Ankrum Fighting to Rejoin Top-Five in Standings at Charlotte
Venue: Charlotte Motor Speedway
Event: North Carolina Education Lottery 200
Date: Friday, May 24th
Location: Concord, North Carolina
Track Description: 1.5-mile quad oval
Distance: 134 laps/ 201 miles (8:30 p.m. ET – FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Keep on Fighting… Tyler Ankrum heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway (CMS) fighting to rejoin the top-five in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) standings. Through 10 races, the Californian has reestablished himself as a weekly contender and proved that once again last weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. After leading 26 laps and winning Stage 2 at NWS, Ankrum earned a total of 40-points, tied for second-most of all drivers in the field. With his top-10 effort in Wilkes County, N.C., he moved into the sixth position in the NCTS drivers’ points standings and looks to crack the top-five on Friday at CMS.
The Points Battle… Ankrum has a total of 315 points in 10 races this season. A portion of those points can be accredited to his two stage wins, one at Daytona International Speedway and a second last Sunday at NWS. Ankrum has 63-point advantage to the provisional playoff cut line, and only sits 13 markers outside the top five. The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST has earned 40 plus points in six of the 10 events this season. His single highest point total came at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), another 1.5-mile venue, where he earned 48 points and finished second in Stage 1 and Stage 2.
Season to Date… Ankrum heads to CMS for his sixth career appearance at the 1.5-mile quad oval. This will be the fifth time this season the NCTS makes its way to a 1.5-mile track. Ankrum’s qualifying average is a 13.2, with his best starting position this season being a second-place start at (AMS). In the four prior races at 1.5-mile venues, he has earned a top-10 result and a second-place finish. Ankrum has an average finish this season of 14.3, giving him the fourth-best average of full-time NCTS drivers. He has totaled three top-five’s and five top-10 results with 88 laps led.
Tune In … All on-track activity will be live on FOX Sports 1 beginning with practice and qualifying at 1:30 p.m. ET Friday afternoon. Race coverage on FS1 at 8:00 p.m. ET with NASCAR Raceday, followed by the green flag at 8:30 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 Charlotte Motor Speedway:
“It’s nice to race at a track that is local for us. After coming off our first top-10 in a few races, it feels nice to know we still have the pace in our LIUNA Chevrolet. We ran second at Las Vegas earlier this year, and Charlotte has some similarities to that, so we’re excited about the opportunity on Friday. All these guys on our No. 18 team have been working really hard and putting a ton of effort in during this stretch, so it’d be great to pay them back by running up front on Friday and hopefully getting a win.”