Locked In… Tyler Ankrum has clinched his spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs. The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST finished fourth at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) earning a total of 46-points to secure his third-career playoff berth and scored his fifth top-five finish of the season. Ankrum joins teammate Christian Eckes as the second MHR driver to be locked into the playoffs. This weekend, Ankrum heads to Richmond Raceway where he will make his fifth-career start at the 0.75-mile tri oval for the regular season finale in pursuit of his first victory of 2024.
Back to The Playoffs… Ankrum will make his return to the NCTS playoffs for the first time since 2020. The Californian has put up one of the best seasons of his career to qualify for the playoffs, including a career-high five top-five’s and seven top-10 finishes in 15 races. In his first season with MHR, the 23-year-old driver grabbed and maintained the NCTS championship lead for the first time in his career during the first four races. He enters the regular season standings sixth in points and can finish as high as fifth, which is worth an additional playoff point.
Short Track Season Stats… Ankrum has become a short track specialist this season by scoring top-10 finishes in all four short track events. He began the short track portion of the NCTS schedule by notching back-to-back fifth-place results at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. He followed that up with a top-10 run at North Wilkesboro Speedway (NWS) and most recently finished fourth at IRP to clinch the playoff berth. Ankrum has earned 40 or more points at four-consecutive short track races, totaling 169 points in those events. Ankrum has been impressive during stages by scoring a total of 46-stage points and picked up a stage win at NWS.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has live coverage from Richmond Raceway on Saturday beginning with practice and qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 7:30 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 Being In Locked Into the Playoffs:
“It feels great being back in the playoffs. It’s nice to go into Richmond and know we have already clinched a spot. Our short track program has been pretty strong and I felt like we were close to being a race winning truck at IRP a couple weeks ago. Hopefully we can dial our LIUNA Chevrolet in and be one of the trucks to beat. We’re going to give ourselves a shot to win the race this weekend and hope to add a couple more bonus points before we start the playoffs at Milwaukee.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
