They say that good things come to those who wait. For Tyler Ankrum, the wait consisted of a 130-race winless streak with a bit of adversity thrown in. Finally, the wait is over, and his patience has paid off with a trip to Victory Lane at Rockingham.
Ankrum won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway Friday night, but it wasn’t easy.
After being involved in an accident on Lap 2, he was a lap down. But during the break for Stage 2 on Lap 90, he was once again on the lead lap.
Ankrum methodically made his way back to the front, took the lead on Lap 172, and never looked back. He attributed the win to fuel strategy.
“Just saving fuel, man”, he said. “I knew we were five (laps) short, and I was hoping I had saved enough, and we did.
“I just found something there where I was pretty much lifting 60 percent down the straightaway,. And, I was able to draft off of (Matt) Crafton and a couple of other guys, and I was able to save that way.
“It’s just surreal,” he continued. “I feel like this is pretty much the way it went down at Kentucky (his previous win) in 2019.”
Ankrum also received a $50,000 bonus check for winning the final race of the Triple Truck Challenge.
Jake Garcia finished second, Daniel Hemric third, Rajah Caruth fourth, and Grant Enfinger finished fifth, followed by Kaden Honeycutt, Jack Wood, Corey Heim, Connor Mosack, and Gio Ruggiero to complete the top 10.
After Rockingham, Corey Heim leads in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith, 62 points over Tyler Ankrum, 73 points over Daniel Hemric, and 80 points over Layne Riggs.
The Truck Series returns to competition on May 2nd at Texas Motor Speedway for the SpeedyCash.com 250. You can tune in on FS1 to watch the race with radio coverage provided by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Race Results
| Pos | St | No | Driver | S1 | S2 | S3 | Points | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 13 | Jake Garcia | 2 | 3 | 0 | 52 | Running |
| 3 | 17 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | Running |
| 4 | 21 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | Running |
| 5 | 19 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | 0 | 7 | 0 | 36 | Running |
| 6 | 7 | 45 | Kaden Honeycutt | 3 | 2 | 0 | 48 | Running |
| 7 | 24 | 91 | Jack Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Running |
| 8 | 15 | 11 | Corey Heim | 5 | 5 | 0 | 42 | Running |
| 9 | 4 | 81 | Connor Mosack # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | Running |
| 10 | 8 | 17 | Giovanni Ruggiero # | 6 | 8 | 0 | 35 | Running |
| 11 | 5 | 34 | Layne Riggs | 1 | 1 | 0 | 46 | Running |
| 12 | 14 | 77 | Andres Perez De Lara # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | Running |
| 13 | 2 | 38 | Chandler Smith | 4 | 4 | 0 | 38 | Running |
| 14 | 28 | 2 | Nathan Byrd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | Running |
| 16 | 11 | 7 | Sammy Smith(i) | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 29 | 1 | Brandon Jones(i) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 18 | 27 | 5 | Toni Breidinger # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 25 | 26 | Dawson Sutton # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Running |
| 20 | 6 | 44 | Bayley Currey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | Running |
| 21 | 26 | 56 | Timmy Hill | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | Running |
| 22 | 18 | 7 | Corey Day(i) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 30 | 33 | Frankie Muniz # | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | Running |
| 24 | 23 | 88 | Matt Crafton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | Running |
| 25 | 22 | 75 | Parker Kligerman | 0 | 9 | 0 | 14 | Suspension |
| 26 | 12 | 66 | Luke Fenhaus | 10 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Engine |
| 27 | 35 | 22 | Cody Dennison | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | Running |
| 28 | 10 | 15 | Tanner Gray | 8 | 10 | 0 | 13 | Accident |
| 29 | 20 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | Accident |
| 30 | 13 | 42 | Matt Mills | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | Accident |
| 31 | 9 | 98 | Ty Majeski | 7 | 6 | 0 | 15 | Accident |
| 32 | 3 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | Steering |
| 33 | 33 | 2 | Stephen Mallozzi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | Suspension |
| 34 | 32 | 90 | Justin Carroll | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | Too Slow |
| 35 | 34 | 6 | Norm Benning | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Too Slow |
