Eckes Records top-10 in topsy turvy martinsville night

Venue: Martinsville Speedway

FINISH: 10th

Start: 7th

Stage 1: 6th

Stage 2: 7th

Laps Led: 0

NCTS Point Standings Position: 5th

Christian Eckes endured a volatile night at Martinsville Speedway on Friday to record a 10th-place finish in the season’s penultimate round. The driver of the No. 91 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado RST earned points in both stages and his 15th top-10 result of the 2026 campaign. He scored the seventh-most points on the evening with 36 and sits fifth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) Chase standings entering next week’s season finale.

Eckes began the 200-lapper from the seventh position, with a rebooted white and blue NAPA Auto Care color scheme. The opening segment ran under green flag conditions for the first 37 laps, during which Eckes began to combat a loose balance. He took control of sixth position as the first caution waved and efficiently protected it on the ensuing restart to earn five points at the end of Stage 1 on lap 50.

The No. 91 team stayed on track with the majority of the lead lap trucks during the stage caution and restarted sixth on lap 59. The event’s green flag flavor continued in Stage 2 as a 43-lap run immediately followed. After restarting on the outside lane, Eckes fell into line in seventh on lap 63 and held that position until the second stage checkers waved on lap 100.

Crew chief Dave Elenz brought Eckes to pit road under the second stage caution period for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment to improve the NAPA Auto Care Chevy’s forward drive and rotation capability. Eckes restarted ninth on lap 115 but quickly faced a significantly unpredictable balance. After falling to 16th, he pitted under the lap 129 caution flag to address the issue. He restarted 21st on lap 136 and picked his way forward throughout a flurry of cautions and an excessively tight condition. By lap 172, Eckes rejoined the top-15 and took advantage of the night’s final restart on lap 189 to advance from 13th to take the checkered flag in 10th position.

Christian Eckes Quote:

“Certainly not what we were hoping for tonight. Our balance wasn’t ever consistent on our NAPA Auto Care Chevy. We were okay in the first stage, just too free and lacked overall grip compared to everyone else. It got really free on entry after our first pit stop and started plowing tight after halfway. We’ll get to the bottom of it, make improvements and we’ll try to finish the year strong at Homestead next week.”