Christian Eckes extended his advantage on the provisional cut line Saturday afternoon at Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS) with a 42-point effort and ninth-place finish. The driver of the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST now owns a 38-point advantage on the cut line with one race remaining before the championship finale. Saturday afternoon marked the 19th-straight top-10 finish for Eckes and the 20th race he’s led this season.
Eckes began his fifth HMS start from the eighth position and instantly vaulted forward in his patented fashion. He weaved his way through dense traffic to take third on the opening lap and was pleased with the balance of his NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet at the outset. As the first stage ran under the green flag, Eckes reported that the balance swung free on corner exit. At the end of Stage 1 on lap 30, he was able to secure six points by running in the fifth position.
Crew chief Charles Denike armed Eckes with four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to stabilize his loose condition on corner exit during the stage caution. The adjustments proved to be beneficial in the second segment as Eckes briefly took the lead on lap 41. He settled into the third position by lap 57 and banked another eight points at lap 60 while holding onto the podium position.
A second pit stop under the second stage caution gave Eckes another set of fresh tires and took his second turn in the race lead on lap 70. The event turned with a caution on lap 76 while Eckes was running second. The caution with 59 laps to go allowed some drivers to take their final set of tires under caution. Eckes stayed on track, electing to save fresh tires for later in the event. As the final 52 laps ran under green conditions, he made his final pit stop on lap 98. As roughly half the field stayed on track, Eckes uplifted himself through the closing 30 laps. He cycled his way from 18th up to ninth on the final lap for his 20th top-10 result of the season.
Christian Eckes Quote:
“Just kind of lacked grip all day and chose the wrong adjustment on that final stop and got way too free. Proud of everybody for working hard and trying to get it better, but it wasn’t enough…We have a decent cushion but at the same time, we need to go out and execute because we’re racing two other guys for points (next week) and there could be a surprise winner.”
McAnally Hilgemann Racing PR
