Tyler Ankrum recorded a 14th-place finish on Friday night at Kansas Speedway after running inside the top-10 for the majority of the 134-lap event. The driver of the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro was in line for his best finish in the Sunflower State until varying pit strategies jumbled the running order over the final 52 laps. With four races remaining on the schedule, Ankrum continues to maintain the 12th position in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship.
Ankrum and the No. 16 team began the evening from 19th position and immediately displayed raw speed in the Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. By lap seven, Ankrum cracked the top-15 and as far as 12th by lap 12. Just before the Stage 1 break at lap 30, Ankrum reported that his balance had built too tight and halted his forward progress. He was scored 12th at the end of Stage 1 and pitted for four tires, fuel and minor air pressure changes under the stage caution.
The HRE team delivered a strong pit stop that netted Ankrum two positions and allowed him to restart ninth on lap 38. The restart vaulted him to seventh by lap 41 where he remained for the balance of the second segment. Ankrum collected four points in seventh place at the end of Stage 2 and returned to pit road under the caution period.
Ankrum restarted seventh on lap 65 and settled into eighth place before the event’s final caution waved on lap 75. He restarted seventh on lap 82 and maintained his position inside the top-10 until making a green flag pit stop on lap 104. As the green flag pit stop cycle stretched over an extended period of time, Ankrum cycled inside the top-20 by lap 121 and back on the lead lap on lap 131. He was able to hustle his way back inside the top-15 and took the checkered flag in 14th position.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“We had a lot of speed tonight in our LIUNA Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. We made a lot of improvements from the spring race here and definitely had the performance to finish in the top-10. That last caution was just at the right spot where some guys were able to stretch their mileage just far enough, but we tried to stay after it over the final laps and gain as much time as we could. We’ll try to take the speed we had tonight to Bristol next week and hopefully get ourselves another top-10 there.”
HRE PR
