Race Information
Venue: Homestead-Miami Speedway
Event: NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Championship Race
Date: Friday, November 6th
Location: Homestead, FL
Track Description: 1.5 mile oval track
Distance: 134 laps, 201 miles (7:30 p.m. EST, FS1, SiriusXM)
Ankrum Closes Out 2026 NCTS Season at Homestead
Seven of Seven … The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet is headed down to South Florida for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) Championship event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Ankrum has finished in the top-10 the last two events of the NCTS chase and he looks to continue that momentum in the season finale this Friday night under the lights. The San Bernardino, Calif. native has spent the last three NCTS seasons running for team owner Bill McAnally where the duo made it to the final four in last seasons championship run. Although Ankrum is out of the running for the championship, he seeks to close out the 2026 season with a victory for Bill (McAnally, team owner) and the No. 18 LIUNA team.
The Last Dance … NASCAR has brought the championship event back to Homestead after the last five years being hosted at Phoenix Raceway. The young driver has six previous NCTS starts the 1.5-mile oval speedway with a best of the runner-up position coming back in 2020. Last season in 2025, Ankrum was able to rally to a fourth place finish which brings his top-five starts to three of six starts at Homestead. The 2026 NCTS season may be coming to a close, but Ankrum and the No. 18 team are not done yet as they still have work to do this weekend in Homestead.
Spoiler Highlights … Ankrum and the No. 18 team are happy to welcome LIUNA local contractor Thalle Construction Company (TCC) to adorn the left-side spoiler of the No. 18 Chevrolet for the championship event Friday night. TCC has extensive experience completing a wide variety of civil construction projects in both the public and private sectors. Thalle’s diverse technical knowledge and ability to self-perform enable it to excel at multi-disciplinary, complex, and schedule-driven projects. They have highly trained and experienced workforces in both union and non-union markets, making Thalle the contractor of choice to perform challenging projects regardless of the location.
Tune In …Television coverage on the NCTS Championship event will begin Thursday evening with NCTS practice at 6:30 PM ET. Track activity will resume on Friday with qualifying starting at 2:30 PM ET on FS2, followed by the wave of the green flag at 7:30 PM ET on FS1. Stay connected with the No. 18 LIUNA team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“It’s hard to believe we are already at the final race of the season. This season did not go as planned, especially after coming off a championship run in 2025 but I am so proud of this No. 18 LIUNA team for not giving up and pushing harder each and every week. Things may not have gone our way this year but we still have one more shot at a victory and I know we are going to give it all we got. We have a huge showing for LIUNA this weekend with a lot of contractors coming and folks from the OVSS region along with John Preciado from PSWA so I am super excited to see everyone ad hopefully we can put on one last show of the year for them at Homestead.”
Tyler Ankrum NCTS 2026 Stats
Starts: 24
Poles: 0
Wins: 0
Top-5’s: 2
Top-10’s: 8
Stage Wins: 0
Average Finish: 15.4
NCTS Points Position: 9th
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.
