Ankrum Saddles Up to Reclaim the Point Lead in Fort Worth
Venue: Texas Motor Speedway
Event: SpeedyCash.com 250
Date: Friday, April 12th
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Track Description: 1.5-mile quad oval
Distance: 167 laps / 250.5 miles (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, Motor Racing Network)
Back Again … After finishing his weekend at Martinsville Speedway with a track-best finish of fifth, Tyler Ankrum heads to Fort Worth, Texas to make his eighth career start at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). Ankrum is no stranger to TMS with four top-10 finishes under his belt and a best result of third in 2019. He is looking to use his experience of seven previous TMS starts to erase the seven-point difference in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) standings to reclaim the championship lead.
Inching Closer… Ankrum was the NCTS points leader for the first four races of the season. However, he earned such an advantage prior to losing the lead that he remained within 11 points of the top spot. After his fifth place result last weekend at Martinsville, Ankrum is tied for second having a total of 241 points and sits only seven points out of the championship lead. He has an average finish of 9.2, which is fourth best among full-time NCTS competitors. In his seven previous TMS starts, Ankrum has collected four top-10 finishes, the most of any track on the NCTS schedule.
Season to Date … Ankrum holds an average start of 7.0 through six races this season. His best qualifying effort of second came at Atlanta Motor Speedway, just behind his teammate Daniel Dye who earned pole position. Ankrum has started in the top-10 in five of the six races this year. In the first six races of the season, Ankrum’s best result was a second-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile sister track to TMS. Ankrum followed up his runner-up finish with a pair of top-five results at Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has coverage of all on-track activity at TMS beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET with practice and qualifying. NASCAR Raceday sets the stage at 7:30 p.m. ET 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 Preparation for Martinsville Speedway:
“I am really excited for TMS this week. Coming off of a top five finish at Martinsville, I feel that our LIUNA team has a lot of momentum. Texas has some similarities to Las Vegas and we just came up just one spot short there. We have a lot of speed in our trucks, so we just have to stick to what we’ve been doing and keep chipping away at it. I’ve had quite a few good runs at Texas in the past, and I think we can have a great night with the speed we’ve shown this year.”