Stout Richmond Effort Gives Ankrum Chase Cushion

Venue: Richmond Raceway

FINISH: 11th

Start: 10th

Stage One: 8th

Stage Two: 11th

NCTS Point Standings Position: 10th

Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST pulled out a pleasant showing at Richmond Raceway as he battled to put himself back above the playoff cutline with one race remaining in the regular season. Ankrum scored a solid hot lap in Friday afternoon’s qualifying event that led him to start 10th in line for the Black’s Tire 250 Friday night. After weather came through the area, the 250 lap event was postponed to the following day. The young driver fired off hot as he was picking up spots in the top-10 and turning top-five lap times in the opening stage to score an eighth-place Stage One finish gaining two very valuable stage points.

The driver of the No. 18 reported to his team that he was losing drive-off and starting to build tight in the center. Crew chief Mark Hillman pulled Ankrum down pit road under the stage break for four fresh tires, fuel, and a slight air pressure adjustment. An error getting in the box cost the No.18 two spots on pit road followed by a penalty for crew coming over the wall too early. Ankrum was sent to the tail end of the field and restarted the second stage 18th in line. The young driver wasted no time hard-charging to the front as stage points were on the line. With just 20 laps to go in the stage, he was already back up to 11th and fell just short of a top-10 stage finish.

The San Bernardino, Calif. native felt much better with the adjustments from the first stop but still felt he needed more drive. A quick pit stop by the crew gained the young driver two spots on pit road and another from a competitor penalty out front. Restarting eighth, Ankrum held strong in the top 10 and was seventh before coming down for his green-flag pit stop with 41 laps to go. Four tires and fuel through a quick stop until a caution came out shortly after and sent the young driver a lap down. He received the wave around and restarted 14th to fight his way back to an 11th-place finish in Richmond. Ankrum’s stout performance in Richmond brought him up to 10th in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series point standings at 20 points above the cutline heading into the final race of the regular season at New Hampshire.

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

“Pretty big improvement on the year today. I was super optimistic going into Richmond and I am super happy we were able to capitalize on the day and give ourselves a good cushion heading into Loudon. We are back on the board and we really have to be perfect next week to make the chase. No relief until the end but I have the up most confidence in this group that we can continue on this momentum to next week and get in the running to fight for a championship at the end of the day.”