Ecosave 200 – Race Results
Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway
FINISH: 9th
Start: 25th
Stage One: 17th
Stage Two: 12th
NCTS Playoff Point Standings Position: 10th
Ankrum Bounces Back to Secure a Top-10 finish at Charlotte
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet scooped up a solid rebound Friday evening at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Ecosave 200 where he rallied from a 25th-place start to a top-10 finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event. Starting toward the back of the pack, Ankrum struggled with track position for the first run of the 134-lap event as he reported to crew chief Mark Hillman that he was tight off the corners in the right front. An uneventful stage allowed the young driver to make his way up to the top 20 for a 17th-palce Stage One finish. Under the stage break, Ankrum’s only complaint continued on with tight handling in dirty air but overall balance felt decent. Four tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment was the call for the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet. A quick trip down pit road sent the young driver out to restart the second stage in the 14th position.
A scuffle on the opening lap sent the San Bernardino, Calif. native three-wide heading into Turn 1 but Ankrum was able to overpower the chaos and pick up two spots to 12th where he settled in for the remained of the stage. Another quiet round of 30 laps saw the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet on the heels of front of the field. The handling on his race truck had started to shift throughout the second stage and he reported to his crew that he was now building free throughout the run. Hillman (Mark, crew chief) brought Ankrum down pit road under the stage break for a fresh set of Goodyear tires, Sunoco race fuel and a small round of adjustments in the right rear to restart the final laps at Charlotte.
The pit crew doubled down for another solid stop which allowed the young driver to gain three very valuable spots on pit road to put him seventh in line and hungry in the top 10. The competition started to heat up and chaos started to settle in. Ankrum battled to stay inside the top 10 for the majority of the final stage until the first incident-caution of the night arose with 35 laps to go. One last stop was in the cards for the No. 18 for his final set of four fresh tires, fuel and more adjustments on the right rear. More pit road gains were in sight that led the young driver to restart the closing laps of the Ecosave 200 in sixth. Knocking on the door of a top-five finish, the chaos continued and more yellow fell. A big shuffle on the final restart pushed Ankrum a few spots back where he ultimately finished the night with a hard-fought top-10 finish in ninth.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“A really good effort by the No. 18 team tonight. I had a poor qualifying effort and I put us in a bad spot to start but man, these guys worked so hard all night. This Trackhouse pit crew is unreal and the 18 guys gave me such a fast No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet so super happy that we were able to fight our way to a top 10 tonight. I think we really could of had a top five if I chose the top instead of the bottom on that final restart but we will take the top 10, hang our heads high and move on to Phoenix next week.”
