Christian Eckes closed one of the most impeccable seasons in NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) history with a third-place finish on Friday night at Phoenix Raceway and finished third in the championship standings. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST reached several historical milestones in his career-best campaign. Eckes set a new record of 22 top-10 finishes in a 23-race season, had the best average finish in 28 years (5.39), and became the fifth driver in NCTS history to eclipse the 1,000 laps-led mark.
Eckes and the NAPA Auto Care squad reached their first Championship 4 appearance with a clutch victory at Martinsville Speedway and four top-five finishes in the first six playoff races. He began his final battle for the title by taking the green flag from fourth position. Eckes held a firm grip on the third position during the first 43-lap green flag stint while dealing with moderate handling imbalance. As the first stage concluded on lap 45 under caution, Eckes radioed to the team that he lacked rear grip on corner exit during the opening run while running in third position.
Under the stage caution, Eckes came to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment to improve the handling condition, and the NAPA team ripped off a quick stop to gain one position. On lap 55, Eckes restarted on the bottom of the front row and settled into fifth position by lap 69. Despite a lingering lack of rear grip, Eckes managed to maintain a top-five spot at the end of Stage 2 on lap 100.
Eckes pitted for another set of tires under the subsequent stage caution, and the NAPA team delivered another quick four-tire stop, netting two positions. After restarting third and getting pinned on the bottom, Eckes ran sixth on lap 111 when a pivotal caution offered an avenue for an alternative strategy. Crew chief Charles Denike utilized the opening in pit strategy to put four tires on Eckes and create a tire advantage. On lap 123, Eckes executed a stunning restart, blitzing his way from 12th to fourth in one lap, and back within reach of the race win. He took the third position on lap 126 but was unable to reel in the race leader. His third-place finish marked his 15th top-five result of the season and his 21-consecutive top-10 finishes.
Eckes led the NCTS field with 1,050 laps led, a 5.39 average finish, an average running position of 5.8, and earned the most aggregate points of all drivers in 2024.
Christian Eckes Quote:
“It’s disappointing for sure. Out No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet guys have worked so hard all year, and I felt like they deserved a championship and we just came up short at this race alone. So, it is what it is, disappointing for sure. But, huge thank you to NAPA Auto Care, Gates Hydraulics, Adaptive One Calipers, Instacoat Premium Products, Chevrolet, everybody involved these last two years. It’s been a lot of fun these last two years, but ready to move on to the next chapter. When we put those tires on and moved through the field pretty quickly, I thought we’d have the advantage, but it just wasn’t enough. We didn’t have the vehicle capable enough to do it and just lacked a little speed overall. Congrats to the No. 98 guys. They deserved it today, for sure.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
