Seeing Double … Tyler Ankrum and the LiUNA! team head set their compasses due north to tackle the tricky triangle Pocono Raceway. With two races remaining to make the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoffs, the driver of the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro looks to build momentum off a top ten performance in his last outing. Ankrum currently resides 14th in the championship standings and hopes that his past success at the tricky triangle translates to a third playoff birth.
History at Pocono … Ankrum has a great track record at the two and a half mile superspeedway in the Pocono mountains. In his past four starts, Ankrum has two top five and three top ten finishes at the tricky triangle. Hattori Racing Enterprises has also found success at the track; HRE has amassed one pole, three top five finishes, and three top ten finishes at the track.
Season to Date … When it comes to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, through 14 of 16 regular season events, Ankrum and the No. 16 LiUNA! team occupy the 14th position in the championship standings, 76 markers behind the cut line. Ankrum’s season-best result came 11 races ago at Circuit of the Americas (fourth) and he has posted five finishes of tenth or better in the 2023 season.
Chassis Selection … Chassis No. 007 will make it’s second start of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at Pocono Raceway. This Toyota Tundra TRD Pro made it’s last start at Texas Motor Speedway, where Ankrum would run around the top-10 most of the day. Unfortunatley, after some late race damage would be relegated to a 26th place finish.
Tune In … Fox Sports 1 has complete coverage of the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway starting on Friday afternoon with practice and qualifying at 1 pm EST. Race day coverage on Saturday begins at 11:30 am ET with NASCAR Race Day (FS1), followed by the green flag on Saturday afternoon at 12:00 pm ET (FS1). Stay connected with the No. 61 Gunma Toyopet team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Tyler Ankrum Quote on Pocono Raceway:
“Pocono is always a unique weekend for the truck series; it’s one of the shortest races of the year. This race really feels like a sprint the entire time. I’m sure there will be tons of strategy calls during the race, and saving fuel can make or break you. I feel after our top-10 run at Mid-Ohio a couple weeks ago, we have a little bit of momentum coming into the weekend. I liked where we were at in the SIM, the last couple of weeks, so we should be in contention when the checkered flag flies. I’m looking forward to meeting all of the LiUNA! members from the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Eastern Region that will be in attendance on Saturday.”
HRE PR
