Eckes Seizes Redemption with Dominant Bristol Win
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By NAPA
Chase Elliott qualified 18th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Elliott finished the first stage in 16th and followed that up with a 13th-place finish in stage two. In the final stage, the 30-year-old driver avoided damage after a late-race spin and ultimately finished 22nd. Elliott leaves Bristol fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 122 markers behind the leader. Chase Elliott and the No. 9
link hidden, please login to view team qualified 18th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The 30-year-old gained ground on the initial start of the race but got stuck in the top lane before clearing down into the 21st position on lap eight. Elliott was running in that same spot when the first caution of the race came out on lap 62. The team ultimately decided not to pit in order to gain track position. With everyone ahead of him pitting, Elliott led the field back to green on lap 71. He held strong inside the top five until slipping to sixth on lap 106. As the run went on, Elliott fought hard for position before fading outside the top 10, ending the first stage in 16th place. Under the stage-ending caution, Elliott reported that he “overbuilt the right rear and was hanging on from there.” Crew chief Alan Gustafson called him to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel.
Elliott started stage two in 14th on lap 137 and improved to 13th before the yellow flag was displayed for an incident on lap 144. Staying out, Elliott opted for the inside of row six for the lap-152 restart. He continued to run inside the top 15 and was scored in 13th when the race was slowed for a caution on lap 160. Elliott relayed that the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet was “borderline a little snug, especially on the bottom.” The team opted not to pit, along with a majority of the field, and Elliott restarted 13th on lap 169. The 2020 Cup Series champion worked his way to 11th on lap 188 before ending the second stage in 13th on lap 250. Elliott brought his No. 9 Chevy to the attention of his crew for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment to try to improve the handling.
A fast pit stop put Elliott in 11th for the choose. He opted to start the final stage from the outside of row six. He continued to run inside the top 12 until slipping to 13th on lap 271. Elliott reported a loose handling condition during the run. When a caution came out on lap 312, he was scored in 19th. The team reversed the air-pressure adjustment during the pit stop for four tires and fuel. Elliott restarted 17th on lap 321 and was running in the same position when the yellow flag was displayed on lap 381. He reported the handling was “in a better place.” Elliott visited pit road for four tires, fuel and a slight air-pressure adjustment under the caution. He was 15th to choose his lane, deciding on the outside. Elliott gained positions on the restart, advancing as high as 12th.
He was running in 14th when the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy got loose on lap 421, but Elliott was able to save it. Over the course of the run, Elliott faded to 18th and went a lap down on lap 447. He did manage to gain a position, but then got loose and spun on lap 477, bringing out the caution. Elliott was able to avoid damage in the spin. He brought the No. 9 Chevy to pit road for four tires and fuel. He restarted 22nd and was up to 21st when another incident slowed the race with fewer than five laps to go, sending the race into overtime. Elliott tried to gain ground in the closing laps before ultimately finishing the race in 22nd.
Elliott is now fifth in the Cup Series points standings, 122 markers behind the leader.
Start / Finish: 18 / 22
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 264 pts. (-122)
Next Race: Sunday, April 19, Kansas Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 2:00 p.m. ET on FOX, SiriusXM or MRN
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By NAPA
Daniel Hemric came from deep in the field and overcame a late tire rub to rally and finish 12th at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night. The driver of the No. 19 Arnott Suspension Products Chevrolet Silverado RST clawed back from 23rd position after an unscheduled pit stop to slice his way to 12th position. The effort netted Hemric two positions in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series standings and closed the gap to the provisional Chase cut line.
Hemric took the green flag from 23rd under clear evening skies in “Thunder Valley.” After gaining a pair of positions in the first 15 laps, Hemric reported his Arnott Suspension Products Chevrolet was “free, but not bad.” He briefly climbed to 19th on the lap-23 restart but was trapped on the outside groove and ultimately closed out Stage 1 in 22nd on lap 65.
Crew chief Kevin Bellicourt armed Hemric with four tires, fuel, and an air pressure change during the first stage caution as the No. 19 subsequently restarted 22nd on lap 79. He instantly grabbed five positions on the restart and held that spot until a caution on lap 117, 13 circuits shy of the second stage break. Hemric pitted with the majority of the field and was officially scored 21st at the end of Stage 2 following a brief, three-lap run.
