Ankrum Seeks to Lock Into Final 4 at the Charlotte ROVAL
Venue: The Charlotte Motor Speedway Road Course
Event: EcoSave 250
Date: Friday, October 3rd
Location: Concord, NC
Track Description: 2.32-mile oval track
Distance: 67 laps,152.76 miles (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, SiriusXM)
The Roval … Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST will make his inaugural start at the Charlotte Roval as this is the first time the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) has run at the 2.32-mile road course. The 67-lap event Friday afternoon is the first race in the NCTS Playoffs Round of 8. Ankrum will begin the second round of playoffs tied for fourth as he is looking to lock in that championship four spot this Friday at the Roval.
Road Course Recap … In two road course starts this 2025 NCTS season, the San Bernardino, Calif. native has tallied one top-five and one top-10 effort with his best of fifth coming at Watkins Glen this past summer. The young driver was running third until the first overtime arose and he was forced down pit road due to running out of fuel. Restarting 13th, he battled through two more overtime events and fought to a fifth-place finish. Ankrum finished 10th at Lime Rock Park after a tough race with hardly any room or position to pass. Starting 15th, he gained a total of five spots throughout the 100-lap event. The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet is eager to raise his road course stats a few spots higher and stay in contention this Friday to lock himself in to the final championship four.
Spoiler Highlights … Tyler Ankrum and the No. 18 team are excited to welcome aboard LIUNA local contractor Precision Pipeline, LLC to adorn the left-side spoiler of the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing entry for the NCTS event Friday afternoon. Precision Pipeline, LLC, (PPL) was founded in 2004 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, by Steve Rooney and Dan Murphy. PPL was established on the principle of meeting the needs of clients while maintaining a focus on safety, quality and environmental compliance with minimal impact to landowners; and this core value is still strong in our company culture. In 2009, PPL joined the MasTec Inc. infrastructure construction family as it’s premier oil and gas service line. This partnership has allowed PPL to focus on growth and development with the ability to complete construction on both large mainline projects and smaller infrastructure projects.
Tune In …Television coverage on the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series event will begin Friday afternoon with practice and qualifying starting at 11:05 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 2, followed by green flag at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. 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:
“Super crucial weekend for this No. 18 team at the Roval. New track for majority of the field and that is tough for a playoffs race. A lot of mistakes can arise and you can get caught in some serious carnage that could ruin your day so we really have to be on our toes all day long and just execute. It would be ideal to pull out a win and lock ourselves into the final four this weekend right off the bat but we all know things can happen, especially here. I think we have a really good truck this weekend and Mark (Hillman, crew chief) and the guys have been working really hard to put together a solid contender. We will go out there and give 110% and hope to see everyone back in Victory Lane.”