Adversity greets eckes in bristol chase race

Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway

FINISH: 30th

Start: 21st

Laps Led: 0

NCTS Point Standings Position: 8th

The first round of the Chase for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) title dealt Christian Eckes a dose of adversity on Friday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). The driver of the No. 91 Motion Industries Chevrolet RST was credited with a 30th-place finish after suffering contact with the backstretch wall midway through the first stage. After the first of seven Chase races, Eckes is now positioned eighth in the title standings, 58 markers out of the lead.

Eckes and the Motion Industries team began the day exhibiting tremendous speed in practice, posting the fourth-fastest lap in race trim and led the field in 15-lap average. After weather scrapped qualifying, Eckes started from 21st position as the lineup was set per the metric.

Once the green flag dropped, Eckes made a beeline towards the front by advancing from 21st to 12th in 19 laps. After the groove began migrating off the bottom and towards the rim of the high banks, Eckes attempted to continue his ascent by using the inside. On lap 40, Eckes tried to complete a pass on the No. 9 truck exiting Turn 2 but made contact down the backstretch and turned the right front fender into the wall. The contact necessitated a trip to pit road to clearance the fender under green and resulted in trapping him six laps down.

Despite the misfortune, Eckes and company were running at the finish and their persistence was rewarded with gaining four spots in the final 50 laps to take the checkered flag in 30th.

Christian Eckes Quote:

“We made a mistake off Turn 2, tried to get up in front of the No. 9 and just wasn’t clear. A lot of Chase trucks looked like they had trouble tonight, so we didn’t lose as much as I expected to. I thought we had a Motion Chevrolet capable of contending tonight. Made a run up to about 12th, so we’ll go to Kansas and try to make up for it there.”