Ankrum Finishes 13th in “Thunder Valley”

Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway

FINISH: 13th

Start: 20th

NCTS Point Standings Position: 12th

Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 Ullico Chevrolet Silverado RST settled just outside the top 10 for tonight’s finishing result at Bristol Motor Speedway. In the Friday afternoon qualifying session, Ankrum set the No. 18 Ullico Chevrolet 20th in line to start the 250-lap event. The young driver felt something off in his hot lap and the team later found an issue with the fuel pump before the race started. The team was able to get the issue squared away before the drop of the green flag and held their spot in line. The driver of the No. 18 Chevrolet jumped up to 18th on the opening laps of the Tennessee Army National Guard 250 and remained constant in that position. The field spread out to single file, forcing the passing conditions to be minimal.

Finishing Stage One in the 18th position, Ankrum reported to his team that he was super lose om entry and tight in the center. Crew chief Mark Hillman called for air pressure and wedge adjustments to free him up in the center as well as four fresh Goodyear tires and a few cans of Sunoco race fuel. Continuing his charge to the front, Ankrum made a pass for the bottom and snuck up to 14th until a yellow flag flew for a caution. The young driver explained to his team under the yellow that he is super tight in dirty air and the top lane was struggling. To gain some track position for later in the race, Hillman (crew chief, Mark) called the No. 18 down pit road for four tires and fuel only, no adjustments. In strategy, this was planned to be the final stop of the night for the 18 team.

Ankrum went on to finish Stage Two 17th in line and stayed out under the stage break. Restarting the final laps of the night in 16th, the chaos was quick to unravel. Caution after caution occurred and Ankrum started knocking on the door of the top 10 as he was 12th with 27 laps to go under the final caution. A shuffle on the restart sent the San Bernardino, Calif. native three-wide heading into Turn 2 as he was shuffled back to 16th and ultimately ended up settling for a 13th-place finish at Thunder Valley under the lights.

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

“Tough night here in Bristol. The guys put together a really good truck it was just so difficult to pass and being mid-pack there it was super tight in dirty air. A lot to work on and a lot to take away from tonight but huge thanks to everyone at LIUNA for coming out tonight. It was great to see all the different contractors come out tonight and a few for their first race. We will keep our heads up headed into the break and see what we can capitalize on at Texas.”