\u2019s open practice to get a taste of the dirt action to come this weekend.<\/p>\n

The two-day extravaganza kicks off on Friday night (Sept. 21) with WoO LMS time trials and heat races. Also on the agenda will be support-division racing for the DIRTcar UMP Modifieds, Street Stocks, Bombers and Four-Cylinders\/Warriors.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s card features B-Mains and the Keyser Manufacturing \u2018Down & Dirty 100\u2019 presented by NAPA plus full shows for the UMP Modifieds and Street Stocks.<\/p>\n

Gates open at 3 p.m. and racing will begin at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n

Fans can purchase tickets on-line and obtain the latest information on the event by logging on to www.berlinraceway.com<\/a> or calling the track office at 616-662-2051.<\/p>\n

For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fans can also follow the WoO LMS on Twitter at Twitter.com\/WoOLateModels <\/a>and Facebook at Facebook.com\/WorldofOutlaws <\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teams Test Michigan Track\u2019s Smooth Dirt Surface In Preparation For Historic World of Outlaws Late Model Series Event MARNE, MI \u2013 Sept. 20, 2012 \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[22,3,71],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured","category-front-page-news","category-late-models"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14003"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14007,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14003\/revisions\/14007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karnac.com\/flanews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}