| Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST succumbed to an unfortunate 20th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway Thursday night after getting turned heading into Turn 1 early in Stage Two, running second. After a stunning qualifying run, the young driver put the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet third in the lineup to start the 250-lap event. A quick caution on the restart allowed Ankrum to get a feel for the handling and report to his team that he was a bit tight to fire off but balance was good overall. The driver of the No. 18 battled to hold in the top five for the remainder of Stage One and rallied to a fourth-place Stage One finish. Crew chief Mark Hillman stuck to his strategy and kept Ankrum out on the track under the stage break to restart the second stage front row in third.
The green flag fell and Ankrum quickly got up on the gas to cruise into the runner up position as he settled in behind the leader. Shortly after, the San Bernardino, Calif. native was hit from behind and forced into the outside retaining wall in Turn 1, causing damage to the left-side tail of his race truck. The driver came down pit road for four tires, fuel and damage repair as the team replaced the spoiler brace and sent the young driver on his way. This incident sent Ankrum to the back of the pack, leaving him fighting for track position and settling for a 25th-place Stage Two finish. The driver of the No. 18 reported to his team that he was just really tight in dirty air, making it difficult to charge back to the front.
Hillman (Mark, crew chief) called the driver to stay out under the stage break in attempt to gain track position but that plan quickly took a turn as NASCAR mandated Ankrum come down pit road to cut off the remaining damaged spoiler brace, per NASCAR regulations. A quick stop of damage repair and fuel only sent the driver 12th in line to restart the final stage. Due to older tires, Ankrum started to fall back through the field and was relegated to an unfortunate 20th-place finish at Thunder Valley. This event sent Ankrum back one spot to sixth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Playoff point standings with 29 points above the cutline heading into New Hampshire next week for the final race of the Round of 10.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“Things happen. I respect Kaden coming over and apologizing right away and everyone misses a corner every once in a while. He has always raced me respectfully so I know that was not anything intentional. Tough deal with the spoiler brace incident and once that situation all started to fall, that is what really ended our night. Trying to run in the back with dirty air here is just not something you can get out of and break your way through to the front so tough night for sure but we are still sixth in points with a 29 point cushion so we will hold our heads high and try and pick off a win next week at New Hampshire.” |
