Eckes Eyes a Rebound at Kansas
Back to Work … Christian Eckes gets back to work at Kansas Speedway after a two-week break and eyes his second victory of the season to reenergize his title pursuit. He’ll be gunning for his first Kansas win with a new partner on board the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST, Instacoat Premium Products (IPP). The Middletown, N.Y. driver sits fifth in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings as the regular season hits the halfway point on Saturday evening. Eckes remains in contention for the regular season crown with four stage wins and looks to add to his playoff point total this weekend.
Close in Kansas … Eckes and the No. 19 IPP team have displayed immense speed throughout the season but are looking to rebound after notching their breakthrough victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) in March. Based on history, Kansas could be a perfect place to do it as Eckes has done everything but visit victory lane. In six previous starts, he has three top-five’s and five top-10 finishes, with a best result of second in 2020. From the double-header weekend in 2020 through last season’s spring race, Eckes had a stretch of four-consecutive races of finishing sixth or better.
Season to Date … The 2023 NCTS campaign began with three consecutive top-six finishes for Eckes, which has totaled two top-five and three top-10 results. He has the second-most stage wins (four) and has led the third-most laps of all full-time NCTS drivers (59).
Chassis Selection … Crew chief Charles Denike and the IPP team are bringing chassis No. 328 back to the track for the first time since its victorious run at AMS. Eckes drove this Chevrolet Silverado RST to victory lane after leading 35 laps and earning a stage that afternoon. Chassis No. 328 also ran both races at Kansas Speedway last season with driver Derek Kraus.
Tune In … FOX Sports 1 has all the action from Kansas covered on Saturday. FS1 comes on the air at Noon ET with practice and qualifying followed by NASCAR Raceday at 7:00 p.m. ET, and the green flag at 8:00 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On racing at Kansas Speedway:
“Kansas has been a great track for me over the years. We’ve been close to breaking through for a win, so hopefully we can do that this weekend in our first race with Instacoat Premium Products on board. Ever since Atlanta, we’ve had speed every week, we just need to knock down the finishes to go along with it. I have all the confidence in the world in Charles and all the guys on our team to do that. We know this is a fast Chevrolet this weekend, especially with how it ran at Atlanta, so hopefully we can have similar speed and execute the way we need to on Saturday night.”