Eckes Seeks Redemption and Dollar Bills at Charlotte
Chasing Dollar Bills … Christian Eckes and the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team have a second-straight home race on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and they’ll be chasing a big bonus. A cool $50,000 incentive is on the line to the winner at CMS as Friday marks the first of three races in the “Triple Truck Challenge”. Eckes is pursuing a hat trick of his own, searching for his third win on Friday night, and already banked a win at a 1.5-mile track earlier this season (Atlanta Motor Speedway). A $150,000 payout is on the line if Eckes is able to win two of the next three races (CMS, World Wide Technology Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway), and half a million dollars would be his if he’s able to sweep all three.
Redemption in the Queen City … A year ago, Eckes was in contention to win at CMS on an overtime restart, led at the white flag and finished fourth. Now that he returns as a two-time winner this season, winning both races by taking advantage of overtime restarts, redemption is on the table for Eckes in the Queen City. He’s led laps in two of his three previous appearances at “America’s Home for Racing” and has two finishes of 11th or better. In the tour’s most recent event at a 1.5-mile track, Eckes won his first pole award of the season at Kansas Speedway and led early before getting collected in an accident past halfway.
Season to Date … Six races remain in the NCTS regular season as Eckes sits fifth in the drivers’ championship standings. He is one of only two drivers with multiple wins and has earned four stage wins, the most of all NCTS competitors. In total, Eckes has amassed three top-five’s and four top-10 results with 147 laps led (third-most of all drivers). After 10 races, he is still within range of the regular season championship, 60 markers behind the point leader.
Chassis Selection … Chassis No. 349 returns to the track two races after its victorious run at Darlington Raceway on May 12th. This Chevrolet Silverado RST debuted at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March with a sixth-place finish, and Eckes also ran inside the top-three for most of the event at Texas Motor Speedway on April 1st.
Tune In … All the action from CMS will be carried live on FOX Sports 1 beginning with practice and qualifying at 1:30 p.m. ET. Coverage continues on FS1 with NASCAR Raceday at 8:00 p.m. ET followed by the green flag at 8:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Christian Eckes Quote:
On racing for bonus money at Charlotte:
“Racing for so much money over the next few weeks is pretty cool, and our whole NAPA Auto Care group is excited about it. I think these will be good tracks for us to be in contention for that money. I feel like there’s some unfinished business at Charlotte after last year, so hopefully we can finish the job this weekend. We’ve had really strong Chevrolets at the intermediate tracks this year, and won with this truck at Darlington a couple weeks ago. Charles (Denike) and everyone at MHR put a great deal of effort into the trucks we bring every week, and Friday night should be no different.”