Christian Eckes notched his third-straight podium finish with a third-place result on Friday evening at Pocono Raceway after starting from the pole. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST continues to lead the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series by 32 markers with only two events left in the regular season. He also led the opening 11 laps to extend his streak of consecutive races led to 15. The result under the Pennsylvania sunset gave Eckes his eighth top-five of the season and his sixth podium in 14 races.
Eckes and the No. 19 team started the day with a bang by laying down the fastest lap in the 20-minute practice session. Qualifying was scrapped due to inclement weather and Eckes led the field to green based on the rule book. He scampered out to an early lead and led the first 11 laps before finishing the first stage in second to collect nine points on lap 15..
Crew chief Charles Denike elected to keep Eckes on track during the first stage caution to preserve track position and employ a one-stop strategy. That play allowed Eckes to restart fourth after selecting the outside lane for the restart and immediately reclaimed the second position. He ran out the second segment in second position to gain another nine points at lap 30.
Eckes made his lone pit stop of the evening under the ensuing caution flag for four tires, fuel, and a track bar adjustment to improve his loose handling condition. While a mixed bag of strategies unfolded, Eckes restarted 15th on lap 37, but quickly reasserted himself at the front. In only two laps, he advanced to sixth and cracked the top five on the lap 49 restart. Over the final 15 laps, Eckes began to conserve fuel while racing for third until an extended caution and red flag period for rain on lap 62. When the race restarted on lap 68 for a three-lap dash, Eckes made a miraculous save on the final restart to preserve his position and took the checkered flag in third.
Christian Eckes Quote:
“Overall, just proud of the effort. We brought a pretty decent (race truck), better than last year for sure. Just got to get a little bit better still. The No. 11 had us covered, but I don’t know, we got our balance better there at the end. We might have had something for him, I don’t know, we might not have. Just overall proud of everybody.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
