March 16, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Eckes finds redemption with NASCAR Truck Series win at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Sometimes a victory tastes sweetest when it comes as a chaser for a bitter defeat.

That was certainly the case for pole winner Christian Eckes, who held off Kyle Busch in the closing laps to win Saturday night’s Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In last year’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff race at Bristol, Eckes gave up the lead to Corey Heim with six laps left and finished second by 0.218 seconds.

The loss cost Eckes, who led 150 laps in that event, a berth in the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where his victory in the season finale gave him a consolation prize but not a title.

On Saturday night, Eckes passed Busch for the lead on Lap 159 and held it for the final 92 circuits as Busch made a frenetic charge that fell just short. In traffic, Eckes crossed the finish line 0.141 seconds ahead of the career Truck Series victory leader.

“Oh, man, it’s so sweet,” said Eckes, who won for the first time this season, the first time at Bristol and the sixth time in his career.  “There’s just so much behind this win from last year, missing out on the Championship 4 and losing the race with (six) to go.

“To come back and redeem ourselves was our number one goal, and not only that, but the first three races (of this season), how terribly they’ve gone. We had a lot of issues, and to come back and run really good just show s the resilience of the team.”

By putting his No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing Silverado in Victory Lane, Eckes extended Chevrolet’s 2024 Truck Series winning streak to four races.

Under the sixth and final caution, which slowed Busch’s pursuit for eight laps, Busch radioed to his team, “We’re a second-place truck, maybe third.”

But that didn’t prevent Busch from charging after Eckes after a restart on Lap 227 of 250. As the run progressed, Busch cut into Eckes’ lead, which had grown to more than one second, and closed to his back bumper by the time Eckes crossed the finish line.

“The crazy part about it is, we fought loose all through practice, all through qualifying, all through the beginning part of the race on older date codes,” Busch said. “Then we put on the newer date codes of tires and were instantly tight. So, just not being able to prepare and practice on what you expect to race on hurt us.

“We tightened up all day, and obviously I don’t think we were as tight as the 19 (Eckes) at the end but, you know, just track position. I let him go early in that run to just go burn his stuff off and track position at the end, just aero effects… Didn’t have enough rubber on the road to outduel him.”

Zane Smith finished third in the first race of a double-duty weekend. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton was fourth after joining Eckes and Busch in a three-way battle for the lead before the final caution for a shunt involving Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez on Lap 219.

Series leader Tyler Ankrum was fifth, extending his margin over second-place Corey Heim to 17 points. Heim finished sixth, followed by Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger and Sunoco rookie Layne Riggs.



NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 4
Race Results for the Weather Guard Truck Race - Saturday, March 16, 2024
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - 0.533 - Mile Concrete

Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 133.25 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 3/16/2024 @ 10:26 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 19 Christian Eckes NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 250 2 3 57 Running 2 144 5
2 4 7 Kyle Busch(i) Group 1001 Chevrolet 250 1 1 0 Running 2 105
3 7 91 Zane Smith(i) Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet 250 5 5 0 Running 1 1
4 20 88 Matt Crafton Great Lakes Flooring/Menards Ford 250  8 36 Running  
5 9 18 Tyler Ankrum Ullico Chevrolet 250 7 6 41 Running  
6 15 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 250   31 Running  
7 3 17 Taylor Gray Factory Canopies Toyota 250 6  35 Running  
8 6 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 250   29 Running  
9 13 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 250 10  29 Running  
10 28 38 Layne Riggs # Love's Travel Stops Ford 250  10 28 Running  
11 12 41 Bayley Currey Niece Chevrolet 250   26 Running  
12 8 45 Kaden Honeycutt Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 250 9  27 Running  
13 10 43 Daniel Dye Champion Container Chevrolet 250   24 Running  
14 17 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 250   23 Running  
15 21 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 250   22 Running  
16 16 99 Ben Rhodes TSPORT Ford 250 8 9 26 Running  
17 2 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge Chevrolet 250 3 2 37 Running  
18 25 75 Stefan Parsons popsells.com Chevrolet 249   19 Running  
19 14 66 Conner Jones # Farm Paint Ford 249   18 Running  
20 26 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 249   17 Running  
21 19 1 William Sawalich Starkey/Soundgear Toyota 248   16 Running  
22 23 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 248  7 19 Running  
23 22 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 247   14 Running  
24 27 56 Timmy Hill Hill Motorsports Toyota 247   13 Running  
25 18 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 247   12 Running  
26 33 46 Thad Moffitt # Petty's Garage Chevrolet 246   11 Running  
27 29 33 Lawless Alan AUTOParkit Ford 246   10 Running  
28 31 02 Mason Massey RANDCO Chevrolet 245   9 Running  
29 36 21 Mason Maggio Rock Hill ACE Hardware Ford 244   8 Running  
30 30 76 Spencer Boyd Freedom Warranty Chevrolet 242   7 Running  
31 24 32 Bret Holmes David's Electric Chevrolet 242   6 Running  
32 34 22 Keith McGee More Core Ford 238   5 Running  
33 11 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 228   4 Running  
34 5 98 Ty Majeski Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 170 4 4 17 Engine  
35 35 14 Trey Hutchens Quality Roof Seamers Chevrolet 113   2 Suspension  
36 32 90 Justin Carroll Carroll's Automotive/Duratain Toyota 57   1 Brakes  

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 39 Mins, 55 Secs. Average Speed: 80.017 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.141 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 7, 19, 2, 98, 91, 17, 18, 99, 45, 9
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 2, 19, 98, 91, 18, 52, 88, 99, 38

Caution Flags: 6 for 50 laps; Laps: 7-12 (No. 42 Spin Frontstretch [None]); 45-52 (No. 22, 17, 75 Incident Backstretch [None]); 67-76 (Stage 1 Conclusion [75]); 132-142 (Stage 2 Conclusion [66]); 145-152 (No. 98, 99, 18, 25, 32, 46, 18 Incident Backstretch [25]); 220-226 (No. 52, 2 Incident Frontstretch [99]).

Lead Changes: 4 among 3 drivers; C. Eckes 1-52; K. Busch(i) 53-135; Z. Smith(i) 136; K. Busch(i) 137-158; C. Eckes 159-250.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 23, 2024 - Circuit of The Americas

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