Ankrum Soldiers Through Late-Race Damage at MIS
Venue: Michigan International Speedway
FINISH: 24th
Start: 10th
Stage One: 6th
Stage Two: 12th
Laps Led: 0NCTS Point Standings Position: 5th
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet had a promising start to the 125-lap NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) event in Michigan after his qualifying laps Saturday morning set him 10th in line to start the race. Ankrum quickly set sail to the front as he had made it up to fourth by lap four. The No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet started to build super tight as the run went on but the young driver was able to score four valuable stage points, finishing sixth in Stage One. Ankrum relayed to his team that he was nuclear tight as he came down pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and a slight adjustment to help free up his race truck.
A quick stop allowed the driver to gain a spot on pit road and restart the second stage in the top five. A shuffle on the start sent the driver of the No. 18 back a few spots as he reset his focus in seventh. Ankrum started to struggle with the handling even more on his truck and felt he was all over the place when riding in dirty air but held on for a 12th-place finishing position in Stage Two. Crew chief Mark Hillman called the San Bernardino, Calif. native down pit road for four more fresh tires, some Sunoco race fuel, a jack bolt adjustment and a slight trackbar adjustment. Another solid stop by the crew led Ankrum to restart where he finished in 12th.
A few cautions in the opening laps of the final stage saw Ankrum sitting sixth in line after charging to the front. Once pit road was open, the driver of the No. 18 was called down pit road for a top off on fuel as Mark (Hillman, crew chief) reported the driver would be eighth laps short. After a short red flag that was called for track damage control, Ankrum restarted in the 11th position with 35 laps to go. A stack up in the green-flag-shuffle sent the young driver into the outside retaining wall as he trickled back to 23rd, trying to keep his race truck on track. Due to the damage from the hit, a right-front flat became present on the No. 18 that led Ankrum to pit road for tire changes and damage control. The 24-year-old driver made a few more passes through his pit box for more damage assessments and fixes until an unfortunate penalty was thrown in the laps of the No. 18 team for exceeding the amount of members over the wall during a stop.
A gaggle of cautions leading into triple overtime unloaded in the closing laps and the main goal for the No. 18 team at that point was to just stay out of the chaos and get across the finish line as they did just that for a 24th-place finish in the “Irish Hills”. This afternoon’s finish bumped Ankrum back to the fifth spot in the NCTS driver point standings. The team is headed into an off-weekend after their six-week stretch of back-to-back racing before they head to Pocono Raceway.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:“This one was tough to swallow, I’ll admit. We had a crazy fast LIUNA Chevrolet, and it is a true shame that we couldn’t stay in contention to get the results to show for it. Awesome to have all my LIUNA brothers and sisters out here in Michigan and seeing all the LIUNA orange in the stands kept my motivation up for sure. We will take this time in the off week to reset and head to Pocono for redemption on this bad luck streak.”
