(GREENVILLE, NY) – Christian Eckes is set to have a busy year in 2016. The 15-year-old driver will compete for three different teams in four different style of cars throughout the year with more than 40 races on his schedule.
“I believe it will be a lot of fun, racing in high-quality cars and hopefully proving my talent,” said Eckes. “It puts a lot of pressure on me, though, since I’m racing for three really good teams with really great race cars. I’m excited to get this year started and I’m up for the challenge.”
The Greenville, New York native has been climbing the ranks in recent years and is slated to transition to some heavier stock-cars in 2016, while still competing in the Late Model ranks.
Eckes is scheduled to compete in three events on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East with a team to be named at a later date.
The teenager will also make his ARCA Racing Series debut in April. It’s all part of a three-race program with Venturini Motorsports. His ARCA campaign is scheduled to begin with a 200-lap race at the historic Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tennessee. He will also run at the Iowa Speedway and Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin.
To further his progression as a racer, Eckes is scheduled to run 20 races for the JR Motorsports Late Model Stock team, which is owned by NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. He will also race on the CARS Tour full-time this year, as well as the Martinsville 300, Myrtle Beach 400 and other select weekly LMSC events in the Southeast.
In addition to all of that, the up-and-coming driver will pilot a Super Late Model out of the LFR Chassis stable. He’s scheduled to run select Southern Super Series races, as well as ARCA/CRA Super Series and Pro All-Stars Series South events.
Eckes said his main goal for 2016 is to gather as much experience and seat time as possible.
“I’d like to pick up a top-five finish this year and start to understand the ARCA and K&N East cars and if we are fortunate enough, some wins in the Late Models,” Eckes said. “I also hope to achieve the respect of all of the other drivers, as I believe that is an important thing to accomplish starting out.”
The young driver’s promising career began a few years ago when he started racing smaller cars such as Bandoleros and Legend Cars. Eckes made the switch to Late Models just only one year ago. He’s come a very long way in a very short period of time.
“I’m doing a lot that most 15 year-olds cannot, and I’m very grateful for that,” admitted Eckes. “Also, I’d like to thank all of the teams that I’m racing with for giving me a shot. I’m just really excited to get this year started and beyond thankful for my family and everyone that has helped me and supported me in getting to where I am now.”
Eckes will compete in the Super Late Model portion of SpeedFest 2016 this Sunday, January 31 at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, GA, just south of Atlanta. An online broadcast of the race can be seen live on Speed51.com.
For more on Christian Eckes, visit www.christianeckesracing.com, and be sure to follow him on Twitter, @ChristianEckes
