Ankrum Throttles Up for Thrilling Top-Five at North Wilkesboro

Venue: North Wilkesboro Speedway

FINISH: 3rd

Start: 13th

Stage One: 7th

Stage Two: 4th

Laps Led: 0

NCTS Point Standings Position: 4th

Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST throttled back to a familiar siting of a solid top-five finish at North Wilkesboro Speedway in the Saturday afternoon 250-lap event. After, yet another, qualifying session was cancelled due to wet weather conditions, the lineup was set per NASCAR’s rulebook which put Ankrum in the 13th position to start. The young driver wasted no time on his charge to the front, per usual, and broke the top 10 by lap 22. The first yellow flag of the day fell on lap 47 and Ankrum reported to his team he was nuclear tight. Crew chief Mark Hillman brought the driver of the No. 18 down pit road for four tires, fuel and a trackbar adjustment. Ankrum restarted in the 13th position and flew up to the front of the pack in the closing laps to secure a 7th-place Stage One finish, gaining four valuable stage points. 

The team chose not to pit and stay out to restart the second stage, third. Chaos on the opening lap forced Ankrum three-wide with competitors but the young driver held his ground and settled into fourth. Battling in the top five for the remaining of Stage Two, the San Bernardino, Calif. native was able to steal a third-place Stage Two finish after a caution came out on the closing laps and rolled the field into the green-white-checkered. Ankrum reported to the team that he was turning better on the short runs but was still feeling tight towards the end. The No. 18 was called to pit road for four fresh tires, fuel and a slight air pressure adjustment. A hang up on the stop lost the young driver a few spots that saw him restarting the final stage sixth in line. 

The field started to settle in quick which relegated Ankrum to a quiet final stage and a spot in line that made it very difficult to make a pass. A caution with 39 laps to go allowed Ankrum the chance to report to Mark (Hillman, crew chief) that he felt super free and could not move around at all like he would prefer. A quick pit stop for his last set of four Goodyear tires, a top off on fuel and an air pressure adjustment set the young driver to restart eighth in line. Ankrum set charge through the front five and made his way to fourth when another yellow flag dropped with four laps to go, sending the field into NASCAR’s version of overtime. The driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet restarted the final laps on the bottom in third where chaos broke out but Ankrum broke through with a thrilling third-place finish at North Wilkesboro. 

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

 “Great race, honestly. Started out 13th and we drove our way to the front to pretty much stay there the entire race. Had a little balance issue on the second to last pit stop but we fixed that right away and it allowed us a good result. We keep kicking off these top fives and we keep on bringing good equipment every week, we will be able to bring more wins home in no time. Huge thanks to LIUNA, Chevrolet, MHR and everyone on this No.18 team who puts in so much hard work each and every week to get us where we are.”