Eckes Seeking a Second Atlanta Victory to Stay Hot

Venue: EchoPark Speedway

Events: Fr8 Racing 208

Date: Saturday, February 21

Location: Hampton, GA

Track Description: 1.54-mile quad oval

Distance: 135 laps, 207.9 miles (1:30 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM)

Seeking a Second … Christian Eckes is seeking his second victory at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga. as he looks to continue a hot start to his NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) return. The driver of the No. 91 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet Silverado RST holds claim to the first victory in MHR team history in 2023 at the 1.54-mile hybrid superspeedway. That landmark triumph propelled Eckes to eight total victories in his first tenure at MHR and hopes to duplicate that effort on Saturday as an encore to his podium finish in the opener at Daytona International Speedway (DIS).

“Hotlanta” Playground … Since the reconfiguration of EchoPark Speedway to a high-banked, drafting style pseudo superspeedway, MHR trucks have been easy to spot near the front of the field. The organization has led laps in three-consecutive races and have captured the Stage 1 checkers in each of those events, including two by Eckes in 2023-2024. Besides his victory in 2023, Eckes has been a resident at the front by leading laps in all four of his NCTS starts at Atlanta for a total of 76 laps. He’s notched two stage victories and two top-five results, and aims to pump those numbers on Saturday afternoon.

Season Start … Eckes was a one-man show in the season opener at DIS last Friday night. He cut through the field on multiple occasions, making 271 green flag passes, most of all drivers in the field. He scored 12 stage points and a third-place finish to position himself second in the NCTS standings entering the second event, 19 markers out of the lead.

Tune In … Eckes gets on track at EchoPark Speedway on Friday afternoon for pole qualifying at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 (FS1). Coverage continues on FS1 Saturday afternoon with the green flag at 1:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 91 NAPA Nightvision team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook. 

Christian Eckes Quote:

On returning to EchoPark Speedway:

“The couple of starts I had with MHR at Atlanta were really good. We led a bunch of laps, won some stages and won in ’23, so that gives us a lot of confidence, for sure. We had a great shot to win two straight in 2024 but had a brake issue, so we know what we need to run up front. As the race goes, the pack separates a little more at Atlanta than at Daytona or Talladega, so there’s more room to make moves but you certainly need to have a good balance too. We’ll try to be aggressive all day and put our NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet up front. Executing pit stops and making smart decisions will be important to keep ourselves near the front.”