April 5, 2024 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Christian Eckes claims masterful Martinsville victory in NASCAR Trucks

MARTINSVILLE, Va. — It was indeed a special night for NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Christian Eckes, who dominated Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Eschewing a trip to pit road between the first and second stages at the 0.526-mile short track, Eckes led the first 104 laps, swept the stages and worked his way back through the field from 19th after pitting at the Stage 2 break.

Undeterred by the chaos that produced 11 cautions for 81 laps, Eckes took the lead for the final time on Lap 172 in a side-by-side battle against pole winner Ty Majeski, who regained the top spot when Eckes came to pit road for the only time during the 200-lap event.

“Something really special,” Eckes said of the effort of his No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing team and the quality of his Chevrolet. “We came here last year, and we weren’t really that great… we were maybe a sixth-place truck (started sixth and finished 15th).

“And we worked really hard on it, and here we are in Victory Lane. So just super proud of this entire team.”

The victory was the second of the season for Eckes, who won from the pole at Bristol last month. It was his first triumph at Martinsville and the seventh of his career.

Starting from the top spot on the grid, Majeski gave up the lead on the first lap as Eckes powered past him.

“The 19 (Eckes) was tough tonight,” Majeski said. “He was just a little but better than us. He had better tires (in the final stage), and I just could not launch on restarts…

“But I think we left here with the points lead today. Really solid day. Obviously, you want to win. I wanted that grandfather clock (trophy), but I’m super proud of this team. We’ve been working hard at getting our trucks better, and just a little but short tonight.”

Majeski leaves Martinsville as the series leader, with a seven-point edge over Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum.

Chase Purdy ran third to post his fourth top-five finish in 81 Truck Series starts. Nick Sanchez was fourth, followed by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Sammy Smith, Kaden Honeycutt and Heim.

Australian Supercars star Cam Waters finished 30th in his NASCAR debut, a casualty of a chain-reaction collision on Lap 177 that left his No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford spewing hot vapor like a geyser.

“I had so much fun tonight and all day today,” Waters said. “It is totally different racing from what I usually do, and I just wanted to learn. I learned so much.

“There at the end I just had nowhere to go and knocked the radiator out of it. It is a shame, but I was having fun and learning and had some awesome battles, too.”


NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 6
Race Results for the Long John Silver's 200 - Friday, April 5, 2024
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - 0.526 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 105.2 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 4/5/2024 @ 10:00 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 2 19 Christian Eckes Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet 200 1 1 60 Running 2 133 7
2 1 98 Ty Majeski Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 200 2 4 51 Running 2 66
3 11 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 200 10 3 43 Running  
4 5 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge Chevrolet 200 5  39 Running 1 1
5 9 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 200 7 2 45 Running  
6 12 17 Taylor Gray JBL Toyota 200  9 33 Running  
7 16 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 200   30 Running  
8 13 7 Sammy Smith(i) TMC Transportation Chevrolet 200   0 Running  
9 17 45 Kaden Honeycutt Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 200 9 5 36 Running  
10 4 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 200 4  34 Running  
11 29 02 Mason Massey BRUNT Chevrolet 200   26 Running  
12 24 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Ford 200   25 Running  
13 23 43 Daniel Dye Champion Container Chevrolet 200   24 Running  
14 6 99 Ben Rhodes TSPORT Trucks Ford 200 6  28 Running  
15 3 38 Layne Riggs # Infinity Communications Group Ford 200 3  30 Running  
16 19 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 200   21 Running  
17 15 41 Bayley Currey Sparco Chevrolet 200  8 23 Running  
18 10 91 Jack Wood Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet 200   19 Running  
19 14 52 Stewart Friesen Aim Autism/Halmar Toyota 200   18 Running  
20 27 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 200   17 Running  
21 7 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 200 8 6 24 Running  
22 20 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 200   15 Running  
23 18 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 200   14 Running  
24 28 32 Bret Holmes Best Value Carriers Chevrolet 200   13 Running  
25 30 76 Spencer Boyd Freedom Warranty Chevrolet 200   12 Running  
26 21 1 William Sawalich Starkey/Soundgear Toyota 200  10 12 Running  
27 33 46 Thad Moffitt # Induction Innovations Chevrolet 200   10 Running  
28 31 22 Stephen Mallozzi Ozark Rods Ford 198   9 Running  
29 25 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 193   8 Accident  
30 22 66 Cam Waters Tradie Ford 176   7 Accident  
31 26 33 Lawless Alan AUTOChargit Mobile Ford 166   6 DVP  
32 34 90 Justin Carroll Carroll's Automotive/Duratain Toyota 158   5 Accident  
33 8 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 145  7 8 Accident  
34 32 20 Blake Lothian GGT Energy Solutions Chevrolet 17   3 Overheating  

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 52 Mins, 54 Secs. Average Speed: 55.908 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.644 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 98, 38, 11, 2, 99, 18, 13, 45, 77
Stage 2 Top 10: 19, 18, 77, 98, 45, 13, 5, 41, 17, 1

Caution Flags: 11 for 81 laps; Laps: 31-36 (No. 46 Spin Turn 3 [32]); 52-60 (Stage 1 Conclusion [02]); 66-73 (Nos. 15, 88, 02, 90 Incident Turn 2 [90]); 77-83 (Nos. 38, 91 Incident Turn 2 [46]); 99-109 (Nos. 38, 43, 76 Incident Turn 1 / Stage 2 Conclusion [22]); 135-140 (Nos. 43, 45 Incident Backstretch [38]); 147-154 (Nos. 5, 9, 99 Incident Turn 1 [22]); 159-164 (Nos. 45, 32, 90 Incident Turn 1 [22]); 166-172 (Nos. 32, 13, 33, 91, 66, 43 Incident Turn 4 [None]); 178-183 (Nos. 38, 13, 9, 41, 66 Incident Turn 2 [None]); 191-197 (Nos. 52, 42, 9 Incident Turn 2 [13]).

Lead Changes: 5 among 3 drivers; C. Eckes 1-104; T. Majeski 105-153; N. Sanchez 154; T. Majeski 155-171; C. Eckes 172-200.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: April 12, 2024 - Texas Motor Speedway

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