On Saturday night, Eckes snatched the lead from Kyle Busch and sealed the deal winning under the lights at the WeatherGuard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Yeah, it was just super big for our whole team,” replied the race winner. “The first four races were really rough. And then you know, last year last September, we lost this race and inevitably lost a shot at the championship because of it.”
Eckes added that “this is a big redemption race for us. It’s probably the one we have circled from hosts on the calendar so to come and have a really good truck and to be able to to win the race is definitely good.”
Eckes dominated the first 55 laps of the race before Kyle Busch took the lead with 14 to go in Stage One, picking up the Stage One win as well as the Stage Two victory.
On lap 155, Eckes tapped Busch and sent the veteran Busch sideways but Busch recovered to retake the lead.
“I was concerned about the right from damage but I guess it was fine,” commented Eckes. “I was concerned about the right front and I slipped pretty hard. I just needed to gather back up for a little bit and pull the tires down. He kind of had the same thing because he got sideways too.”
Eckes said he was also concerned about the track coming into tonight’s race and “how much grip it had.”
Busch’s fight for the lead was short-lived as on Lap 160, Eckes made the pass over Busch and regained the lead, sending Busch back to the second spot.
“The resin opened up the lanes for the first time ever so if it wasn’t for that it would have been harder to pass and it still was hard to pass but just having multiple lanes to be able to move around was pretty big for us tonight.”
With less than 35 to go, lap traffic allowed Kyle Busch to close the gap with Eckes but the NAPA #19 Chevrolet driver managed to hold on leading by almost a second and a half.
A late caution, the sixth of the night, involved Nick Sanchez and Stuart Friesen making contact and the race resumed with 24 to go in the race.
With 15 to go, Busch tried once again to chip away at Eckes’ lead, closing the gap in the final laps but unable to get his Group 1001 Chevy out to the front. Eckes crossed the finish line picking up the win, his first at Bristol.
“It’s always big (in reference to the win). A huge one against Kyle. He’s the best in our series by pretty good margin. He’s got the most wins and he runs the best so it’s especially at Bristol its home (for him) so to beat him here is pretty awesome.”
Eckes win was the fourth for Chevrolet in the 2024 Craftsman Truck Series season and Eckes first ever win at Bristol.
Kyle Busch finished second with Zane Smith third, Matt Crafton fourth and Tyler Ankrum finishing in the top five.
Corey Heim finished sixth, Taylor Gray seventh, Rajah Caruth eighth, Grant Enfinger ninth and Layne Riggs in tenth.
Share
