Christian Eckes Dominates the ‘Lady in Black’
(DARLINGTON, SC – MAY 12, 2023 – RIS) Christian Eckes claimed his third career Craftsman Truck Series win, dominating the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 and lasting through multiple overtime restarts on Darlington’s historic oval.
Corey Heim held the lead from the start while William Byron, starting in eighth, was in fifth after the first lap. Christian Eckes took the lead from Heim after 25 laps, with Byron up to third.
Byron took the second stage with Eckes second, chased by Heim. Byron stalled the truck leaving the pits after his stop, costing him two positions at the restart,
At the start of the final stage, only Heim, Eckes and Byron had led the race, with Heim’s lead count almost twice the total of Eckes and Byron.
Lap 100 had the first incident of the race, with Chase Purdey, Colby Howard, Zane Smith and Matt Crafton involved. Purdey’s truck had too much damage to continue but the others kept running. Purdey had lost first gear on pit road earlier, dropping him back in the field and into the area of the crash.
Stewart Friesen got third on the restart thanks to the choose, with Byron getting a challenge from Taylor Gray briefly.
Carson Hocevar spun after he got loose in front of Rajah Caruth to bring out a caution on lap 113. Heim and Taylor Gray held the front row, with Eckes an Jake Garcia in the second row followed by William Byron a Stewart Friesen. Byron’s restart had him in second almost immediately, challenging Eckes for Kyle Busch Racing’s hundredth win in the truck series.
Daniel Dye got loose battling with Hailie Deegan and spun on the back straight in the No. 43 Adam Petty tribute paint scheme truck.
Eckes and Byron led the pack out of the pits, with Byron commenting that he feels like he can beat Eckes on the restart.
Hailie Deegan and Eckes stayed on the track and led the restart, with Byron chasing Eckes as Deegan’s old tires cost her a lot of speed on the track. Rajah Caruth drove around competitors to be in position to challenge for second and possibly the win until Timmy Hill spun with a paif of laps left to run, causing an overtime finish for the race.
Stewart Friesen drove into the second position on the restart with Byron and Caruth falling back after Tanner Gray squeezed Byron high. Then Jake Garcia pushed high on the back straight, spinning into the inside wall and bringing out the yellow for another attempt at an overtime restart. Tanner Gray ran third under the caution, with Byron fourth and Grant Enfinger fifth.
Eckes took the white flag just an instant before another caution flew for Enfinger’s slide along the front stretch wall. Friesen followed Eckes across the line in second with Tanner Gray third, William Byron fourth and Carson Hocevar fifth.
“It drove itself,” said Eckes of his truck. “To come back and win shows the resilience of the team.”
Unofficial Results: Buckle Up South Carolina 200, May 12, 2023 - Darlington Raceway
Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Christian Eckes, No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, 158, 1, 3, 4, 82, 6, 58, Running
2) 6, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 158, 7, 7, , , , 43, Running
3) 11, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Black's Tire Toyota, 158, , , , , , 34, Running
4) 8, William Byron(i), No. 51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, 158, 4, 1, 1, 7, , 0, Running
5) 18, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 158, 6, 4, , , , 44, Running
6) 13, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 15, Bubba Wallace(i), No. 1 Annie Bosko Toyota, 158, 8, 5, , , , 0, Running
8) 1, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 158, 2, 2, 4, 66, , 47, Running
9) 25, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 158, , , , , , 28, Running
10) 24, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 20 Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 3, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 158, 9, , , , , 28, Running
12) 19, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Ford, 158, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 16, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 0, Running
14) 2, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 158, 5, 8, , , , 32, Running
15) 17, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 158, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 29, Corey LaJoie(i), No. 7 Schluter Systems Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 0, Running
17) 36, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 14, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Farm Paint Ford, 158, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Race to stop Suicide Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 26, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 Ford Performance Ford, 158, , , 1, 2, , 17, Running
21) 12, Taylor Gray #, No. 17 Dead On Tools Toyota, 158, , 10, 1, 1, , 17, Running
22) 22, Zane Smith, No. 38 RTA rtatel.com Ford, 158, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 34, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Bret Holmes Racing Chevrolet, 158, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 23, Timmy Hill, No. 56 UNITS Storage Toyota, 157, , 9, , , , 15, Running
25) 7, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 157, 3, , , , , 20, Running
26) 5, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Crown Fiber Chevrolet, 157, , 6, , , , 16, Running
27) 32, Ryan Vargas, No. 30 KSDT CPA Toyota, 156, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 27, Johnny Sauter, No. 04 CarQuest/Roper Racing Ford, 156, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 35, Kris Wright, No. 02 WrightCars.com Chevrolet, 155, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 30, Lawless Alan, No. 45 AUTOParkit Chevrolet, 126, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 9, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Tenda/Curb Records Ford, 123, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 10, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 100, 10, , , , , 6, Accident
33) 33, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Sad Daddy Hunting Blinds Chevrolet, 78, , , , , , 4, Fuel Pump
34) 21, Parker Kligerman(i), No. 75 Haagen-Dazs Chevrolet, 48, , , , , , 0, Oil Leak
35) 31, Dawson Cram(i), No. 47 G2G Racing Toyota, 36, , , , , , 0, Mechanical
36) 28, Brennan Poole(i), No. 46 G2G Racing Toyota, 20, , , , , , 0, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Length: 158 Laps, 215.828 Miles
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 2 Mins, 42 Secs.
