Ankrum Eyes Reclaiming the NCTS Point Lead at Martinsville
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
Event: Long John Silver’s 200
Date: Friday, April 5th
Location: Ridgeway, VA
Track Description: 0.526-mile oval
Distance: 200 laps / 105.2 miles (7:30 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
A Familiar Look … Tyler Ankrum will have his second look at a short track this season Friday evening at Martinsville Speedway. The half-mile oval in Virginia has been a track Ankrum has qualified well at with three previous top-10 qualifying efforts. He has had success at “The Paperclip” before with a top-10 result coming in 2022. Ankrum is prepared to improve his average finish of 10.0 this season and continue his fight to reclaim the top spot in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) points standings.
Back to a Short Track… Ankrum and the NCTS competitors take on Martinsville’s flat half mile after competing on the high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway in March in the tour’s first short track event of the season. Three weeks ago, the driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST put on a stellar performance at “Thunder Valley”. After starting in ninth position, Ankrum displayed his consistency and battled his way forward to fifth place to earn his second top-five result of the year. Ankrum is looking to use his 6.6 average qualifying effort to his advantage this week, which is the second among full-time NCTS drivers, to pursue another top-five finish.
Earning it Back … After a challenging weekend at Circuit of the Americas, Ankrum trails the NCTS points lead by 11 markers in third position. Ankrum has earned valuable stage points by finishing in the top-10 in eight of the 10 stages this season. The stage results have helped Ankrum accumulate over 41 points through five events. Ankrum will need to continue his impressive stage finishes this weekend at Martinsville as he continues his pursuit of the regular season title.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has coverage of all on-track activity at Martinsville beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET with practice and qualifying. NASCAR Raceday sets the stage at 6:30 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 7:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 18 LIUNA team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
On Preparation for Martinsville Speedway:
“Our LIUNA team is looking forward to Martinsville this weekend. We had a really strong night at Bristol a few weeks ago. Even though Martinsville and Bristol are extremely different, we were consistent the whole night, had a lot of speed and managed to keep track position all night. Martinsville is a place where you have to do those things too and be aggressive since it’s such a short race. If we can qualify towards the front like we have all year long, that’ll put us in great position to contend at the end of the night.”