Ankrum Scores Top-15 After Rally from Rear in Atlanta
Venue: EchoPark Speedway
FINISH: 14th
Start: 4th
NCTS Point Standings Position: 9th
Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST relegates to a top-15 finish at EchoPark Speedway after a long day of battling a wide range of adversity. After a stout qualifying run on Friday afternoon, Ankrum set his hot-rod to start the Fr8 Racing 208 fourth in line but due to a flat tire going down at the end of his qualifying run, the team had to change the tire and was forced to start the event in the rear of the field. Just a few laps in, the young driver had reported to his team that the No. 18 was super hard on the splitter. Throughout the stage, Ankrum was ticking off positions one by one but had trouble forming a pack to draft and ultimately ended Stage One 18th in line.
Crew chief Mark Hillman called the driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado down pit road under the stage break for four fresh tires, fuel and slight adjustments to help lift the splitter and tighten up his race truck. Quick stop by the crew allowed Ankrum to jump back in line and continue on his charge to the front. A quiet second stage left the field single file for the majority of the run. With five laps to go in the stage, Ankrum reported he still felt he was hurting the nose of the No. 18 but rallied to a 16th-place Stage Two finish. “I can’t leave the bottom or else I am wrecking loose…” , reported the 24-year-old driver. Under yellow, Hillman (Mark, crew chief) called for four tires, a top-off of Sunoco race fuel and a round of wedge taken out.
Another quick stop by the No. 18 pit crew gained Ankrum two spots to restart the final laps of the 135-lap event. Restarting 14th in the outside lane, Ankrum continued on his journey to the front until a caution with 35 laps to go was thrown. As many trucks chose to stay out, the choice was made for the No. 18 to come down pit road for a fresh set of Goodyear tires only. Due to weather making for a challenging race window, NASCAR was on the clock to finish the race by a certain time which only gave the field 10 more minutes once the green flag fell. Moving lanes with momentum, Ankrum broke inside the top 10 with three minutes remaining on the time clock. An unfortunate force that sent him three-wide in the middle, relegated the young driver to sink back a few spots and end his day 14th at EchoPark Speedway.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Just was not meant to go our way today. We had a great qualifying run and a super fast truck but having to start in the rear like that is always challenging. Pit crew was on point today, can’t thank this entire No. 18 team for giving me a great truck to work with this weekend. Huge thanks to Local 515 for coming out and braving the rain to support us today. Always fun to have those folks out here in Atlanta. We will get back to work, switch gears and get ready for St. Pete next weekend.”
