Back to Work… Tyler Ankrum holds the seventh position in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) points standings after nine regular season events. With a total of 275 points, Ankrum has a 55-point margin from the provisional cut line. The No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST heads to the newly paved North Wilkesboro Speedway (NWS) for this second career appearance at the historic short track in search for his third top-five short track finish this year.
The Points Battle… Ankrum held the top spot in the points standings for the first four events of the season. He currently sits one point behind sixth position and 20-points behind fifth. This marks the first time in his career that he has been in the top-10 in points after nine races. Ankrum has earned the fourth-most stage points of all NCTS drivers with a total of 77. Ankrum’s season-high point total in a single race occurred at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he totaled 48 points and led 46 laps en route to a seventh-place finish. With three top-five’s, and four top-10 results this season, Ankrum plans to add to those categories on Saturday in Wilkes County, N.C.
Short Tracks 2024 … North Wilkesboro will be the third short track event in the NCTS for 2024. In the two previous short track races this season, Ankrum has mirrored his starting position and finish. At both Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) and Martinsville Speedway, Ankrum started ninth and finished fifth. Ankrum’s MHR teammate Christian Eckes has also been successful by sweeping both short track events at BMS and Martinsville. MHR has had at least two drivers finish in the top-five in both short track event this season and look to replicate the feat on Saturday.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1’s (FS1) coverage from NWS begins on Friday afternoon with NCTS practice at 3:00 p.m. ET. Coverage continues Saturday on FS1 with qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by NASCAR Raceday at 1:00 p.m. ET and the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 18 LIUNA team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
On Returning To North Wilkesboro:
“With NWS being paved it will feel like a new track all over again. Our LIUNA team has been successful at short tracks this year and want to keep that going. This is a really fun track that has a lot of history to it. We have qualified well at short tracks this year and hoping to do so again this weekend. Christian (Eckes) did some testing at NWS earlier this year so it was good to talk with him on what the track felt like and how it compared to the season prior.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
