Championship contender Christian Eckes (No.15 JBL Audio Toyota) will make his fourth career start at Pocono Raceway this Friday in the ARCA Menards Series running of the Forts USA 150.
“Pocono has always been a place I’ve enjoyed going to,” said Eckes. “It’s pretty flat, and for whatever reason I’ve always been good at places like that. We have a little bit of momentum coming in and we’re really excited to get back to the track. It hasn’t been an easy year by any means, but I’m confident our JBL Team can get us back on track at Pocono this weekend!”
Eckes, who moved up to third-place in ARCA’s driver point standings after finishing second last weekend in Iowa, finds himself just 105-points behind his teammate Michael Self for the championship and just 20-points out of second place behind Bret Holmes. Eckes hoping to continue his upward swing in the point standings missed a race at Salem earlier in the season due to illness and finished 26th the next race at Talladega. Those two races alone cost him 325 points to Self.
Still looking for his first career win on a superspeedway, the 18-year old driver from nearby Middletown, NY finished third at the Tricky Triangle back in June. In forty career starts Eckes has recorded four wins, four General Tire Pole Awards, 17 top-five and 29 top-10 finishes. With 930 laps led in series competition he’s quickly closing in on a thousand lap milestone.
Eckes’ four wins have come on tracks less than 1-mile in length – Salem Speedway, Springfield, Lucas Oil Raceway and Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.
Eckes will join VMS teammates Michael Self and Chandler Smith prior to the start of Friday’s matinee for a private autograph engagement at 11:15am on the Fan Stage in Fan Fair. Fans interested in attending need to obtain a wristband prior to the start of the 30-minute meet and greet. Details can be found at PoconoRaceway.com.
Eckes will also rejoin Kyle Busch Motorsports making his seventh career NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series start on Saturday afternoon. In previous starts Eckes has earned three top-10 finishes and led 96 laps in series competition.
Next up for the ARCA Menards Series is the FORTS USA 150 at Pocono Raceway on Friday, July 26. Practice starts at 9 am ET with General Tire Pole Qualifying set for 1:35 pm ET and the green flag on the FORTS USA 150 set to fly at 4 pm ET. The race will be televised live flag to flag on FS1.
Venturini Motorsports PR
