In A Nutshell
He had to earn it in the end (in turn earning the ire of his competitors) but Christian Eckes capped off a dominant day at Martinsville Speedway with a win and a ticket into the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship 4.
Despite dominating the whole race, Eckes had to fight with Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes to win his fourth race of the season, and first since the summer months at Nashville Superspeedway.
Eckes and championship rival Corey Heim both advance, along with Grant Enfinger and Ty Majeski, to fight for a title next Friday (Nov. 8).
The Top Truckers at Martinsville Speedway
Winner, Polesitter, Stage 1 and 2 Winner, Most Laps Led (187 of 200): Christian Eckes
Biggest Mover: Grant Enfinger (started 33rd, finished ninth)
Rookie of the Race: Layne Riggs
The Winning Move
It became quite clear that if you wanted to beat Eckes, you needed a late restart and you needed to execute perfectly.
That’s exactly what Gray did, taking the lead on the final restart with five laps to go. However, the lead would be short-lived, as Eckes would straight up move the No. 17 into turn 3, sending Gray back to around fifth. Meanwhile Rhodes saw what Eckes did and decided he’d do the same to the No. 19.
As Rhodes cleared to the lead, Eckes immediately put the bumper to him in turn 1 before running the No. 99 all the way up the hill in turn 3. That allowed Chase Purdy to sneak through to second. However, Rhodes and Purdy continued to fight for second, allowing Eckes to escape with the win.
The stat sheet said it was a dominant win, but it was anything but in the end.
Championship Rundown
The Championship 4 is set.
Eckes joins Enfinger, who won twice in the Round of 8, as the two winners of the round. Heim and Majeski complete the Championship 4 as the two drivers to make it in on points.
For Rajah Caruth, Tyler Ankrum, Nick Sanchez and Gray, they’re 2024 Truck Series title hopes are over.
Caruth found his race and subsequent championship hopes end early with brake issues midway through the race that forced him behind the wall. Meanwhile, it took Ankrum, Sanchez and Gray nothing short of a win to advance, something that wasn’t going to happen with Eckes’ dominance.
Gray almost came out on top with a walk-off win before the contact with Eckes ended any hopes of that happening.
We have our four. Now who will come out on top?
Rookie Report
It’s not a surprise at this point that Layne…
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