Toyota Racing – Christian Eckes
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CHARLOTTE (September 14, 2020) – Kyle Busch Motorsports driver Christian Eckes was made available to media via videoconference during the NASCAR Playoffs Media Day:
CHRISTIAN ECKES, No. 18 Safelite Auto Glass Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Former KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) driver Erik Jones won the championship as a rookie. What makes you think you can do the same?
“Probably the same reason he did, the team. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) has been extremely good at winning championships pretty much the last 10 years. I have some experience as well fighting for an owner’s championship with him last year. It’s been a blast to work with him so far, and we have been close and have been running well at time. We just have to put it together for the next seven and be perfect.”
You have been so close to getting the first win. Do you feel like in the Playoffs it is going to take wins to advance through these rounds?
“Obviously, wins will make it easy. There are a couple race tracks in both rounds that I feel really good about, really the next round I feel good about all of them. Bristol and Vegas in this one. You can’t really feel good about Talladega. I feel good about our chances to go and win. Three of them I’ve ran second to Kyle at and one of them I wrecked. I feel good about it. Obviously, we haven’t won yet, but the Playoffs and the energy that provides might help us push across that line. We will see what happens, but I feel pretty good about it.”
How do you describe the benefit of working with Rudy Fugle?
“Just the experience. Working with William (Bryon) and Erik (Jones) and all of these young drivers. He’s gone through what I’m going through with the lack of experience multiple times. He’s keeping me up to speed on what to expect. That’s been pretty crucial and he’s a really smart guy. He’s hard working, like I’d consider myself. We’ve been working alongside of each other and getting as good as we can for the Playoffs. Like I said, he’s won a lot of championships and hopefully we can do that again this year.”
What do you think your biggest weakness is?
“I think I would just say defining everything. Everything needs to be better. There’s not necessarily really one group that needs to be better, just everything needs to be better. I feel like the Playoffs, and the energy of needing to be focused and needing to do all this stuff and working harder for the Playoffs will kind of help bring us into that area that we need to be in, so I’m just looking forward to getting to Bristol.”
Do you put the pressure to win on yourself more than you should?
“Not necessarily. Obviously, there is pressure. Honestly, pressure is a privilege when it comes to running for a championship, so we will just take the pressure how it is and hopefully we can go win a couple and win the big one in the end.”
How much pressure do you feel, or do you feel like I’m a young driver and this is as much about gaining experience on how to run for a title?
“There’s a lot of pressure just in running in the Truck Series, and trying to move on to next year. It’s always a challenge trying to find the next thing, and I don’t have anything yet – it’s in the works, but I think a championship will kind of define that a little bit more. I’m out here fighting for my life; I’ve just got to be a little bit better. Hopefully, we can go win some races and contend for the championship.”
If you had to pick one driver, who is the biggest threat?
“I’d probably say Sheldon (Creed), just because of the speed that they have had. They’ve been running really well. Him and his crew chief, (Jeff Stankiewicz), have ran really well. They’ve won a championship together in the past. If they can put it together, they are going to be really strong. I’d probably rank him as the biggest threat.”
Kyle Busch Motorsports did not make the Playoffs last year. What have been the differences from this year to last year?
“We are just doing a better job at getting points. Obviously, we have not won yet. We’ve been close a few times. Working with Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) year to year has definitely improved myself. I’d probably just say that. We’re trying to be better. I don’t think we are quite where we need to be just yet. We are really close, but to be better than the other teams we are just lacking a little bit. Hopefully, the next seven are really good for us. I feel like pretty much all seven we can go and win at. We will do the best we can and see what happens.”
I’ve been talking with most of the drivers today, and they have been saying that their biggest underdog is Todd Gilliland. Do you agree?
“Honestly, I would consider myself as the underdog in this deal. We are the eighth seed. We have been close to winning multiple times, and probably should have won a few of those. I feel like we are kind of undervalued at this point. At the same time, we have seven races to go and prove that. Todd’s also really good and has shown speed at times. He has run good at Bristol as well. I’d probably rank me and him at the top of that list.”
It’s been a few years since we have seen a rookie win a championship. Do you think that you are in that similar situation that there is pressure on you to possibly win the title?
“No, I wouldn’t say it’s pressure per say. Obviously, there is pressure to succeed, but at the same time, we just push that aside and focus on what we need to do and that’s execute on a weekly basis and provide the best result for this no. 18 Safelite Toyota Tundra. That’s pretty much it. We’ve just got to go execute and do the best we can.”
Did you feel like a rookie coming into this?
“Yeah, I would definitely say I had a leg up. I think I had twelve starts before I came in, so half a season. Obviously, we didn’t have the entirety of the season to kind of build momentum and stuff like that, but the experience last year definitely helped coming into this year, working with Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and running those eight races at mile-and-a-halves and a bunch of other race tracks. Yeah, definitely didn’t feel like a rookie this year. Hopefully if I’m back in the series next year, it will feel even better, but we’ve done a pretty good job so far.”
It’s down to you and Zane Smith for Rookie of the Year. How much of an emphasis are you putting winning that?
“I’m not really focused on that, per say. Obviously, it’s a really cool award and we want to win, but the championship is at the top of the list. If we can get it, great, but we are trying to go for a championship and that’s the main focus.”
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