Ankrum Secures Solid Top-10 in Daytona Season Opener
Venue: Daytona International Speedway
FINISH: 9th
Start: 6th
NCTS Point Standings Position: 8th
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet RST prevails to a clean, ninth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) season-opener after a gaggle of handling issues all night for the young driver. Starting sixth, Ankrum rolled the outside lane and into the second position quickly as the top lane had the momentum from the jump. After the draft started settling in, the No. 18 jumped up to create a third lane with teammate Christian Eckes rolling close behind until a quick caution arose six laps into the 200-lap event. Ankrum reported to the team that his race truck felt a little “darty” but otherwise, he felt comfortable. Restarting 11th on the inside, he began his charge back to the front but started to struggle and notice quickly that the bottom lane was not working for his race truck. The San Bernardino, Calif. native reported to crew chief Mark Hillman that he lands super harsh on entry and tight snapping lose while he cruised across the line 18th to finish Stage One.
Hillman (Mark, crew chief) called to stay out under the stage break to gain track position where he would restart the second stage sixth. The young driver was off to a solid start on the outside in Stage Two until a third lane formulated, forcing the driver of the No. 18 to the middle lane which eventually stalled out and sent Ankrum sailing to the back until he found a quick hole in line to snag. With 10 laps to go in the stage, Ankrum sat in the 13th position until another yellow flag fell for a spin behind the No. 18 entry. The late-stage caution forced the field to end under yellow which elected Ankrum to finish 12th. Hillman (Mark, crew chief) took this opportunity to come down pit road for four tires, fuel, and a few adjustments on the jack bolt and trackbar for the young driver to help the handling on his race truck.
Ankrum returned to the high banks of Daytona to start the final stage 10th in line. Throughout the stage, the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet battled to keep up with the shifting lanes and reported to the team that his truck feels a lot better after the adjustments. Fighting to stay in the top 10, a caution was thrown and Ankrum came down pit road for a splash of fuel only. A struggle to get out of the box left the right nose of the No. 18 with minimal damage. Hillman (Mark, crew chief) called Ankrum back to pit road before the green flag fell for a quick assessment of the damage and sent him on his way.
With 22 laps to go, the competition started to get dicey causing another yellow flag to drop and Ankrum reported to his team he wanted four fresh tires and fuel. Restarting the final laps 21st, the young driver fought hard, shifting lanes left and right to keep the momentum and in typical Daytona fashion, the field was sent into NASCAR’s version of overtime. The top 10 drivers fought tightly together as they reached the white flag and a scuffle to the finish, relegated the driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet RST to a ninth-place finish at Daytona.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Really nice to start the year with a solid top 10 but I believe we could have been better. We struggled with the truck early on, super tough to handle. Great stop by the boys, got all the adjustments in and it felt a lot better. We have some things to clean up for sure but super thankful for this No. 18 team, LIUNA, Chevrolet and everyone at MHR for getting us off to a good start. Looking forward to what we can accomplish at Atlanta.”
