Christian Eckes closed the first round of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs with a third-place finish on Friday night at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST delivered his eighth-straight top-five finish and tallied 51 points, second-most among all drivers. Eckes finished the first round atop the NCTS playoff standings but will begin the second round second in points after the reset.
Eckes lined up third on the starting grid after stopping the clock at 30.94 seconds in qualifying on Friday afternoon. In typical fashion, he wasted no time making a move to the front at the green flag. Eckes instantly took the lead in Turn 3 on the opening lap and led six of the first seven circuits. The handling condition on his Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet was too free by lap nine but began to improve as the first stage progressed. After briefly dropping to third, he reclaimed second on lap 22 and earned nine points in second position at the end of Stage 1 on lap 30.
Crew chief Charles Denike brought Eckes to pit road under the stage caution for four tires, fuel, and a small adjustment to free up the balance. Exceptional work by the Gates Hydraulics team allowed Eckes to exit pit road first and restart as the leader on lap 38. He held the lead until lap 45 and settled into third by lap 49. He ran out the balance of Stage 2 in third to collect an additional eight points on lap 60.
Eckes restarted third on lap 62 and persisted as a threat for the victory. He maintained the second position until lap 90 and ran third as a cycle of green flag pit stop began around lap 100. After briefly inheriting the lead at lap 107, Denike called Eckes to pit road for a four-tire green flag stop. He rejoined the fray in 14th on lap 114 and steadily regained positions as the pit sequence gradually cycled. He was scored seventh at lap 124, but gained positions as other competitors who attempted to stretch their fuel economy gradually ran out of gas. On the final lap, Eckes cycled back to his original running position and took the checkered flag in third for his eighth-straight top-five and his 17th-consecutive top-10 result.
Christian Eckes Quote:
“Just lacking a little bit overall. Really proud of the guys for the turnaround that we had from practice. We were 14th on 10-lap averages, so to come back and run as good as we did, definitely is a good thing. Just proud of everybody. Huge thanks to Gates Hydraulics, NAPA, just everybody involved and we’ll move on to Talladega now.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
