Christian Eckes started the second round of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs with a sixth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway on Friday evening. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado tallied his 19th-consecutive top-ten finish and now holds a 29-point cushion on the provisional cut line. Eckes led eight laps and scored 38 points, earning the third-highest total of all drivers in the field.
Eckes began the afternoon from 15th position and attempted to break through the log-jammed draft in the opening laps, He tied the middle and third lane to attempt to move forward, but wasn’t able to maneuver through the field in the opening segment. Eckes was scored 15th at the end of Stage 1 at lap 20 and pitted for fuel only during the caution period.
The fuel-only strategy netted Eckes the eighth position for the restart on lap 27 and allowed him the flexibility to go to work. He utilized the outside lane to push forward and advanced to third by the time a caution flag flew on lap 37. He had moved to fourth and collected seven points when the Stage 2 checkered flag waved at lap 40.
Crew chief Charles Denike elected to take four tires and fuel during the stage caution. The NAPA Auto Care team delivered a quick stop to return Eckes to the track as the first truck on four tires. After restarting on lap 46, Eckes executed an efficient bump draft to jump to second and claimed the race lead on lap 48. He controlled the race until making a fuel-only green flag pit stop on lap 57. Eckes stayed in contention in the top-three positions until the final restart on lap 77. He patiently ran second waiting to time his final move for the win in second position. Eckes was in position on the final lap with the checkered flag in sight but was collected in a multi-truck accident. While spinning backwards, Eckes was able to take the checkered flag in sixth position.
Christian Eckes Quote:
“It was just a normal coming to the checkered on a speedway. It is what it is. Still finished okay points-wise. We didn’t get any points in Stage 1. We got decent Stage 2 points and a decent finish. We’ll move on to the next one at Homestead and try to be better.
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
