Ankrum Striving to Continue Top-10 Streak at Martinsville
Venue: Martinsville Speedway
Event: Boys & Girls Club of The Blue Ridge 200
Date: Friday, March 28th
Location: Ridgeway, VA
Track Description: 0.562-mile short track
Distance: 200 laps, 105.2 miles (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, SiriusXM Radio)
Hot Streak… Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST is heading into Martinsville coming off the heels of three top-10 runs in the first four NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) events on the schedule. The young driver has had stand out speed during his qualifying runs to put his No. 18 Chevrolet inside the top 10 to start and to finish out the events with his best of third so far coming at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Ankrum and the No. 18 LIUNA team are looking to sail into another top-five finish and better yet, the first win of the season Friday night at Martinsville.
History at The Paperclip… Ankrum is no stranger to the short tracks as he has tallied 26 NCTS career starts at tracks measuring under a mile in length. Within those starts, the young driver holds five top-five and 12 top-10 finishes. The Paperclip has been stout to the San Bernardino, Calif. native in the past as his best finish of fifth came at this race last Spring (2024) after a stellar qualifying run set him just inside the top 10 to start the 200-lap event. Ankrum finished eighth here in the Fall (2024) last season after starting in the back of the pack to fight through the field for a top-10 finishing effort.
Spoiler Highlights… The No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet RST is happy to welcome LIUNA Contractor Independence Excavating to adorn the left-side spoiler for the Friday night event at Martinsville Speedway. Independence Excavating is a trusted, nationwide industry leader in challenging heavy civil construction, demolition, heavy industrial applications, environmental remediation, concrete paving, aggregate crushing and recycling.
Tune In …Television coverage on the Boys & Girls Club of The Blue RIdge 200 will begin Friday afternoon with practice & qualifying starting at 2:05 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. The green flag will drop at 7:30 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 excited to get change it up and get back to a short track this weekend in Martinsville. This place was really good to us last year but we just need to be a few spots better and hold that same speed to grab that first win of the season. This team has worked so hard and they deserve to have a victory to show for it. We had great speed at Homestead this past weekend and I am confident that we can continue on with this momentum and get this No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST to Victory Lane where it belongs.”