Ankrum Strives for First Playoff Victory in “Thunder Valley”
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
Event: UNOH 250 Presented By Ohio Logistics
Date: Thursday, September 11th
Location: Bristol, TN
Track Description: 0.533-mile concrete short track oval
Distance: 250 laps, 133.25 miles (8:00 p.m. ET, FS1, SiriusXM)
Second Times’ A Charm … Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST returns to “The Last Great Colosseum” for the second time this season for the second race in the Round of 10 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoff run. Ankrum has earned the title of a veteran at this 0.533-mile short track as this will be his ninth start at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) where he carries two top-five and four top-10 finishes with a best of fourth coming at this event in the Spring, earlier this season. The young driver has a killer short-track record and looks to take stats one tick higher with a victory at “Thunder Valley” this Thursday night under the lights.
Playoff Battles … In the first race of the NCTS playoffs at Darlington, the San Bernardino, Calif. native had a thrilling run inside the top 10 of the field for the majority of the day after starting 10th. Gaining stage points with each green-white-checkered allowed the driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST to hold onto his fifth-place point standings position at 22 markers above the cutline with two races left in the first round. This is Ankrum’s fourth NCTS playoff appearance and his current status marks the highest he has ever sat in playoff points.
Spoiler Highlights … Tyler Ankrum and the No. 18 team are excited to welcome aboard LIUNA local contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge LLC (UCOR) of Oak Ridge, Tennessee to adorn the left-side spoiler of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet for the 200-lap NCTS event Thursday night at Bristol. UCOR is an Amentum-led partnership with Honeywell, working under contract with the Department of Energy (DOE) Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Under this contract, UCOR safely deactivates and demolishes former nuclear facilities. As the lead cleanup contractor for DOE’s Oak Ridge Reservation, they have earned a reputation for safe performance, innovative problem solving, and an unwavering focus on excellence.
Tune In …Television coverage on the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event will begin Saturday afternoon with practice and qualifying starting at 3:05 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2, followed by green flag for the UNOH 250 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. 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:
“I feel really good heading into Bristol, honestly. We ran super well here in the Spring and I am looking forward to having another crack at it on Thursday in the playoffs. The momentum this team has right now is a true testament to how hard these guys work getting these trucks prepared for us to go out there and have these solid days that have worked us so far up in the point standings. For once, it fees awesome to have a solid cushion going into the first round but the goal is to lock it in with a win for sure.”