With two races complete in the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, the driver atop the points standings is … Tyler Ankrum.
Just as we all expected.
Additionally, the driver who has led the most laps thus far is also named Tyler Ankrum.
Although it has only been two races, Ankrum has impressed the Truck Series garage by hitting the ground running in 2024 with his new team, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. The move came as a surprise to most, as it seemed like Ankrum was set to return to Hattori Racing Enterprises for a third year.
However, Ankrum and longtime sponsor LiUNA! jumped ship to MHR, leaving HRE in a poor spot, as the team will not compete full-time in 2024 — if at all — despite hiring for multiple positions before the season started.
Once considered a major prospect, Ankrum won the K&N Pro Series East (now ARCA Menards Series East) championship in his lone season in 2018. Driving for DGR-Crosley (now TRICON Garage), he got his shot in the Truck Series in the back half of the 2018 season, competing in two races before getting a full-time deal with the team in 2019.
After sitting out the first three races due to age restrictions, Ankrum notched his first career victory at Kentucky Speedway on a fuel-mileage strategy.
Sponsorship woes forced him out of the ride for a couple of races, for which he joined NEMCO Motorsports to remain playoff eligible. To date, his eighth-place finish in the 2019 standings is the highest points finish Ankrum has achieved in the Truck Series.
After one season at DGR-Crosley, Ankrum joined GMS Racing for 2020 and 2021, driving the No. 26. Despite a ninth-place finish in the standings in 2020 and a pole at Circuit of the Americas in 2021, Ankrum’s run at GMS was rather forgettable. Although that could be chalked up to an expansion phase of GMS that saw at least one of its truck running behind the others and drivers such as Ankrum, Dalton Sargeant, and Chase Purdy coming and going quickly through the GMS system.
So when 2022 came around, Ankrum took the opportunity to replace Austin Hill in the No. 16 at Hattori. This was of significance because HRE had just won the championship a few years prior with Brett Moffitt, and Hill had brought the team eight wins in just three seasons. With backing from LiUNA! (who had sponsored Ankrum since his DGR-Crosley days), it seemed like the San Bernardino, Calif. native was poised to finally break out.
Unfortunately, he…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …