In a Nutshell
Christian Eckes held off a late charge from Kyle Busch to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday, March 16.
Eckes and Busch were the class of the field all night, and the two were never separated by more than a second the entire 250-lap feature. Busch was able to sweep the stages, but Eckes managed to score the victory after starting on pole.
For Eckes, the race was a redemption win after losing last fall’s playoff race at Bristol. He led 150 laps in that race, but was held up by TRICON Garage’s Tanner Gray in lapped traffic, which allowed Gray’s teammate Corey Heim to sneak through for the win with six laps to go.
What made the loss even more bitter is that Eckes won the season finale at Phoenix Raceway; had he won that Bristol race in the Round of 8, he would have been the champion. Instead, he was eliminated from the playoffs two races later.
Eckes had made it clear throughout the day that he was out for vengeance at The Last Great Colosseum, and he managed to win a dogfight with one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history to do so.
With the win, Eckes and McAnally-Hilgemann Racing finally broke the stranglehold Spire Motorsports had to begin the season, as it had won the first three races of the season (if you include its satellite team, Rev Racing, who won at Daytona International Speedway with Nick Sanchez). Chevrolet also has yet to lose this season in the Truck Series, as Bristol makes it four in a row on the year. Chevy has also won the last six straight Truck Series races dating back to last season.
Zane Smith, Matt Crafton and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top five. For McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, three of its trucks finished top five between Eckes, Smith and Ankrum.
The Top Truckers at Bristol Motor Speedway
Winner, Polesitter, Most Laps Led (144 of 250 laps): Christian Eckes
Stage 1 and 2 Winner: Kyle Busch
Rookie of the Race: Layne RIggs
Top Storylines of the Race
- Matt Mills‘ season from hell continued with an early crash in the opening laps that put him behind the 8-ball for the rest of the race. He was never able to get back on the lead lap and finished three laps down in 30th. Mills is in the ride that Carson Hocevar drove to four wins and a Championship 4 appearance in 2023, so something may be amiss in that team. Mills has four straight finishes outside the top 25 to start the season, largely due to damage from crashes.
- In…
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