Ankrum Advances to Champ 4 with Top-10 at Martinsville
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
FINISH: 9th
Start: 6th
Stage One: 4th
Stage Two: 6th
NCTS Point Standings Position: 3rd
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST seals the deal for a chance to compete for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) Championship title in Phoenix after a stout finish at Martinsville Speedway Friday night. The young driver started the day off hot with a sixth-place qualifying effort, getting him close to the front where he planned to stay for the entirety of the 200-lap event. A quick caution arose on lap seven and Ankrum reported to his team that he was super tight firing off. Shortly after the restart, another yellow flag fell, quickly setting the tone for the race. Crew chief Mark Hillman made the decision to stay out and let the truck come too, which is exactly what happened and Ankrum fired off much better later in the run.
Restarting in the seventh position, the bottom lane stalled out and the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet set sail to a solid launch that bumped him up to third. Throughout another caution and a decent restart, Ankrum ultimately ended up finishing Stage One fourth in line, gaining seven very valuable stage points. Hillman (Mark, crew chief) made the call to stay out and keep track position that led the young driver to restart Stage Two, fourth. A quiet second stage allowed Ankrum to focus forward and hold strong in the top five. He still battled tight conditions all throughout the stage but was able to drive through and finish Stage Two sixth, gaining five more stage points to help keep him above the cutline. The No. 18 came down pit road under the stage break for four fresh tires, fuel and a slight trackbar and air pressure adjustment to help the handling on his race truck. An unfortunate issue with the pit gun held Ankrum on pit road longer than they anticipated, forcing him to restart the final stage 22nd.
Chaos started to unravel in typical Martinsville fashion and the driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet wasted no time getting back up to the front. The eighth caution of the night came out with 44 laps to go in the event. Ankrum sat 12th in line with no complaints on his race truck. The field went green and as trucks started to pit, Ankrum crept up the leaderboard spot by spot until he broke back inside the top 10 with just nine laps remaining. Another yellow flag fell, sending the field into NASCAR’s version of overtime in a two-lap shootout to the checkered flag. Restarting eighth at just four points above the cutline, the young driver survived the fight to the finish and advanced to the final four. For the first time in his NCTS career, the San Bernardino, Calif. native will race for a championship next Friday night at Phoenix Raceway.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“This is unreal, man. The effort by these guys tonight really shows just how much this No. 18 team deserves to be here. After the pit gun broke on the left front I really thought that was our dream ending. I was trying to keep an eye on the pylon all night and the cautions just kept on coming so I knew it was time to go. I can’t thank LIUNA, Chevrolet, MHR enough for the opportunity to be here and it is just an honor to be able to race for a Championship for the first time in my career. It is my entire team’s first chance as well and I am going to do my very best to get them the big trophy they deserve.”
