Rough and Tumble Day at COTA Relegates Ankrum to 25th

Venue: Circuit of The Americas

FINISH: 25th

Start: 12th

Laps Led: 0

NCTS Point Standings Position: 3rd

Tyler Ankrum finished his weekend at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA) in 25th-position. The driver of the No. 18 Liuna Chevrolet Silverado RST was involved in a collision resulting in him needing repairs. After losing power steering late in the race, Ankrum was unable to gain any more places.

Ankrum began his race in Austin, Texas in the 12th-position for the XPEL 225. When the green flag dropped, he wasted no time getting forward. Ankrum evaded the front runners locking up their brakes going into Turn 1 and immediately gained five positions. Ankrum continued to push until the end of the first stage to finish fourth, giving him seven valuable stage points at lap 12. Ankrum came down pit road under the stage caution for his first stop of the day to take on four tires, fuel, and a minor chassis adjustment. While exiting his pit stall Ankrum made slight contact with another truck, resulting in him losing track position for the beginning of stage two.

Ankrum started the second stage in 15th-place but was still charged towards the front. With some big moves and three wide passes, Ankrum saw himself in position to gain more stage points. On lap 26, Ankrum’s truck was damaged from a collision with another driver in Turn 13, but was still able to finish eighth at the end of Stage 2.

Ankrum came to pit road under the stage caution to repair the damage. The LIUNA team added bare bond to the front end of Ankrum’s machine and allowed him to restart the final stage in 27th-position. Ankrum stormed through the field gaining 10 positions within the next 10 laps. A late caution set up an overtime restart, however, Ankrum informed his team about a loss of his power steering. The issue forced Ankrum to nurse his Chevrolet to the checkered flag and collected a 25th-place finish.

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

“We had a lot of speed today and felt our No. 18 Liuna Chevrolet was faster than a lot of guys. After the collision, things just did not go our way. Even on the last laps if we had power steering, we could have had a good chance to earn some more points. We will be ready to comeback stronger and better.”