Ankrum Closes Regular Season with 11th-Place Richmond Run
Venue: Richmond Raceway
FINISH: 11th
Start: 16th
Stage One: 12th
Stage Two: 9th
Laps Led: 0
NCTS Point Standings Position: 5th
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST finished out the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) regular season with an 11th-place finish after a long hard-fought run at Richmond Raceway. Starting from the 16th position, the young driver wasted no time starting his charge to the front. Ankrum was up three spots on the opening run and held strong just outside the top 10 for the majority of Stage One. With 20 laps to go, Ankrum reported to his team that he felt super tight in the center. Crew chief Mark Hillman reassured his driver that they will carry on and fix him up on the first pit stop.
The field started to spread apart upon the green-flag run and the No. 18 Chevrolet went one lap down as he crossed the finish line for a 12th-place Stage One finish. Ankrum served the free pass to get his lap back just before they came down pit road under the stage break for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment to help the tight handling on his race truck. Due to NASCAR’s rulebook, although he was back on the lead lap, Ankrum still had to start behind the lap trucks on the restart in mid-pack making it difficult to gain track position. A caution arose and the No. 18 was able to gain his track position back after reporting to the team that his race truck fires off great but still just a little tight. Restarting int he 10th position, the young driver fired off only to see another yellow flag drop shortly after.
Hillman (Mark, crew chief) called the driver of the No. 18 down pit road for fresh tires, some Sunoco race fuel and a wedge adjustment that sent him back out to solidify a ninth-place Stage Two finish. Ankrum came back down pit road for a quick stop of four tires and fuel as the team gained three spots in line to allow the San Bernardino, Calif. native to restart sixth for the closing stage. With 100 laps to go in the eero 250, Ankrum shot up into the top five on the opening lap and battled hard against the competition to hold track position. Green-flag pit stops were underway and the young driver came down pit road with 55 laps to go for his last set of Goodyear tires and a top-off on race fuel. After another yellow, Ankrum found himself 10th in line a lap down but stayed out and was able to jump back on the lead lap once again.
The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet battled against the lap trucks in the closing laps which resulted in an 11th-place finish at Richmond for the young driver. As the points reseeded for the last race in the regular season heading into the NCTS Playoffs, Ankrum currently sits fifth in points at just 55 markers behind the leader. The No. 18 team will take the week off to regroup and gain the confidence they need to head into the first round of NCTS Playoffs at Darlington.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Tough day for this No. 18 team but we are learning from our mistakes every week and I think we are going to have good momentum heading into the playoffs at Darlington. Our summer stretch has not been very good at all but we made some changes, got a new pit crew tonight with Trackhouse and they did phenomenal. We were not very good today but when you get stuck in dirty air like that, it really kills your drive. We have learned a lot of valuable notes about our program the last three weeks and how to get better so I am really looking forward to these next seven races in the playoffs and I know this No. 18 team is going to give them all we got.”
