“Lady in Black” Deals Late Heartbreak to Ankrum
Venue: Darlington Raceway
FINISH: 24th
Start: 13th
NCTS Point Standings Position: 12th
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST was on the heels of victory coming to the green-white checkered at Darlington Raceway Friday night until an incident on the restart took the wind out of his sails and sent him sinking in the pack. A qualifying run Friday afternoon set the No. 18 Chevrolet 18th in line to start the 147-lap event. The green flag dropped and Ankrum began his quest to the front of the field. Cautions began to arise and the young driver reported to his team that he was a little tight and free in dirty air but nothing to be to concerned over as he felt pretty confident in his race truck. With four laps remaining in the first stage, Ankrum had drove his way up to 13th and continued on to an 11th-place Stage One finish. Crew chief Mark Hillman called his driver down pit road under the stage break for four fresh tires, a top-off of Sunoco race fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment to send him on his way.
Stage Two was off to a chaotic start after the San Bernardino, Calif. native restarted in the ninth position but was instantly sent three-wide at the sight of the green-flag and shuffled back to 12th. Another yellow flag fell on lap 49 which allowed the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet to settle back into ninth for the restart. With all focus forward, the young driver began to tick off spots one by one in the top 10 as that long-run was really kicking in. Maneuvering his strategy, lane by lane, a fight to the green-white-checkered saw Ankrum to pick up another spot crossing line for a sixth-place Stage Two finish where he gained five very valuable stage points. Under yellow, Ankrum reported to his team “building free but fire off is much better…”. The truck was exactly where the team needed it to be which meant four Goodyear tires and fuel only for the young driver. A stout stop by the No. 18 pit crew picked up two spots on pit road for Ankrum and sent him to restart the closing laps fourth on the outside.
10 laps into the run, a quick caution arose and the majority of the field came down to ensure a fresher set of tires and fuel, along with Ankrum. The pit crew kept up their pace and sent him on his way gaining to more spots on pit road. A shuffle on the restart sent the young driver back in the pack to ninth where he settled in and stayed focused on the top spot. The 25-year-old driver could finally start to feel the truck coming to him and things going his way. With 33 laps remaining, a caution came out which gave Ankrum the opportunity to come down pit road for his last set of sticker tires. The team took it and ran with it as the pit crew continued to stay on their game with solid stops. The field started to get dicey but Ankrum stayed consistent until conflict arose. A restart with five laps to go saw Ankrum fourth in line on the outside until a tire went down as he was sailing into Turn 2 that sent his sinking to the back, fighting to stay alive as cars collected around him. Redemption in sight quickly turned to heartbreak for the young driver at Darlington Raceway and forced him to an unfortunate 24th-place finish under the lights.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Man, that was such a good race for this 18 crew. Truly the best executed race by this team in three years. Pit crew did such an amazing job along with Kevin (Hamlin, spotter) up top and Mark (Hillman, crew chief) and the guys gave me such a phenomenal truck. I hate it for everyone on this team, I really do. We have a lot to look forward to and a lot of momentum heading into Rockingham so I am super excited to get out there and see if we can pull off another victory there. I have so much confidence in this team and things have just not gone our way but I know we will get up there, win one and get back in the playoffs. Thank you to LIUNA and Chevrolet for sticking with me through all of this and I look forward to what comes next.”
