On a picturesque Pennsylvania weekend, Tyler Ankrum would finish 12th after a late race restart in stage three of the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway. The San Bernardino, Calif. native fought a tight handling truck most of the afternoon but powered his way back to the front after a great strategy call from crew chief Doug Randolph. Ankrum currently sits 14th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings after 15 events.
The beautiful weekend started with practice on Friday in partly cloudy conditions. Ankrum would report early on in practice that the truck was relatively tight, but he liked the overall balance of his truck for the race the next day. Ankrum would time in 23rd fastest on the speed charts on the afternoon; Ankrum said after practice he liked the direction the truck was heading and showed the true speed of the truck not getting a draft-aided run on the time charts. This would show with a good qualifying effort of 18th for the LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro and position him on the outside of row nine to start the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway
The uphill battle for the day would start on lap four when Tanner Gray spun across the nose of Ankrum. Ankrum sustained damage to the right front fender, setting up for a tough day at the office. The team would come down on the ensuing caution and make some repairs to the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Ankrum would finish the first stage in the 23rd position.
Stage two would see multiple strategies play out with Pocono Raceway having long green flag runs. The plan for Ankrum was to run out the entire stage and pit at the end. This would work in the No. 16 team’s favor as they would cycle up to 7th when the green and white flag flew to end stage two, gaining Ankrum more valuable stage points for the playoff hunt. At the conclusion of stage two, Ankrum would pit for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment restarting 23rd for stage three. After a wreck which would take out a handful of competitors, Ankrum would work his way up to 12th when the checkered flag flew for the CRC Brakleen 150.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“We had quite the up and down day today at Pocono Raceway. On lap five, everyone checked up in front of me and we suffered damage to the right-front nose that hindered our No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for the remainder of the day. It was an uphill battle from there, but Doug (Randolph) and the team didn’t quit and we played some strategy to get more stage points in Stage 2 which really helped our day. Dodging that late-race wreck was huge, and got us a good finish. I can’t thank all of the LiUNA! members from the Mid-Atlantic, New England and Eastern Region, enough, that came out to support our team.”
HRE PR
