-
Similar Topics
-
By NAPA
Christian Eckes vaulted himself back into championship contention with a stout effort at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night. The driver of the No. 91 Columbia Bank Chevrolet Silverado RST finished fifth, earned a stage victory and scored the most points of all drivers with 48. Eckes paced the field for 132 of the 250 circuits which helped him advance to fifth in the championship standings, just 17 markers out of the lead.
The Columbia Bank Chevrolet started second after Eckes delivered his best qualifying effort of the year, narrowly missing out on the pole by 0.02 seconds. On lap three, Eckes swiftly claimed control of the event by hooking the bottom of the speedway and held a comfortable lead for 62 of 65 laps in Stage 1. He efficiently navigated lapped traffic to secure his second stage victory of the season and pocketed 10 championship points on lap 65.
In an effort to preserve critical track position, crew chief Dave Elenz elected to keep Eckes on track during the stage caution, along with most lead-lap competitors. When the race restarted on lap 79, Eckes jumped out to another lead and reported his handling had moderately improved from the first segment. He held the lead until a caution on lap 118 flipped the race’s script. Eckes pitted for four tires, as did the majority of the field, but restarted eighth on lap 128 after multiple trucks stayed out on older tires. He was able to regain two positions to run sixth by the end of Stage 2 on lap 130 and tally five points.
Eckes stayed on track to begin the final segment and restarted third on lap 142. A sequence of three cautions over the next 25 laps featured mad scrambles on restarts amongst the top four as Eckes vied to retake the lead. After briefly claiming the lead on the lap-179 restart, Eckes and the No. 1 truck made contact racing for the lead, sparking a multi-truck incident in Turn 1, which he narrowly escaped. He restarted as the leader on lap 179, but a loose balance would eventually hamper his pace over the final 27 laps. Eckes took the checkered flag in fifth for his third top-five result of the year and his second-highest point total of the season.
“It was a step in the right direction for sure,” Eckes said. “I think we led the most laps, had the fastest lap, so we’re bringing fast trucks. Qualified second. Qualifying has been kind of an issue for us for the last couple weeks. I feel like we’re heading in the right direction on there. Just need to clean up a lot of mistakes on my end. I lost the handling a little bit and track position is so important. I just screwed up the restart pretty bad and screwed up the restart before then. Lot of mental decisions I got to make better and we’ll make them at Texas.”
Start / Finish: 2 / 5
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 191 pts. (-17)
Next Race: Friday, May 1, Texas Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
By NAPA
Christian Eckes was building towards a top-10 run at Rockingham Speedway on Friday evening before an ill-timed caution crossed up his effort. The driver of the No. 91
link hidden, please login to view / Black’s Tire Chevrolet Silverado RST was credited with a 13th-place finish after post-race technical inspection altered the final results. Eckes sits seventh in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) standings after five of 18 regular season events.
Eckes made his first start at “The Rock” in the NCTS from deep in the field, 22nd, after qualifying was briefly delayed due to weather during the early afternoon. The opening 45-lap stage flew by in a flash as it ran clean and green on the one-mile track’s ultra fast pavement. The quick race pace and narrow groove made passing extraordinarily challenging as Eckes moved to 18th by the end of the first stage.
Crew chief Dave Elenz gave Eckes four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to improve his rear security during the first pit stop. The NAPA Auto Care / Black’s Tire team gained him two positions as he restarted 16th on lap 55. Eckes was able to maneuver his Chevrolet forward in the second stint up to 12th by lap 69 and maintained that position until the end of Stage 2 at lap 90.
During the second stage caution, Eckes’ team executed another four-tire pit stop with adjustments as the No. 91 restarted 13th on lap 99. Eckes held the 12th position again until a round of green flag pit stops began to unfold with less than 50 laps remaining. Elenz called Eckes to pit road for the final stop on lap 163 but an ominous caution flew on lap 166 and trapped him two laps down. Eckes took the “wave around” after the leaders pitted under the caution and lined up 16th for the day’s final restart on lap 173. He was able to dice his way through a jumbled lineup of lapped trucks to pick off two positions and crossed under the checkers in 14th. As a result of a post-race technical infraction to the No. 38 truck, Eckes was credited with a 13th-place finish.
“Tough day, for sure, Eckes said after the race.” We didn’t qualify well and that put our NAPA Auto Care / Black’s Tire Chevy behind the eight ball to start. We know we need to improve there to not make it hard on ourselves. Our balance was ok, just lacked rear security at times. We had the speed to run a lot higher but it’s so hard to pass here after the repave. We’ll go to Bristol, try to start farther towards the front and get some points back there.”
Start / Finish: 22 / 13
Points Standing / Total: 7th / 143 pts. (-47)
Next Race: Friday, April 10, Bristol Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
By NAPA
Daison Pursley and the
link hidden, please login to view No. 9 team officially kicked off the 2026 High Limit Racing season over the past two weeks, competing in six races across Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Central Arizona Raceway. Following an offseason focused on building chemistry and speed, the Kasey Kahne Racing team entered the year with momentum and immediately showed promise against a strong field of competitors.
The High Limit season opener at Las Vegas Motor Speedway marked the first points-paying events of the year, and the NAPA No. 9 ran consistently inside the top 10 throughout the three-night weekend.
On Thursday, Pursley qualified eighth in Flight A and advanced to a 12th-place finish in the feature after starting 15th. Friday brought one of the team’s strongest performances of the weekend, as Pursley qualified third, ran up front in the heat race, and drove from ninth to sixth in the A-Main.
The weekend concluded Saturday with another solid showing as the NAPA No. 9 qualified third once again and advanced from 13th to 10th in the feature. The consistent results to open the season positioned the team well in the early championship standings and reinforced the speed shown throughout the offseason.
