By: Matt Courson, Staff Writer
DOVER, Del. — Tyler Ankrum made his third start with DGR Crosley in the JEGS 200 at Dover International Speedway on Friday. Ankrum battled his way to a ninth-place finish for DGR-Crosley Racing, marking a top-10 finish in two of the three races in which he has attempted in 2019.
“We had a really good truck,” said Ankrum. “These DGR guys, my crew chief [Kevin Manion], they keep bringing me fantastic trucks. While I have only been in this series for three races, first three races they have brought me great trucks.”
Friday didn’t go without its mistakes, however.
“We just have had stupid mistakes on pit road,” he said. “We started 10th, got hung up a little bit; fell back not too far, drove all the way to eighth and then got my way to sixth and that was about 50 or 60 laps to go.
“We already had one uncontrolled tire which put us in the back and then on our final pit stop, our left rear changer pulled off the tire and knocked the jack off the car and put us back even further. I [would have] got to win a race to make the playoffs and I really thought we had a top-three car or a chance to win and it just didn’t happen today. We got to clean it up on pit road.”
The 2018 NASCAR K&N East Series champion competed in an event at Dover in October and felt “good” afterward, but the driver said he felt “whooped” after 200 laps of racing around the track nicknamed “The Monster Mile”.
The 18-year-old went on to describe the physical aspects of Dover.
“I just want to go to bed,” he said. “We got a short hop to North Carolina and I get to sleep in my cozy bed, probably will end up weed whacking [Saturday] since we didn’t win. Thanks,
Ankrum then went on to apologize for sounding sick, stating that he had been battling the flu.
“Sorry if I sound terrible sick, I have had the flu for the whole week and that didn’t help anything,” he said. “Last night, I was puking in the hotel. I think it’s just the general thing that is going around that started as a head cold and I was trying to be a tough guy and telling myself that I didn’t need medicine and then it just got worse from being stupid. Oh well, you learn from your mistakes.”
Ankrum had never had to compete
“I have driven with broken legs, arms, but never with the flu and this is worse. When I was driving open-wheel cars, I raced with a broken arm one time. I just tape my hand to the wheel, and I let it fly. I just raced with my cast on and that hurt a lot less than today.”