Ankrum’s Runner-Up at Martinsville Completes 1-2 MHR Finish

Venue: Martinsville Speedway

FINISH: 2nd

Start: 24th

Stage 1: 13th

Stage 2: 9th

Laps Led: 10

NCTS Point Standings Position: 6th

Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST, started the day back in the pack but finished strong in the runner up position for The Boys and Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 at Martinsville. After a tricky qualifying run Friday afternoon, Ankrum set the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet 24th in line to start the night. In typical Martinsville fashion, cautions started to fall sooner rather than late. The young driver reported to the team that he was feeling super tight conditions on his race truck but felt himself getting really good late in the run. Ankrum cruised through 11 positions to solidify a 13th-place Stage One finish. Crew chief Mark Hillman made the call to stay out and gain more positions for points.

The driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet took the green flag for the second stage in 12th and quickly got to work on fighting to get inside the top 10. Ankrum finally broke inside with 10 laps to go in Stage Two and on the final lap, he made a pass to the inside to grab a 9th-place Stage Two finish. Mark (Hillman, crew chief) called the San Bernardino, Calif. native down pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and a slight wedge adjustment. Ankrum cruised off pit road 17th and remained there for the start of the final stage.

A big green-flag-shuffle of the field on the restart, started a flurry of cautions that arose within the opening laps of the final stage. Ankrum used this time to excel on his restarts and gain multiple positions at a time as the yellow flags continued to fall and he found himself sitting in third with 15 laps to go. On the restart, the leaders got tangled and Ankrum was able to slip by for the top spot. With just a few short laps remaining, the young driver gave it all he had to hold the top spot until teammate, Daniel Hemric, swooped in on the bottom to set Ankrum back to second where he finished the night in Martinsville.

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

“So close there at the end, just needed a little bit better of a restart. Super happy for Daniel and MHR to get the team a win. Hopefully we can come back just one spot better on the next run. Can’t thank LIUNA and Chevrolet enough for all their continued support. We had a super-fast truck and hats off to the guys for keep us so consistent. We will take a week off to regroup and go get them in Bristol.”