NASCAR
Eckes Wins Martinsville Truck Race with Fenders Thrown, Championship 4 Field Set
RIDGEWAY, Va. – The dominant driver of the day did end Martinsville’s Truck Series race in victory lane. That only tells half the story, however. Christian Eckes did a late bump and run on Taylor Gray, leaving driver 17 very heated. Eckes will race for a championship next week though, with apparent peak momentum after a Martinsville beatdown.
From the pole, Christian Eckes’ tailgate was in the wind for the first 104 circuits. This span saw the No. 19 sweep both stages, trying to replicate his every lap led run from Nashville in June. Eckes would restart second for Stage 3, but soon found the top spot once again.
This race will live on in infamy though for the final run to the checkers. On 62-lap fresher tires, Taylor Gray lined up to Eckes’ outside with five laps left.
The No. 17 initially got by the 19, only to be punted out of the way. This allowed Ben Rhodes to briefly grab the lead, but Eckes motored on by with three laps to go.
Eckes took off to his fourth win of the season, and locked up a Championship 4 berth. Behind him meanwhile, Gray was seeing red and made his displeasure known on the cooldown lap.
Gray immediately got out of his truck and confronted Eckes in victory lane. Eckes simply replied with “it’s Martinsville.”
“I wasn’t going to let us lose this race,” Eckes said. “The truck was too good. The 17 was just hard racing, I feel bad about the 99, I just got way too loose entering the corner. Everyone’s really happy with me, but I don’t really care. Proud of everybody for working hard, and we’ll go onto Phoenix.”
Behind Eckes and Ben Rhodes, Chase Purdy, Taylor Gray, and Nick Sanchez were the top-five. Layne Riggs, Corey Heim, Tyler Ankrum, Grant Enfinger, and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top-10.
Alongside past winner Grant Enfinger and Christian Eckes, the Truck Series Championship 4 is made up by Corey Heim and Ty Majeski. In less than a week’s time, one of these four contenders will be crowned a NASCAR National Series champion.
The Truck Series Championship Race will go green from Phoenix Raceway Friday at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. One finalist has a target seemingly on his back from a rival’s teammate. Can continued drama boil over in the winner-take-all race?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
