Early years Eckes grew up in
Greenville, New York. He began racing
Legends Cars at thirteen years old and later moved up to racing
late model stock cars and
super late models. In 2015, Eckes began racing
late models for
JR Motorsports, as well as
super late models for LFR Chassis as one of their
driver development program drivers. He made his ARCA Racing Series debut at the
Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in April 2016, driving for
Venturini Motorsports. He finished eighth, the only top-ten in four ARCA races that year. Eckes also made his
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at
Dominion Raceway and ran two further events in the series that year. Eckes capped off his season by winning three races in a row, including a triumph in the
Snowball Derby held at
Five Flags Speedway where he beat
John Hunter Nemechek. Although some reports pegged him as the youngest winner, those reports were erroneous, as
Chase Elliott won the event in 2011 at age fifteen while Eckes was sixteen when he triumphed.
ARCA Eckes and Venturini remained together for the following two seasons, partaking in ten races of the ARCA Racing Series during
2017 and thirteen the
year after. He triumphed for the first time at
Salem Speedway in April 2018, keeping teammate
Chandler Smith at bay over the closing portion of the event to secure the victory. He followed up with wins at
Illinois State Fairgrounds and
Indianapolis Raceway Park during the year, making him the driver with the second-most wins that season despite missing seven races. In the week following the win at Salem, Eckes landed a deal with
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team
Kyle Busch Motorsports to drive the team's No. 46 entry in four races in the
2018 season, starting at
Iowa Speedway in June. He led his first laps in the series at Iowa and took his first stage win during stage 2 at the following race in
Gateway, though he later crashed out of the contest. In total, Eckes's first four starts in the Truck Series included 38 laps led and three finishes inside the top ten. In 2019, Eckes embarked on a full-time campaign in the newly renamed
ARCA Menards Series in the No. 15 Venturini car. Despite missing the
Salem race in April due to an esophageal tear in his
trachea, he went on to win the championship with four wins, thirteen top-fives, and seventeen top-tens in nineteen starts. Eckes was the first ARCA champion to not run every race since
Tim Steele in 1997.
Truck Series 2019 During the same year, Eckes also ran eight races in the
Truck Series with KBM's No. 51 truck. Thanks to his three top-five finishes, including a decisive third place at the
Homestead season finale, Eckes helped the No. 51 crew towards the owners' championship, which was the seventh for the KBM team overall.
2020 The following year, Eckes joined the team's No. 18 truck for the entirety of the
2020 season. After five results inside the top five, including runner-up finishes at
Texas,
Kansas, and
Michigan, Eckes made the
NASCAR playoffs. However, he was eliminated after the first round, retiring in a last-lap pileup at the
Talladega cut-off race. Eckes notably had a verbal and physical altercation with
Ben Rhodes, who had spun him out on purpose at the fall
Texas race. He finished with a winless season and an eighth-place finish in the standings.
2021 In
2021, Eckes moved to
ThorSport Racing after being replaced at KBM by
Chandler Smith. He entered ten races of the 22-race season, sharing the schedule with
Grant Enfinger. Eckes managed to finish inside the top five on five occasions and would take his maiden win in the Truck Series at
Las Vegas, besting
Todd Gilliland during a late restart and being saved from an attack by Ben Rhodes by a caution that ended the race.
2022 in 2022 Eckes progressed to a full-time schedule in
2022, driving the No. 98 after Enfinger moved back to
GMS Racing. Though he did not win any races that year, Eckes finished eighth in the standings, scoring fifteen top-tens.
2023 in 2024. On December 6, 2022,
McAnally–Hilgemann Racing announced that Eckes would pilot the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado in
2023, replacing
Derek Kraus. Eckes started the season with a third-place finish at
Daytona, before going on to win at
Atlanta and
Darlington — where he triumphed dominantly following five races with either a fifteenth place or a DNF — during the regular season. The first round of the playoffs turned out to be commanding, as Eckes finished second and third at
IRP and
Milwaukee respectively before making an outside pass on
Corey Heim and
Zane Smith after a late restart to win at
Kansas. However, Heim would get his revenge at
Bristol by passing a dominant Eckes with five laps to go; Eckes would finish second. Eckes was eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 8 at
Homestead, having finished twentieth. He won two weeks later at
Phoenix and finished fifth in the final points standings.
2024: Title contender Eckes started the
2024 season with a tenth-place finish at
Daytona. Throughout the season, he won at
Bristol,
Martinsville, and
Nashville, and claimed the regular season championship. During the playoffs, Eckes won at
Martinsville to make the Championship 4, albeit with controversy: though Eckes had dominated the race, winning both stages, a late caution allowed
Taylor Gray to pass him during the subsequent restart. Eckes moved Gray up the racetrack aggressively and made a similar move to prevent Ben Rhodes from winning moments later, causing Gray to confront Eckes after the finish. The following week, Eckes finished third at
Phoenix to claim third in the standings, being beaten by Heim and eventual champion
Ty Majeski who had dominated the event.
2025: Part-time In
2025, Eckes made two starts for MHR, this time driving the No. 16 truck. On November 20, 2025, it was announced that Eckes will return to the series full-time for MHR for the
2026 season, this time driving the No. 91
Chevrolet.
Xfinity Series 2025: Rookie Season in 2025 On August 31, 2024, it was announced that Eckes would move up to the
NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time in
2025, driving the No. 16
Chevrolet for
Kaulig Racing. ==Personal life==