Eckes’ Return Results in 12th-Place Finish at Richmond

Venue: Richmond Raceway

FINISH: 12th

Start: 9th

Stage 1: 7th

Stage 2: 4th

Laps Led: 0

Christian Eckes returned to the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) with a 12th-place finish in Friday’s regular season finale at Richmond Raceway. The driver of the No. 16 AAA Premium Battery Chevrolet Silverado RST ran inside the top-five for a significant portion of the event before an untimely caution during green flag pit stops hampered his effort. Eckes will return to MHR to pilot the No. 16 entry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in September.

Eckes timed in ninth in Friday’s afternoon heat for his fifth-straight top-10 qualifying effort at Richmond. At the drop of the green flag, Eckes instantaneously moved forward in his familiar fashion. He quickly advanced to seventh by lap four and ran inside the top 10 for the entire first stage while lacking the necessary roll speed in the center of both corners. He held the seventh position at lap 70 when Stage 1 concluded after running entirely under the green flag.

Crew chief Darren Fraley adjusted the AAA Premium Battery Chevy with air pressure changes during the first four-tire pit stop of the night during the first stage caution. Eckes restarted in sixth, thanks to swift work by the MHR crew. He took advantage of the restart to enter the top-five and ran as high as fourth during the following 28 laps. A caution on lap 108 offered the team an opportunistic time to bolt on their second set of tires and restarted 10th on lap 118. Eckes utilized the fresh rubber to climb to fourth by the end of Stage 2 on lap 140.

While still dealing with a tight balance, Eckes pitted for a chassis adjustment, fuel, and fresh tires during the second stage caution. He lined up seventh on lap 151 but rapidly rejoined the top five. Eckes held a top-five position until a round of green flag pit stops commenced with less than 60 laps to go. He pitted under the green flag on lap 195 but was caught a lap down just two laps later when multiple trucks spun in oil in Turn 3. While he was awarded his lap back, courtesy of being the Lucky Dog, Eckes restarted eighth with four laps older tires than the leaders and lined up behind lapped vehicles. The tire disparity held Eckes back over the final 35 laps as he took the checkered flag in 12th position.

Christian Eckes Quote:

“A bit of a frustrating night. We could kind of maintain the track position we had after a restart, but didn’t quite have the balance we needed to attack and go forward. Our AAA Premium Battery Chevy didn’t have the fire-off speed we needed, just on the tight side most of the night. That caution during the green flag stops hurt us, lost some of our track position which hurt us. Thanks to everybody at MHR for the effort putting this together, and we’ll look forward to our next one at Loudon next month.”