Average Speed: 105.539 MPH
Margin of Victory: Under Caution
Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 11, 25, 51, 23, 42, 52, 1, 2, 4
Stage 2 Top 10: 51, 11, 19, 42, 1, 35, 52, 23, 56, 17
Comments: Christian Eckes has won the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway, his third career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.
Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 02 (unapproved adjustments)
Failed to Qualify: (1) 33 Josh Reaume.
Cautions: 8 for 37 laps;
Laps: 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [99]);
92-98 (Stage 2 Conclusion [13]);
102-106 (No. 9, 4, 38, 88 Incident Frontstretch [45]);
115-118 (No, 42, 24 Incident Turn 2 [9]);
129-132 (No. 45 Spin Frontstretch [32]);
147-150 (No. 56 Spin Turn 4 [38]);
152-156 (No. 35 Incident Backstretch [32]);
158-158 (No. 23 Incident Turn 4 [None]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers;
C. Heim 1-26;
C. Eckes 27-52;
C. Heim 53-87;
W. Byron(i) 88-94;
C. Heim 95-97;
C. Eckes 98-115;
C. Heim 116-117;
T. Gray # 118;
C. Eckes 119-129;
H. Deegan 130-131;
C. Eckes 132-158.
Unofficial Points: Buckle Up South Carolina 200 - Darlington Raceway
Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1) Zane Smith 38 9 0 338 0 0 2 1 11
2) Ty Majeski 98 9 0 329 -9 9 0 1 1
3) Corey Heim 11 9 1 323 -15 6 1 2 7
4) Ben Rhodes 99 9 -1 301 -37 22 0 0 0
5) Christian Eckes 19 9 1 299 -39 2 2 4 14
6) Grant Enfinger 23 9 -1 299 -39 0 1 0 5
7) Matt Crafton 88 9 0 260 -78 39 0 1 1
8) Tanner Gray 15 9 0 254 -84 6 0 0 0
9) Nick Sanchez # 2 9 0 233 -105 21 0 2 2
10) Stewart Friesen 52 9 2 227 -111 6 0 0 0
11) Matt DiBenedetto 25 9 -1 213 -125 14 0 0 0
12) Carson Hocevar 42 9 4 202 -136 11 1 1 6
13) Jake Garcia # 35 8 0 197 -141 5 0 0 0
14) Tyler Ankrum 16 9 0 196 -142 1 0 1 1
15) Chase Purdy 4 9 -4 193 -145 3 0 0 0
16) Hailie Deegan 13 9 -1 185 -153 8 0 0 0
17) Rajah Caruth # 24 9 0 164 -174 21 0 0 0
18) Colby Howard 9 9 0 145 -193 19 0 0 0
19) Daniel Dye # 43 9 1 140 -198 5 0 0 0
20) Bret Holmes # 32 9 1 131 -207 9 0 0 0
21) Kris Wright 02 9 -2 130 -208 1 0 0 0
22) Dean Thompson 5 9 2 127 -211 3 0 0 0
23) Timmy Hill 56 7 -1 122 -216 5 0 0 0
24) Taylor Gray # 17 6 -1 118 -220 4 0 0 0
25) Kaden Honeycutt 20 6 2 112 -226 6 0 0 0
26) Lawless Alan 45 7 0 101 -237 11 0 0 0
27) Spencer Boyd 12 8 -2 100 -238 1 0 0 0
28) Mason Massey 6 0 63 -275 37 0 0 0
29) Josh Reaume 5 0 63 -275 0 0 0 0
30) Ryan Vargas 30 3 1 62 -276 1 0 0 0
31) Jack Wood 3 -1 59 -279 3 0 0 0
32) Bayley Currey 1 0 33 -305 26 0 0 0
33) William Sawalich 1 0 29 -309 4 0 0 0
34) Johnny Sauter 04 2 4 27 -311 2 0 0 0
35) Jason White 1 -1 22 -316 5 0 0 0
36) Toni Breidinger 1 -1 22 -316 0 0 0 0
37) Akinori Ogata 1 -1 20 -318 2 0 0 0
38) Conner Jones 1 -1 19 -319 1 0 0 0
