One Step Away … Christian Eckes enters South Florida one step away from the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) championship race. The driver of the No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST is third in the championship standings with a nine-point buffer on the cut line entering the final race in the Round of 8 at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS). Eckes is looking for his first Championship 4 berth in his third playoff run and looks to place MHR in the title race for the first time in the organization’s history.
Running Wild … Eckes has been running wild in the first five races of the NCTS playoffs entering the cut off event at HMS. He, crew chief Charles Denike, and the entire No. 19 team have elevated their performance at the most critical time of year with four podium finishes in the first five playoff races. The team has delivered results of second, third, first, and second in the first four playoff events and have positioned themselves to be one of four combatants in the title round at Phoenix Raceway. Eckes has been on a hot streak over the last eight races since early July at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He has posted five top-three finishes in the last eight events, with just one finish below 11th and has led laps in the last five consecutive races.
Eckes has been sturdy in his three previous appearances at HMS, also. All three of his starts in South Florida have resulted in top-10 finishes, including a third-place finish in his HMS debut in 2019. He and the No. 19 team also went to victory lane in the most recent NCTS event on a 1.5-mile track at Kansas Speedway in September.
Season to Date … Eckes enters HMS third in the standings, nine points ahead of the provisional cut line to advance to the Championship 4 and six points ahead of fourth. He can automatically advance to the championship race by winning or scoring 47 points regardless of what any other competitor does on Saturday. Through 21 events, Eckes has earned three race victories, six stage wins, nine top-five’s, and 12 top-10 results with an average finish of 11.2, third-best among full-time drivers.
Tune In … Coverage from HMS on FOX Sports 1 begins on Saturday morning with NASCAR Raceday at 11:00 a.m. ET followed by the green flag at Noon ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On his outlook entering Homestead:
“Homestead is a great racetrack with a lot of options as a driver. At some point throughout the race, you’ll probably use every lane from the bottom all the way to the wall. We have a small cushion in the points, but we want to go out and run up front and win the race to control our own destiny. Our Instacoat Premium Products team has been working hard on our Chevrolet for the last few weeks and I’m confident in our group and the truck we’re bringing to the racetrack this week.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
