Christian Eckes Charges Back to a Big Win at Martinsville

It was an action-packed finish in the Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway, and it was a major win for Christian Eckes as he had to hold off the field in a late restart.

Eckes ended up in 19^th after the stage two break, this happening after sweeping both stages as he would go on to lead 104 laps. In a race that produced 11 cautions for 81 laps, Eckes caught back up to the lead as he would get past a strong competitor on the short tracks, Ty Majeski. Eckes would take the lead on lap 172 and never look back.

“Something really special,” Eckes said after the race. “We came here last year, and we weren’t really that great… we were maybe a sixth-place truck (started sixth and finished 15th).”

“And we worked really hard on it, and here we are in Victory Lane. So just super proud of this entire team.”

This would mark the second win of the season for Eckes and the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team, and the seventh of Eckes’ career.

Despite coming up short, Majeski does exit Martinsville as the series points leader, leading by just seven over Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum.

“The 19 (Eckes) was tough tonight,” Majeski said. “He was just a little bit better than us. He had better tires (in the final stage), and I just could not launch on restarts…

“But I think we left here with the points lead today. Really solid day. Obviously, you want to win. I wanted that grandfather clock (trophy), but I’m super proud of this team. We’ve been working hard at getting our trucks better, and just a little bit short tonight.”

Chase Purdy finished in third, while Nick Sanchez finished fourth, and Tyler finished fifth. Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Sammy Smith, Kaden Honeycutt, and Corey Heim rounded out the top ten. 

Australian Supercars star Cam Waters finished 30th in what was his NASCAR debut, as he was an innocent victim in a collision on lap 177. He was driving the No. 66 for Thorsport Racing and will race again at Kansas.

“I had so much fun tonight and all day today,” Waters said. “It is totally different racing from what I usually do, and I just wanted to learn. I learned so much.”

“There at the end, I just had nowhere to go and knocked the radiator out of it. It is a shame, but I was having fun and learning and had some awesome battles, too.”

The Craftsman Truck Series heads next to Texas Motor Speedway for Friday night racing on April 12^th and 8:30 pm EST.