Christian Eckes Wins Truck Race at AMS

HAMPTON, GA – RIS – Christian Eckes won in a dramatic overtime NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Eckes recovered from an early penalty and led 35 of the 137 laps in the Fr8 208, posting his first win of the season, his first at the 1.54-mile track and the second of his Craftsman Trucks career. His No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet took the checkered and caution flags together at the end as multiple crashes erupted behind his winning truck.

The race was tough with 11 cautions and the previously mentioned overtime finish.  The racing was almost double file with only the top of the track showing any signs of being a free-for-all.  The win was his second CTS victory,

Nick Sanchez rallied from a trip to the infield and finished a career-best second place for Rev Racing. John Hunter Nemechek led a race-high 53 laps and took third, with Bayley Currey and Ben Rhodes completing the top five.

Cory Heim’s attempt to repeat his win at this track last March too soon.  He recovered from a mid-race pit-road collision, but his Tricon Garage No. 11 Toyota sustained significant front-end damage when he jammed up behind the No. 2 Chevrolet of Sanchez on a restart. He retired after completing just 83 laps and finished 34th in the 36-truck field.

The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is scheduled next Saturday, March 25 at COTA.

Unofficial Results: Fr8 208: March 18, 2023, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Fin, St, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Christian Eckes, No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet, 137, 1, , 2, 35, 6, 50, Running
2) 20, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 137, , 10, 2, 11, , 36, Running
3) 24, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 17 Berry's Manufacturing Toyota, 137, , 3, 4, 53, , 0, Running
4) 30, Bayley Currey(i), No. 41 Unishippers Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 0, Running
5) 3, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Farm Paint Ford, 137, 8, 4, 2, 3, , 42, Running
6) 10, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 137, 5, , , , , 37, Running
7) 9, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 137, 9, , , , , 32, Running
8) 18, Timmy Hill, No. 56 UNITS Storage Toyota, 137, , , 1, 2, , 29, Running
9) 8, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Great Lakes Flooring/Menards Ford, 137, 4, 1, 2, 29, 1, 45, Running
10) 17, Jack Wood, No. 51 Logitech Chevrolet, 137, , , 2, 2, , 27, Running
11) 2, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Curb Records Ford, 137, 6, 2, , , , 40, Running
12) 32, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 AdventHealth Ford, 137, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 33, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Pate Holdings Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 35, Ryan Vargas, No. 30 Leargas Security Toyota, 137, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 25, Kris Wright, No. 02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet, 137, , , 1, 1, , 22, Running
16) 19, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Heise LED Lighting Systems Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 34, Akinori Ogata, No. 46 Kyowa-Eidemiller Precision Toyota, 137, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 12, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Quanta Chevrolet, 137, 10, , , , , 20, Running
19) 7, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 137, 3, 8, , , , 29, Running
20) 1, Zane Smith, No. 38 Fr8Auctions.com Ford, 137, 2, 6, , , , 31, Running
21) 27, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Off the Grid Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 14, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 137, 7, 9, , , , 21, Running
23) 28, Josh Reaume, No. 22 JAG Metals LLC. Ford, 137, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 11, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota, 137, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 22, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 137, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 13, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 136, , 7, , , , 15, Running
27) 15, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 10, Track Bar
28) 23, Layne Riggs, No. 1 Infinity Communications Group Toyota, 134, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 26, Mason Massey, No. 33 Wespro JCB Ford, 134, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 16, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 131, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 5, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 127, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 21, Lawless Alan, No. 45 AUTOChargit Chevrolet, 126, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 29, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 04 Carquest Ford, 123, , , 1, 1, , 4, Running
34) 6, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 83, , 5, , , , 9, Accident
35) 31, Mason Maggio, No. 20 HMY Yachts Chevrolet, 52, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 36, Keith McGee(i), No. 34 RBR Ford, 7, , , , , , 0, Transmission
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series , (#) Rookie

Total Race Length: 137 Laps, 210.98 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 17 Mins, 5 Secs.
Average Speed: 92.344 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 38, 23, 88, 25, 98, 52, 99, 4, 35
Stage 2 Top 10: 88, 98, 17, 99, 11, 38, 16, 23, 52, 2

Comments: Christian Eckes has won the Fr8 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 2nd career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Failed to Qualify: None.

Cautions: 11 for 58 laps;
Laps: 25-29 (Nos. 1, 15 Incident Frontsretch  [12]);
32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion  [15]);
40-44 (Debris on Frontstretch  [46]);
62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion  [22]);
79-83 (No. 46 Spin Backstretch  [43]);
85-93 (Nos. 11, 2 Incident Frontstretch  [12]);
98-102 (No. 5 Spin Turn 3 [46]);
115-120 (Nos. 17, 51,23,98 Incident Backstretch  [35]);
124-129 (Nos. 42, 45, 88 Incident Turn 3 [35]);
132-135 (No. 42 Spin Turn 2 [23]);
137-137 (No. 16, 52, 38 Incident Turn 4 [None]).

