Ankrum Ready to Storm Through Darlington with Days of Thunder Scheme
Venue: Darlington Raceway
Event: Buckle Up South Carolina 200
Date: Friday, May 10
Location: Darlington, SC
Track Description: 1.366-mile oval
Distance: 147 laps / 200.8 miles (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Like Your Style… Tyler Ankrum will be driving a throwback design from the movie Days of Thunder on Friday night at Darlington Raceway. The driver of the No. 18 Liuna Chevrolet Silverado RST will sport Russ Wheeler’s No. 18 paint scheme from iconic NASCAR-themed film. After last weekend’s outing at Kansas Speedway, Ankrum moved up one position to fifth place in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) points standings at the halfway point of the regular season.
Season to Date… Ankrum has accumulated 264 points at the midway point of the regular season through eight events. He has earned three top-five and four top-10 finishes thus far and accumulated 77 stage points, the third-most of all competitors. Ankrum’s best result this season came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where he scored a runner-up finish. He has also scored top-five finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. Ankrum has the fourth most laps led this season (62) and his average finish of 13.6 is close to matching his career-high that he tallied in 2021 when he secured his second-career playoff berth.
Taming Darlington … Ankrum looks to kick off the second half of the regular season strong and add to his Darlington history. In five previous starts at the track “Too Tough to Tame”, his best finish of ninth came in 2022, but he has finished inside the top-15 in four of those events. He and crew chief Mark Hillman are focused on growing their 72-point cushion on the 10th and final playoff position on Friday night. The duo aim to collect MHR’s second-straight Darlington victory and join their teammate Christian Eckes as winners at “The Lady in Black”.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 will have all on-track activity covered live at Darlington Raceway on Friday, beginning with practice and qualifying at 3:00 p.m. ET. FS1’s coverage continues with NASCAR Raceday 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 His Throwback and Racing at Darlington:
“Driving the Russ Wheeler design is one of my favorite schemes I have ever had, and our Liuna Chevrolet looks awesome. Days of Thunder is one of my favorite movies and to represent a part of it is amazing. Even the sunglasses I wear are inspired by one of the characters in the movie, so it feels like a full circle moment for me. Racing at Darlington is really a test of focus for any driver. Its an old-school type of track that challenges you. From staying off the walls to hitting your marks every corner, you really need to try and stay consistent all night so it can pay off at the end.”