Eckes Seeks Insurance Points and Second Kansas Triumph in Round 1 Finale
Venue: Kansas Speedway
Event: Kubota Tractors 200
Date: Friday, September 27th
Location: Kansas City, KS
Track Description: 1.5-mile tri oval
Distance: 134 laps, 201 miles (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX, Motor Racing Network)
Moving On … Christian Eckes has secured a position in the Round of 8 of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) playoffs entering the first round cutoff at Kansas Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST advanced to the second round after a fourth-place result last week at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). He returns to the “Sunflower State” as the defending winner of the playoff showdown at Kansas and looks to add to his playoff point total to carry into the second round. The No. 19 team have begun the playoffs with finishes of third at The Milwaukee Mile” and fourth at BMS to extend their streak of consecutive top-five finishes to seven races.
Historic Run … Eckes has constructed a career-best season and is riding a streak of 16-straight top-10 results. His current streak is the longest consecutive run of top-five and top-10 finishes over his 109-race NCTS career. Because of his elite performances, Eckes has led the championship standings for 11 of the 18 races this season. The spring race at Kansas where Eckes finished third and joined MHR teammate Zane Smith in the top-three was part of his current run, and hopes to replicate that success on Friday night. Eckes has nine prior NCTS starts in the Heartland and has finished first and third in the last two events at the 1.5-mile speedway. Since the second act of the 2020 doubleheader weekend, Eckes’ consistent efforts in Kansas City have been a microcosm of his career. In his previous eight outings at Kansas, he has tallied five top-five results and seven top-10’s.
Season to Date … The NCTS field has been chasing Eckes in the point standings for nine of the last 10 races and in several other categories. In addition to holding a 15-point lead in the championship standings, his 833 laps led dwarfs the competition and is 299 laps more than any other driver. Eckes also leads the field in Green Flag Speed, has the best average finish of all competitors (5.7), and most stage wins with nine. Through 18 races, the 23-year-old has compiled a staggering stat line of three wins, 12 top-five’s, and 17 top-10 finishes.
Tune In … Coverage from Kansas begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2 with practice and qualifying. Race coverage begins at 8:30 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Stay connected with the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On finishing Round 1 strong at Kansas:
“It’s a nice feeling to have already advanced before we go to Kansas. Our regular season and executing to start the playoffs made that happen, so now we can chase the stages and another win on Friday. I’m excited to see what we have in our Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet this weekend. We were a tick off in the spring but still finished third, and everybody at MHR has put in a lot of effort to try and fine tune our package. We’ve been close at the mile-and-a-half’s this year, so hopefully we can take that extra step and get back to victory lane. Everything adds up in the playoffs, so if we can add a few more playoff points to carry into the next round, that will be big for us, for sure.”