Lead Changes: 17 among 9 drivers;
Z. Smith 0;
C. Eckes 1-32;
M. Crafton 33-44;
K. Honeycutt 45;
M. Crafton 46-62;
K. Wright 63;
J. Nemechek(i) 64-79;
T. Hill 80-81;
J. Nemechek(i) 82-103;
J. Wood 104;
J. Nemechek(i) 105-112;
J. Wood 113;
J. Nemechek(i) 114-120;
B. Rhodes 121-122;
N. Sanchez # 123-128;
B. Rhodes 129;
N. Sanchez # 130-134;
C. Eckes 135-137.

Unofficial Driver Points Fr8 208, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Rank    Driver  Car      Starts  GL        Points  Ldr       Nxt      Race Wins       Stage Wins     Playoff Pts
1) Christian Eckes        19        3          2          131      0          0          1          2          7
2) Matt Crafton           88        3          2          126      -5         5          0          1          1
3) Ty Majeski   98        3          -1         123      -8         3          0          0          0
4) Ben Rhodes 99        3          1          119      -12       4          0          0          0
5) Zane Smith  38        3          -4         116      -15       3          1          1          6
6) Grant Enfinger        23        3          0          106      -25       10        0          0          0
7) Matt DiBenedetto  25        3          1          103      -28       3          0          0          0
8) Chase Purdy            4          3          2          97        -34       6          0          0          0
9) Carson Hocevar      42        3          -2         79        -52       18        0          1          1
10) Tanner Gray          15        3          -1         78        -53       1          0          0          0
11) Tyler Ankrum        16        3          1          77        -54       1          0          1          1
12) Corey Heim           11        3          -1         71        -60       6          0          0          0
13) Nick Sanchez #      2          3          3          67        -64       4          0          0          0
14) Timmy Hill 56        3          0          65        -66       2          0          0          0
15) Colby Howard       9          3          -2         62        -69       3          0          0          0
16) Stewart Friesen    52        3          -1         53        -78       9          0          0          0
17) Jake Garcia #         35        2          0          47        -84       6          0          0          0
18) Kris Wright            02        3          2          46        -85       1          0          0          0
19) Daniel Dye #         43        3          0          46        -85       0          0          0          0
20) Jack Wood 51        2          10        41        -90       5          0          0          0
21) Hailie Deegan       13        3          10        39        -92       2          0          0          0
22) Rajah Caruth #      24        3          -4         38        -93       1          0          0          0
23) Josh Reaume        22        3          1          34        -97       4          0          0          0
24) Bret Holmes #       32        3          11        33        -98       1          0          0          0
25) Mason Massey     33        3          -4         31        -100     2          0          0          0
26) Spencer Boyd        12        2          3          30        -101     1          0          0          0
27) Dean Thompson   5          3          -4         29        -102     1          0          0          0
28) Ryan Vargas          30        1          -28       23        -108     6          0          0          0
29) Jason White                      1          -7         22        -109     1          0          0          0
30) Lawless Alan         45        2          -4         22        -109     0          0          0          0
31) Akinori Ogata        46        1          -31       20        -111     2          0          0          0
32) Derek Kraus                      1          -7         19        -112     1          0          0          0
33) Jason M White                  1          -6         16        -115     3          0          0          0
34) Max Gutierrez                   1          -6         16        -115     0          0          0          0
35) Kaden Honeycutt  04        2          -2         16        -115     0          0          0          0
36) Chris Hacker                     1          -4         12        -119     4          0          0          0
37) Matt Mills             1          -3         11        -120     1          0          0          0
38) Layne Riggs           1          1          -38       9          -122     2          0          0          0
39) Codie Rohrbaugh              1          -3         4          -127     5          0          0          0
40) Clay Greenfield                 1          -3         3          -128     1          0          0          0
41) Mason Maggio      20        1          19        2          -129     1          0          0          0
42) Keith McGee(i)      34        1          -42       1          -130     1          0          0          0
43) Kyle Busch(i)                     1          -5         0          -131     1          1          0          0
44) John Hunter Nemechek(i) 17        2          1          0          -131     0          0          0          0
45) Bayley Currey(i)    41        1          -45       0          -131     0          0          0          0
46) Chase Elliott(i)                  1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
47) Travis Pastrana(i)              1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
48) Sammy Smith(i)                1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
49) Kaz Grala(i)                       1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
51) Corey Lajoie(i)                   1          -8         0          -131     0          0          0          0
52) Ross Chastain(i)                1          -8         0          -131     0          0          0          0
53) Parker Kligerman(i)                       1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
54) Brennan Poole(i)               1          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
55) Bryan Dauzat                    0          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
56) Todd Peck             0          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
57) Norm Benning                  0          -7         0          -131     0          0          0          0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Ronald Fleshman and John Davison

Ron Fleshman  and John Davison are Editors at ris-news.com

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Volume 2023, Issue 3, Posted 5:18 PM, 03.18.2023