Within Reach of the Title … Christian Eckes begins the second round of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs with a trip to the title race within his reach. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST returns to biggest speedway in the world, Talladega Superspeedway, with an automatic bid to the championship finale at Pheonix Raceway on the line if he’s able to notch his first ‘Dega victory. For the third-straight year, Eckes has advanced to the “Round of 8” and looks to parlay his previous superspeedway performance into his first victory on Friday. Eckes has led laps in the last eight NCTS drafting races. He hopes his fourth Talladega start will redeem his close brush with victory last fall after leading eight of the final 15 laps.
On a Tear … Eckes has been on a tear to begin the playoffs with three-consecutive finishes of fourth or better. Dating back to a second-place finish on June 1st at World Wide Technology Raceway, Eckes has been white hot with eight straight top-five results, including one win and seven podium finishes in that span. His current streak of eight top-five finishes in a row has him tied for fifth all-time for most consecutive top-five finishes in NCTS history with Ron Hornaday Jr. and Scott Riggs. Despite lacking a superspeedway victory on his resume, Eckes has been formidable force at the drafting tracks recently. Since February of 2022, Eckes has notched one win, four top-five’s, and five top-10 finishes at drafting tracks (Talladega, Daytona International Speedway, and Atlanta Motor Speedway) over eight races.
Season to Date … Through 19 of 23 races, Eckes is positioned second in the NCTS playoff standings as Round 2 begins at Talladega Superspeedway. He and the NAPA Auto Care team have accumulated a stunning stat line with 13 top-five’s and 18 top-10 results, career-high marks for both Eckes and the MHR team. Eckes has scored three victories at Bristol Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, and Nashville Superspeedway and has a whopping 852 laps with an average finish of 5.5.
Tune In … Coverage from Talladega kicks off Friday afternoon with pole qualifying at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. The green flag follows shortly thereafter at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On superspeedway racing starting the Round of 8:
“Since I’ve been at MHR, we’ve been fairly strong at the superspeedways. Daytona and Talladega usually give everyone a little concern because so much is out of your control, but our NAPA Auto Care team has been able to run up front and lead laps in those races over the last two years. We weren’t satisfied with our raw speed in Daytona this year, but hopefully we’ll have a little more capable piece this weekend so we can run up front and try to control the race. There’s a lot of points to be gained this weekend, so we’re going to earn as much as we can and try to finish what we started last year.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
