Black’s Tire 200 – Race Results
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
FINISH: 7th
Start: 9th
Stage One: 8th
Stage Two: 8th
NCTS Playoff Point Standings Position: 9th
Ankrum Continues Top-10 Streak at the Paperclip
The top-10 streak continues for Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet after an impressive run at Martinsville Speedway Friday night under the lights for a seventh-place finish. The young driver set the No. 18 ninth in line to start the 200-lap event in the Friday afternoon qualifying event and jumped up to eighth on the opening lap. By lap 13, Ankrum reported to the team he was starting to build tight during the run and was having trouble with handling in the rubber. The young driver held on and finished out Stage One in the eighth position.
Crew chief Mark Hillman made the call to stay out under the stage break along with the majority of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) field to restart the second segment eighth. A clean and calm Stage Two saw the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet really struggling on the bottom and in the rubber while still battling tight conditions overall. Under the stage break, Ankrum came down pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires with an air pressure adjustment, an adjustment in the right-rear jackbolt, and a splash of gas. The San Bernardino, Calif. native lost two spots on pit road but the crew was able to get all the adjustments in to help the young driver feel better in his race truck for the closing laps.
Intensity began to rise and all through out the field, chaos started to unfold. Caution after caution, Ankrum continued his drive to the front, dodging damage left and right. The short runs in between cautions were causing the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet to get tighter as they continued and he was still constantly battling handling on the bottom in the rubber. The final restart had occurred with just seven laps to go. Battling adversity all night long, Ankrum powered through and was able to bring home a clean truck in the seventh position with just one race remaining on the NCTS schedule at Homestead-Miami Speedway next week.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Super quiet night for us at Martinsville. Pretty much ran inside the top-10 all night long just really struggled on the bottom and the rubber was fighting us all race. Solid performance for the No. 18 LIUNA team and proud of the momentum this team has carried the last few races, just wish we could have locked in this momentum all year long. Final run next week at Homestead so looking forward to carrying this effort into next week and closing out the season on a high note.”
Martinsville Photos
The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) partners with public and private entities, elected officials, community groups, and responsible contractors to build and maintain the infrastructure needs of communities throughout the United States and Canada, while providing residents a career in the construction industry. For more information on LIUNA, visit www.liuna.org.
