FORT WORTH, Texas – A third win for Christian Eckes was within grasp and the final restarts was his ultimate test.
Despite leading 31 laps in the SpeedyCash.com 250, it was Kyle Busch grabbing the checkered flag when all was said and done.
The race started with two early cautions in the opening 20 laps, and closed with two late cautions in the closing 20 laps. Eckes gained a lot of practice restarting from the outside lane against Busch late and Nick Sanchez early. He was able to fight his way around Busch for the lead, but Busch was able to regain the lead en route to his sixth victory at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“I expected to have grip in the middle and (the truck) just didn’t,” said Eckes after the race. “We beat him on the launch pretty much the whole lap, but I just lost it in Turns 1 and 2, but it is what it is. Just proud of these guys for coming back and fighting as hard as we did. This truck wasn’t very good at Vegas, and we made it race. We were probably a second-place truck but still race-winning capable at the end of the day. Wish I ran the bottom now, but I felt like they were the stronger truck anyways, so they probably would (have) prevailed.
“I’ll move on to Kansas but definitely some exciting things around.”
Few could make passes from the outside and Eckes was one of those. With that early experience from starting second, he was able to find the grip he needed to battle hard at the finish.
“The track definitely improved. It kind of went back to the race start there at the end for whatever reason. Any experience up there definitely helped.”
Eckes’ continues his dominating 2024 season with only one finish outside of the top 10, including two victories at both short tracks on the schedule so far: Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. His fourth-place finish on Friday night bumped his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado to the top of the championship standings over Corey Heim and Ty Majeski.
Despite the success, Eckes still searches for speed.
“We can always improve,” he continued. “I feel like we’re in a decent spot. I still feel like our mile and a half stuff needs to improve. Our short tracks, that’s in a good position.”
FORT WORTH, Texas – A third win for Christian Eckes was within grasp and the final restarts was his ultimate test.
Despite leading 31 laps in the SpeedyCash.com 250, it was Kyle Busch grabbing the checkered flag when all was said and done.
The race started with two early cautions in the opening 20 laps, and closed with two late cautions in the closing 20 laps. Eckes gained a lot of practice restarting from the outside lane against Busch late and Nick Sanchez early. He was able to fight his way around Busch for the lead, but Busch was able to regain the lead en route to his sixth victory at Texas Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
“I expected to have grip in the middle and (the truck) just didn’t,” said Eckes after the race. “We beat him on the launch pretty much the whole lap, but I just lost it in Turns 1 and 2, but it is what it is. Just proud of these guys for coming back and fighting as hard as we did. This truck wasn’t very good at Vegas, and we made it race. We were probably a second-place truck but still race-winning capable at the end of the day. Wish I ran the bottom now, but I felt like they were the stronger truck anyways, so they probably would (have) prevailed.
“I’ll move on to Kansas but definitely some exciting things around.”
Few could make passes from the outside and Eckes was one of those. With that early experience from starting second, he was able to find the grip he needed to battle hard at the finish.
“The track definitely improved. It kind of went back to the race start there at the end for whatever reason. Any experience up there definitely helped.”
Eckes’ continues his dominating 2024 season with only one finish outside of the top 10, including two victories at both short tracks on the schedule so far: Bristol Motor Speedway and Martinsville Speedway. His fourth-place finish on Friday night bumped his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado to the top of the championship standings over Corey Heim and Ty Majeski.
Despite the success, Eckes still searches for speed.
“We can always improve,” he continued. “I feel like we’re in a decent spot. I still feel like our mile and a half stuff needs to improve. Our short tracks, that’s in a good position.”