Christian Eckes Targets Elusive Elko Speedway Win in Return to Minnesota
ARCA Menards Series championship contender Christian Eckes (No.15 JBL Audio Toyota) returns to Elko Speedway looking to finally break into victory lane after back-to-back years with runner up finishes.
“Elko has always been a track that I’ve really enjoyed going to,” said Eckes. “Grabbing the pole and finishing second last year definitely makes me excited coming back. It’d mean a lot to win there especially with the bit of a drought we’ve had here lately. All the guys on this JBL Audio team have been working extremely hard to get this year turned around, so we’re ready to go have some fun this weekend.”
Eckes, a four-time career ARCA winner with one victory on the season finds himself 85-points behind teammate Michael Self for top spot in the series travels to Minnesota for the third time to take part in Saturday night’s Menards 250 at Elko Speedway. Eckes is coming off a seventh-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway.
The Middletown, NY native will make his 39th career start since making his series’ debut in 2016. Throughout his young career, he’s notched six wins, 16 top-5 and 28 top-10 finishes to go along with three General Tire Pole Awards.
Eckes, 18, will join Venturini Motorsports’ teammates Michael Self, Chandler Smith, and Hailie Deegan at Elko. VMS has one team win at Elko Speedway (Brennan Poole ’12) and two General Tire Pole Awards (Justin Haley ’14 and Christian Eckes ’18).
The ARCA Menards Series returns to action on Saturday, July 13 in the Menards 250 at Elko Speedway. Practice at Elko Speedway is set for 2:15 pm ET/1:15 pm CT, General Tire Pole Qualifying is scheduled for 6:15 pm ET/5:15 pm CT, and the 250-lap feature event will go green shortly after 10 pm ET/9 pm CT. The race will be televised live on MAVTV.
Sources: Venturini Motorsports