39) Colin Garrett 1 0 17 -321 2 0 0 0
40) Matt Mills 2 0 17 -321 0 0 0 0
41) Jason M White 1 0 16 -322 1 0 0 0
42) Max Gutierrez 1 0 16 -322 0 0 0 0
43) Nick Leitz 1 0 16 -322 0 0 0 0
44) Logan Bearden 1 0 15 -323 1 0 0 0
45) Tyler Hill 1 0 15 -323 0 0 0 0
46) Justin Carroll 1 0 14 -324 1 0 0 0
47) Norm Benning 1 0 13 -325 1 0 0 0
48) Memphis Villarreal 1 0 13 -325 0 0 0 0
49) Chris Hacker 1 0 12 -326 1 0 0 0
50) Mason Maggio 2 0 12 -326 0 0 0 0
51) Mason Filippi 1 0 11 -327 1 0 0 0
52) Tanner Carrick 1 0 11 -327 0 0 0 0
53) Layne Riggs 1 0 9 -329 2 0 0 0
54) Dale Quarterley 1 0 9 -329 0 0 0 0
55) Armani Williams 1 0 8 -330 1 0 0 0
56) Tyler Carpenter 1 0 8 -330 0 0 0 0
57) Jonathan Shafer 1 0 8 -330 0 0 0 0
58) Trey Hutchens 1 0 7 -331 1 0 0 0
59) Keith Mcgee 2 0 5 -333 2 0 0 0
60) Codie Rohrbaugh 1 0 4 -334 1 0 0 0
61) Clay Greenfield 1 0 3 -335 1 0 0 0
62) Chad Chastain 1 0 3 -335 0 0 0 0
63) Ed Jones 1 0 1 -337 2 0 0 0
64) Stephen Mallozzi 1 0 1 -337 0 0 0 0
65) Tim Viens 1 0 1 -337 0 0 0 0
66) Kyle Busch 4 0 0 -338 1 1 2 0
67) Joey Logano 1 0 0 -338 0 1 2 0
68) William Byron(i) 51 2 1 0 -338 0 0 1 0
69) John Hunter Nemechek 2 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
70) Ross Chastain(i) 41 5 0 0 -338 0 0 0 0
71) Chase Briscoe 1 0 0 -338 0 0 0 0
72) Bubba Wallace(i) 1 1 0 0 -338 0 0 0 0
73) Kaz Grala 2 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
74) Chase Elliott 1 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
75) Travis Pastrana 1 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
76) Sammy Smith 1 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
77) Jonathan Davenport 1 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
78) Corey LaJoie(i) 7 2 1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
79) Derek Kraus 1 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
80) Brennan Poole(i) 46 3 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
81) Parker Kligerman(i) 75 4 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
82) Brad Perez 1 -1 0 -338 0 0 0 0
83) Dawson Cram(i) 47 1 0 0 -338 0 0 0 0
84) Stefan Parsons 1 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
85) Samuel Lecomte 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
86) Bryan Dauzat 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
87) Alex Bowman 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
88) Todd Peck 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
89) Jessica Friesen 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
90) Jerry Bohlman 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
91) Andrew Gordon 0 -2 0 -338 0 0 0 0
-Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
John Davison
Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.