Hemric quickly cracked the top-15 by lap 155 to start the final segment but sustained minor damage to the left side bodywork on lap 156 when the No. 13 spun beside him and triggered a tire rub. The team’s concern for the left rear tire was great enough to bring Hemric to pit road under a caution on lap 168 to pit for left side tires and clearance the fender. He restarted 23rd with cooler tires and took full advantage over the final 80 laps. He rejoined the top-15 by lap 202 and capitalized on the final 27-lap run of the evening to advance to 12th at the checkered flag.
“That was a hard night’s work to finish 12th,” Hemric said. “We had made some progress and started getting some track position when the No. 13 spun and got into us. There was quite a bit of smoke inside the truck from the left rear, so felt like we ultimately made the right decision to pit. We started off a little free tonight, and Kevin [Bellicourt] and the guys kept working on it. Just glad we made a little something out of it with our Arnott Chevrolet by the end of the night and gain a few points.”
Start / Finish: 23 / 12
Points Standing / Total: 16th / 116 pts. (-92)
Next Race: Friday, May 1, Texas Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM
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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
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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
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By NAPA
Ron Capps and the
link hidden, please login to view Funny Car team turned chaos into a commanding victory Sunday afternoon at the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park. The three-time world champion overcame a rocky start in qualifying and bounced back from an engine explosion in the quarterfinals to earn his 78th career national event Wally and his 10th since becoming a team owner in 2022. The veteran wheelman set low E.T. of all four elimination rounds, including the final, where he defeated second-year driver Spencer Hyde. Capps is now ranked third in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car points standings.
Capps’ weekend began with adversity in qualifying as he smoked the tires in both Friday sessions and went into Saturday outside the 16-car field. Crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli mastered the third session, guiding Capps to a 4.023-second pass at 317.79 mph to move into the top half of the field. It was also the second-quickest performance of the round, landing Capps two bonus points. Like almost every other Funny Car driver, Capps’ machine lost traction early in the fourth session and he locked in the No. 7 position for Sunday eliminations.
Capps kicked off race day in a big way, as he left first against three-time NHRA Heritage Series Nostalgia Funny Car champion Jason Rupert and set low E.T. of the round with a 3.980-second pass at 323.19 mph to advance. Capps then led wire-to-wire in his second-round match against Daniel Wilkerson, winning with a 4.144 E.T. to Wilkerson’s 4.157 E.T. But just as Capps crossed the finish line, a massive engine explosion split his Funny Car body in half and sent him into the wall. The incident was eerily similar to the one Capps suffered at this race one year ago, but he managed to scuff the wall, saving the chassis. The NAPA Auto Care team thrashed to rebuild the car fitted with a spare body and made it to the ready line just in time for a semifinal race against defending event winner Paul Lee. The two drivers left the starting line together before Capps pulled ahead to win with a 4.124-second pass at 303.09 mph.
Capps went into the final round with lane choice over No. 1 qualifier Spencer Hyde. The NAPA Auto Care Funny Car led the way from starting line to finish line, posting another 4.124 E.T. at 303.23 mph for the win. It was Capps’ 77th Funny Car win and fourth at Phoenix, but this time, he hoisted a special diamond edition Wally to commemorate NHRA’s 75th anniversary season.
“This is the coveted one right here,” Capps said as he held up the trophy. “You just think of the legacy and what’s gone into this. This is unbelievable. Thank you to Wally Parks, first of all. Katherine (Wooten) and everyone at NAPA, all the NAPA Auto Care people. We knew this was going to be a battle of attrition and dropped cylinders today. A couple of those runs, there was no way I would imagine that would have got us lane choice, but it did. It was like a bracket car. This win reminded me a lot of first my win in St. Louis [1997] because it was hot and we had 150-degree track temps there and we dropped cylinders all day but still won the race.
“You want to just take these (trophies) and chop them up into 6,000 pieces for all the different NAPA stores and NAPA Auto Cares,” he continued. “Carlyle Tools came on board and has done so much fun stuff with Maddi and me. NHRA, 75 years, it’s so awesome to win here. Everybody said I had bad luck, but look, we ended up winning. Monster Energy coming on board has been so much fun. Ron Capps Motorsports, we’re having fun right now.”
Next up for Capps and the NAPA Auto Care Funny Car team is the NHRA Winternationals, April 10-12, at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, Calif., where he will also compete in the Mission #2Fast2Tasty Funny Car Challenge. As a California native, it’s one of the tracks Capps calls home. He’s also won the Winternationals four times, most recently in 2021.
Start / Finish: No. 7 / winner in final round
Points Standing / Total: No. 3 / 151 pts. (-23)
Next Race: April 10-12, NHRA Winternationals, Pomona, Calif.
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
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