Elton "Al" Eckstrand, who campaigned the Lawman series of Dodge Stockers and toured them overseas to entertain and inform U.S. troops in the 1960s, died May 10 in Naples, Fla., after a short illness. He was 79.

Elton "Al" Eckstrand, who campaigned the Lawman series of Dodge Stockers and toured them overseas to entertain and inform U.S. troops in the 1960s, died May 10 in Naples, Fla., after a short illness. He was 79.

Eckstrand, a former Chrysler Corp. lawyer, won the 1963 Winternationals and was runner-up at that year’s Nationals in Indianapolis. When he retired from competition in 1965, he worked with upper management at Chrysler and was given a '66 Hemi Charger to use in a tour of U.S. military bases in Europe and Vietnam. A large number of American servicemen were returning to civilian life after their tours of duty in Vietnam and were a growing statistic among the 50,000 fatalities on the highways at the time. In the eight years that the program existed, Eckstrand and the USA Motorsports Association that he founded gave demonstrations to hundreds of thousands of outgoing soldiers.

After living in Europe for three decades, Eckstrand, a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, returned to the United States in 1999, bringing with him the famous Dodge, which was selected to join the collection of the Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills, Mich.