Christian Eckes, from all appearances, drove the strongest machine through the first two stages of last Friday’s NASCAR Truck Series event at Martinsville Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet captured the first two stages of the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 and appeared in command through 150 laps.
Then Taylor Gray drove in position to challenge Eckes’ dominance. Gray needed a win to advance out of the Round of 8. On Lap 164, Gray pitted for four fresh tires. Over the next 31 rotations, Gray made his way through the field. During the final restart with five laps to go, Gray pulled ahead of Eckes along Turn 1 and cleared his rival on the backstretch. As they entered Turn 3, Eckes bumped the No. 17 Toyota’s rear bumper, forcing it from the lead to P5.
Eckes went on to capture his fourth win of the season, while Gray failed to qualify for next Friday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway. Eckes will compete against Grant Enfinger, Corey Heim and Ty Majeski for the circuit title.
“These guys work way too hard for us to lose a race regardless of the circumstances,” Eckes said, per NASCAR.com. “I had to race harder than I probably would like to. But at the end of the day, I didn’t want to lose that race. We led 187 laps of 200 so it’s just kind of a situation where I don’t want to race like that, but at the same time, I wasn’t going to let us lose.”
Upset over being bumped below the Round of 8 cutoff line, Gray confronted Eckes, the regular-season points champion, along pit road.
“What goes around comes around,” Gray told Fox Sports.
When asked what fans should expect from Gray in the final four race he said: “Clean racing.”
Taylor Gray is NOT happy with Christian Eckes in Martinsville. pic.twitter.com/q9erNdaK4O
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) November 2, 2024
NASCAR National Series Weekend Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR National Series events this weekend at Phoenix Raceway (All Times ET):
Tuesday
- 2 p.m.: Champ 4 Live Stream
Thursday
- 7 p.m.: Truck Series practice
- 8 p.m.: ARCA Series West practice
- 9:20 p.m.: ARCA Series West qualifying
Friday
- 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Series West Desert Diamond Casino West Valley 100 race
- 4:05 p.m.: Truck Series qualifying
- 5:05 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 6:05 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 8 p.m.: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race
Saturday
- 4 p.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 5:05 p.m.: Cup Series qualifying
- 7 p.m.: NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race
Sunday
- 3 p.m.: NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race
The campers are here!!!!#Championship4 pic.twitter.com/5OHYPzv3SQ
— Phoenix Raceway (@phoenixraceway) November 4, 2024
NASCAR Truck Series Championship Race Entry List
Entry, Driver, Team, Car No.
- 1, William Sawalich, TRICON Garage, No. 1 Toyota
- 2, Nick Sanchez, Rev Racing, No. 2 Chevrolet
- 3, Nathan Byrd, Young’s Motorsports, No. 02 Chevrolet
- 4, Marco Andretti, Roper Racing, No. 04 Chevrolet
- 5, Brett Moffitt, Hettinger Racing, No. 4 Chevrolet
- 6, Dean Thompson, TRICON Garage, No. 5 Toyota
- 7, Connor Mosack, Spire Motorsports, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Grant Enfinger, CR7 Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 9, Corey Heim, TRICON Garage, No. 11 Toyota
- 10, Jake Garcia, ThorSport Racing, No. 13 Ford
- 11, Tanner Gray, TRICON Garage, No. 15 Toyota
- 12, Taylor Gray, TRICON Garage, No. 17 Toyota
- 13, Tyler Ankrum, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, No. 18 Chevrolet
- 14, Christian Eckes, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, No. 19 Chevrolet
- 15, Keith McGee, Reaume Brothers Racing, No. 22 Ford
- 16, Dawson Sutton, Rackley W.A.R., No. 25 Chevrolet
- 17, Frankie Muniz, Reaume Brothers Racing, No. 27 Ford
- 18, Lawless Alan, Reaume Brothers Racing, No. 33 Ford
- 19, Layne Riggs, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
- 20, Bayley Currey, Niece Motorsports, No. 41 Chevrolet
- 21, Matt Mills, Niece Motorsports, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 22, Daniel Dye, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, No. 43 Chevrolet
- 23, Stefan Parsons, Niece Motorsports, No. 44 Chevrolet
- 24, Kaden Honeycutt, Niece Motorsports, No. 45 Chevrolet
- 25, Thad Moffitt, Young’s Motorsports, No. 46 Chevrolet
- 26, Stewart Friesen, Halmar Friesen Racing, No. 52 Toyota
- 27, Timmy Hill, Hill Motorsports, No. 56 Toyota
- 28, Conner Jones, ThorSport Racing, No. 66 Ford
- 29, Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 30, Spencer Boyd, Freedom Racing Enterprises, No. 76 Chevrolet
- 31, Chase Purdy, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 32, Matt Crafton, ThorSport Racing, No. 88 Ford
- 33, Jack Wood, McAnally Hilgemann Racing, No. 91 Chevrolet
- 34, Ty Majeski, ThorSport Racing, No. 98 Ford
- 35, Ben Rhodes, ThorSport Racing, No. 99 Ford
They go for the glory at @phoenixraceway. #Championship4 pic.twitter.com/X4pkqUBwtj
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) November 4, 2024
