Tyler Ankrum’s stretch of bad luck continues as he was foiled by a pair of punctured tires on Saturday during his heat race and prior to the start at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The driver of the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro looked to tally another top-10 dirt finish, but was dealt a 33rd-place result after contact with the inside wall at “Thunder Valley”. Ankrum currently sits 14th in driver points after the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt.
The San Bernardino, Calif. product earned the 23rd-place starting spot by virtue of a sixth-place finish in the second of four passing points heat races on Saturday afternoon. Early contact with multiple trucks gave Ankrum a flat left rear tire on lap one of the 15 lap heat race. A five-point total lined him up in row 12 to start the 150-lap main event. Before the green flag even flew, Ankrum reported a left rear tire had gone down. The team made quick work of the flat tire, getting Ankrum and the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro back out on track without losing a lap. Ankrum would then catch a timely caution to get caught up to the field after turning lap times within the top five.
After the quick caution, Ankrum was making quick work of the field passing trucks using the high line around BMS. Ankrum reported that the truck felt good after the early mishap coming to the green and he could put the truck anywhere. Unfortunately, on lap 27 Ankrum made significant contact with the inside wall and repairs could not be made to the truck. Ankrum was scored 33rd for the Weather Guard Truck Race on Dirt.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Bristol Dirt has always been a frustrating racetrack for me these last couple years. This weekend we were thrown another curve ball with practice getting rained out and only having the qualifying race to get our LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro dialed in. I feel like if we didn’t have bad luck we wouldn’t have any luck at all right now with how our day went. The team at HRE keep bringing me great trucks to the track every week. I can’t wait to get to Martinsville and contend for a win.”
HRE PR
