Eckes Earns Second Road-Course Top Five After Starting At The Rear
MEXICO CITY – Christian Eckes earned his best-career finish in the NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS), in a race that tested his resolve in Mexico City. After starting at the tail of the field in the Chilango 150, the rookie fought back to finish fourth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
This result was exactly what the No. 16 team needed, after a stretch of misfortune fell on the crew. That lack of luck creeped into the start of the team’s day in Mexico City, as early brake woes led to unapproved adjustments following qualifying.
Forced to drop to the tail of the field before the green flag, Eckes fought his way up to 11th during the opening stage and went on to finish the second stage in fifth, earning valuable stage points.
In the third stage, chaos ensued, and Eckes avoided much of it. Before a late-race restart, he sat on the front row alongside the eventual race winner, Daniel Suarez. Eckes was reminded by crew chief Alex Yontz that one of the weekend goals was a clean car and a top-five finish. In the end, Eckes kept most of the field behind the No. 16 Celsius Chevy in a strong display of defensive driving, helping the team achieve its weekend goals.
It couldn’t have come at a more necessary time.
“I don’t know if our No. 16 Celsius Chevy quite had the speed of a fourth [place] today, but everybody did a great job of getting us in position to get a top five out of it,” said Eckes. “Obviously, we’ve struggled with some adversity — it’s been a tough season, so to get a decent finish out of it is definitely a step in the right direction.”
The rookie has shown early promise on the left-and-right turns of road courses in his first NXS campaign. Along with his best finish of the season, Eckes’ fourth-place result marks his second top five on a road course, with his first coming at Circuit of the Americas.
Through the adversity Eckes and the No. 16 team have faced this season, Yontz has helped instill a “never give up” mentality, and it showed in Mexico.
“One thing you can say about this team, the driver, and everyone involved, is that the fight is always there,” said Yontz. “There’s a no-quit attitude with this team, and that’s what paid off today. To come home with the points day we did after starting last shows a lot of grit, and I couldn’t ask for much more.”
After closing the gap to the playoff cutline, Eckes looks to carry that momentum to his home track of Pocono Raceway next Saturday.
About Kaulig Racing
Kaulig Racing™ is a full-time, multi-car NASCAR Cup Series (NCS) and NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) team, owned by award winning entrepreneur, Matt Kaulig. Established in 2016, Kaulig Racing™ has earned 27 NXS wins, made the NXS Playoffs consecutively each season since the playoff system started, and won two regular-season championships. In 2021, the team competed in select NCS events, before expanding to a two-car, full-time NCS team in 2022 and adding a third, part-time entry during the 2023 season. Since its first NCS start in 2021, the team has earned two wins. Kaulig Racing is currently fielding two full-time entries in the NCS and continues to field three full-time NXS entries. To learn more about the team, visit kauligracing.com.