The team carried that momentum into Central Arizona Raceway for the Cactus Classic, where Pursley delivered a standout performance on Thursday night. After qualifying 10th in a stout, 31-car field, Pursley advanced through his heat race and charged from 10th to a third-place finish in the A-Main, earning the first ever podium for the NAPA No. 9 team.
Friday and Saturday presented challenges, as the team continued to show speed but was ultimately sidelined by incidents in both feature events, resulting in a pair of DNFs. Despite the setbacks, the pace of the NAPA No. 9 remained evident throughout the weekend.
The NAPA No. 9 team now turns its focus to the next event at Vado Speedway Park in New Mexico on Tuesday as the 2026 High Limit Racing season continues.
Start / Finish:
Thursday, March 12, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 15 / 12
Friday, March 13, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 9 / 6
Saturday, March 14, Las Vegas Motor Speedway: 13 / 10
Thursday, March 19, Central Arizona Raceway: 10 / 3
Friday, March 20, Central Arizona Raceway: DNF
Saturday, March 21, Central Arizona Raceway: DNF
Points Standing / Total: 11th / 281 pts. (-125)
Next Race: Tuesday, March 24, Vado Speedway Park, Vado, NM
How to Watch or Listen:
link hidden, please login to view NAPA:
link hidden, please login to viewDaison Pursley: link hidden, please login to view
Kasey Kahne Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
By NAPA
Christian Eckes nailed down his second podium result of the season at Darlington Raceway on Friday night with a third-place finish. The driver of the No. 91 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST captured his first stage win of the season and gained three positions in the championship standings with a stellar run throughout the 200-mile event.
Eckes put on a showcase in the first 45-lap stage after taking the green flag from 16th position. He wasted no time charging towards the front, cracking the top-10 by lap nine despite firing off with a snug balance. After restarting 10th on lap 19, Eckes charged up the leaderboard and into the top five by lap 27. He steadily worked the extreme bottom line in Turns 3 and 4 to perfection to chase down the leaders and claimed the lead by lap 42. He held on to capture 10 critical points and his first stage checker of the season.
After making a four-tire pit stop under the first stage caution, Eckes restarted sixth on lap 54 and quickly returned to the top-five. Unlike the first segment, he contended with an exceedingly loose balance and a lack of rear grip. The final 30 laps of the second stage ran under green-flag conditions, and Eckes padded his point total by securing six points in fifth position at lap 90.
Crew chief Dave Elenz made a small chassis adjustment to add rear grip during the No. 91 team’s second four-tire stop of the race. Eckes restarted seventh on lap 99 and returned to pit road shortly thereafter as a quick caution allowed the field to bolt on another set of sticker tires. Eckes restarted 13th on lap 109 but rapidly returned to fifth by lap 120. He took his final set of tires under a lap 120 caution and restarted fourth on lap 128. The night concluded with two frantic, green-white-checker restarts as Eckes briefly grabbed second and took the checkered flag in third position. The result advanced him to sixth in the championship standings as he has scored three top-five finishes in three races at “The Lady in Black” with MHR.
“Just needed a little more pace,” Eckes said after the race. “Really good on a long haul, especially in Stage 1. I just kind of lost the grip level and competitiveness of that stage for the rest of the race. Overall, really proud of these Adaptive One guys. It’s been a rough stretch. To get a stage win and complete all night is definitely good.”
Start / Finish: 16 / 3
Points Standing / Total: 6th / 119 pts. (-53)
Next Race: Friday, April 3, Rockingham Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view -
-
By NAPA
Christian Eckes displayed a perfect example of resilience by posting a 15th-place finish in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series inaugural outing on the Streets of St. Petersburg Saturday afternoon. The driver of the No. 91
link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet Silverado RST rallied from two incidents and being caught a lap down to deliver a blue-collar result. Eckes collected 22 points on the day and advanced to ninth in the series standings.
A rain shower on Friday afternoon washed out qualifying and placed Eckes 31st on the grid as the rulebook set the starting lineup. The first 20-lap stage played out relatively uneventful and saw the NAPA Auto Care Chevy methodically advance into the top-15. Eckes sliced his way to 13th by the end of Stage 1 on lap 20 while nursing a lack of forward drive on the tight city thoroughfares.
After crew chief Dave Elenz and the NAPA crew gave Eckes four tires, fuel, and adjustments during the three-minute stage break, Eckes restarted 13th and continued his march forward. However, Eckes was squeezed into the Turn 8 concrete barrier when the No. 5 machine chopped across his nose on lap 26. The contact caused significant damage to the nose of Eckes’ Silverado RST, but the MHR squad made ample repairs to clearance the splitter and fenders despite losing a lap.
Eckes eventually regained his lap with a fortuitous caution on lap 52 and earned the Lucky Dog award. After he received additional repairs, Eckes’ balance remained reasonable and he restarted his climb through the field. More contact from the No. 42 entering Turn 4 on lap 65 sent him for a loop and briefly lost track position outside the top-20. Nevertheless, Eckes righted his No. 91 and regained positions without the aid of a caution. He advanced to 15th at the checkered flag to gain one position in the standings.
“We had some speed in our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet today,” Eckes said of the top-15 effort. “We had that damage from when the No. 5 got into us, hurt the nose and the splitter and lost all our track position. That really put us behind and down a lap, but the guys made a lot of progress fixing the damage. We had pretty good pace after that, got turned again, it stayed green and still managed to get back to 15th. Like I said, we had some really good pace before all that, just glad we were able to minimize the damage and gain some points.”
Start / Finish: 31 / 15
Points Standing / Total: 9th / 69 pts. (-83)
Next Race: Friday, March 20, Darlington Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing: link hidden, please login to view The post
link hidden, please login to view appeared first on link hidden, please login to view.
link hidden, please login to view
-
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.