Eckes Aims to Ignite Chase Run in “Thunder Valley”
Venue: Bristol Motor Speedway
Event: UNOH 250 presented by Ohio Logistics
Date: Thursday, September 17
Location: Bristol, TN
Track Description: 0.533-mile oval
Distance: 250 laps, 133.25 miles (8:00 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM)
Challenging Chaser … Christian Eckes begins the 2026 Chase for the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) title as the foremost challenger to wrestle away the championship trophy. The driver of the No. 91 Motion Industries Chevrolet Silverado RST is a former Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) winner yet enters the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” seeking his first victory of the season. Earlier this season, Eckes nearly captured his second sword from the “Last Great Colosseum” after leading 132 laps which concluded in a fifth-place finish. Now starting the 2026 edition of the Chase fourth in points, Eckes hopes to secure another victory at BMS as the title battle commences.
Concrete Christian … Since leading 150 of 200 laps in the 2023 fall race at “Thunder Valley”, Eckes has been a prolific performer on BMS’ concrete. In his last four starts at the 0.533-mile short track palace, Eckes has finished in the top-five in each outing, including his 2024 spring race victory. He’s led 426 laps during that stretch and includes three stage wins. The New Yorker has had a strong grip of the concrete tracks overall with a pair of victories at Martinsville Speedway and a clean sweep of Nashville Superspeedway, all of which occurred in 2024. After securing a stage victory and leading the most laps at BMS in April, Eckes looks to conquer the “Last Great Colosseum” once more for his fifth concrete victory on Thursday night.
Season to Date … Eckes begins the Chase fourth in the drivers’ point standings, just 40 points out of the lead. Over the 18-race “regular season”, Eckes posted six top-five’s and 11 top-10 finishes with 173 laps led and an average finish of 13.0.
Tune In … Thursday features a one-day show for Eckes and the NCTS field as practice and qualifying gets underway at 3:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2. Race coverage flexes to FOX Sports 1 at 8:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the No. 91 Motion Industries team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmr_nascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On his outlook to begin the Chase at Bristol:
“Starting the Chase at Bristol is perfect for us. We’ve run really well there in the past and felt like that was one of our best chances to win earlier this season. I always feel comfortable at Bristol and know what we need to have in our Motion Industries Chevrolet. I’m proud of this team for improving throughout the year and truly feel like we have the speed to beat any one in this Chase. It comes down to execution and maximizing our days when we have the speed to contend. We’ve done a good job of consistently improving our trucks the last half of the season and have been fast enough to win at a lot of races. The Chase schedule lines up well for our strengths as a team, now it’s time to execute it.”