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Eckes Claims Best Finish of the Season at Las Vegas
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By NAPA
Christian Eckes took the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points lead on Friday night with a stout fourth-place performance at Texas Motor Speedway. The driver of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet Silverado RST captured his third top-five finish of the season and scored 50 points on the night, the second-most of all drivers in the field. Eckes led 31 laps, the only driver to have led laps in each race this season, and tallied his third top-five finish in the last four events.
For the second-consecutive weekend, Eckes qualified on the front row and was a mainstay in the top five for the entire event. He settled into second at the drop of the green flag and challenged for the lead near the midway point of the opening stage. The first lead change of the night occurred when Eckes powered his Gates Hydraulics Chevy to the lead on lap 17 and paced the field for 21 circuits. He surrendered the lead on lap 38 and collected nine points at the end of Stage 1 on lap 40 while running second.
Crew chief Charles Denike brought Eckes to pit road under the stage caution for four fresh tires, fuel, and a minor air pressure adjustment to tighten his balance. Eckes restarted second on lap 47 and maintained position inside the top five for the ensuing 35-lap run. An improved handling balance and consistent lap times netted Eckes another eight points at the end of Stage 2 on lap 80 by running in third position.
Eckes was armed with another batch of fresh tires, fuel, and minor adjustments to fine-tune the handling during the second stage caution. After restarting third on lap 87, he waged war for the runner-up position and gained control of it by lap 100. He ran there until a cycle of green flag pit stops began on lap 119. Eckes made his final stop on lap 129 just before a caution waved. He was able to stay on the lead lap in fourth position and in contention for the victory. He made another fierce run for the race lead on a lap 150 and led until lap 158. During the final 10 laps, Eckes fought valiantly for one final charge at the lead but took the checkered flag in fourth position for his third top-five and sixth top-10 of the season.
“Not a bad points night,” Eckes said. “I thought we’d have a pretty good shot at the win there, but just went down into Turns 1 and 2 and got way too tight and slid up the racetrack. It is what it is. I’m proud of the No. 19 Gates Hydraulics team for making the improvements that they did. Our mile-and-a-half stuff has definitely shown a little bit of an improvement. We still have a little bit of a ways to go, but we’ll see how it goes.”
Start / Finish: 2 / 4
Points Standing / Total: 1 / 287 pts. (+2)
Next Race: Saturday, May 4, Kansas Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM
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By NAPA
In one of the closest Funny Car races in four-wide drag racing history, three-time world champion Ron Capps finished third in the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals final round Sunday afternoon at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Driving the link hidden, please login to view Toyota GR Supra, Capps laid down a weekend-best 3.902-second pass at 333.00 MPH to come up just thousandths of a second short in a four-wide photo finish.
Capps and crew chief Dean ‘Guido’ Antonelli worked their way through qualifying, steadily improving in each session. After a pair of 4-second passes on Friday, Capps laid down a 3.988 E.T. at 324.67 MPH to step up in the third session on Saturday. A consistent but slightly quicker 3.980 E.T. in the final session put Capps in the No. 11 position going into Sunday eliminations.
The first quad of Funny Car eliminations was a tricky one, but Capps came out on top. He and fellow Toyota driver J.R. Todd left first with identical .059 reaction times, then Capps held on to win with a 4.289 E.T. at 222.88 MPH over Todd, Dave Richards, and Daniel Wilkerson. Capps was first off of the starting line again in the second round, an advantage that helped him and his 3.932 E.T. finish ahead of Matt Hagan’s 3.938 E.T., Todd’s 3.951-second effort, and Jason Rupert’s 4.055 E.T.
Appearing in his 148th career final round, Capps cut his best light of the day, .056, and charged to his best performance of the weekend to reach the finish line third behind winner Bob Tasca III and runner-up Austin Prock. Capps finished less than a thousandth of a second behind Prock and just nine thousandths behind Tasca.
“What a drag race to watch as a fan,” said Capps, who’s won six times in Las Vegas. “I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am with our NAPA Auto Care team and what they’ve done with a brand-new car and a lot of the new parts that they’ve had to get used to. It usually takes teams a lot longer than this. I’m pretty bummed that we couldn’t win that round. I’m so happy we have our race car back, especially getting on a swing here where Guido is getting comfortable. I’m so happy about the car, but I’m so bummed at the same time. It’s going to take a little bit to digest.”
No. 6-ranked Capps and the Ron Capps Motorsports Funny Car team will get another shot at four-wide glory in two weeks at the East Coast edition of the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, April 26-28, at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C.
Start / Finish: No. 11 / def. in Final Round
Points Standing / Total: No. 6 / 242 pts.
Next Race: April 26-28, Concord, N.C., NHRA Four-Wide Nationals
How to Watch or Listen: FS1,
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By NAPA
Christian Eckes orchestrated complete dominance at Martinsville Speedway by sweeping both stages en route to his second victory of the season on Friday night. The driver of the No. 19 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST scored the maximum 60 points and pocketed seven playoff points to make a massive swing in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series point standings. He gained two positions to fourth in the standings and is only 11 markers out of the lead.
Eckes displayed considerable pace by positing the third-quickest lap in practice and qualified on the outside of the front row on Friday afternoon. He made a statement at the drop of the green flag by using the outside lane to take the lead on the initial start. During the first 50-lap stage, Eckes methodically paced the field and asserted his dominance. Following a restart on lap 37, Eckes pulled away to comfortably take the Stage 1 win along with 10 points and one playoff bonus point.
Crew chief Charles Denike kept Eckes on track to maintain the No. 19 team’s track position and set up a one-stop strategy. Eckes picked up where he left off in Stage 1 on the lap 61 restart. He jumped out to another quick lead and cleanly executed two additional restarts during the second stage to tally 10 points and a second playoff bonus point for leading at lap 100. Under the ensuing stage caution, Denike brought Eckes to pit road for his only four-tire pit stop of the evening and made a minor air pressure adjustment.
As several trucks stayed on track with alternative pit strategies, Eckes lined up 19th on lap 110. During the second half of the race, Eckes conducted a masterclass in slicing through traffic. It only took him 11 laps to crack the top-10 and was back inside the top five by lap 142. On lap 165, Eckes arrived on the doorstep of the lead and took the runner-up position. Shortly thereafter, he reclaimed the lead with a power move on the outside for the second time on the night. Two cautions over the final 23 laps forced Eckes to execute crucial restarts to defend the race lead, which he did with complete authority. He led the final three-lap dash to the checkered flag and captured his first Martinsville win and grandfather clock by a margin of 0.64 seconds.
“Something really special,” Eckes said of the victory. “It hasn’t been an easy regular season so far, to say the least. We came here and we weren’t that great last year, maybe a sixth-place truck. We worked really hard on it and here we are in victory lane. So, just super proud of everyone on this team. Huge thanks to Adaptive One Calipers, NAPA Auto Care, Gates Hydraulics, all of our partners, and Chevrolet. It’s a good day to be in victory lane. Can’t wait for that clock!”
Start / Finish: 2 / 1
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 237 pts. (-11)
Next Race: Friday, April 12, Texas Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM
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By NAPA
Chase Elliott and No. 9 UniFirst team qualified second for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway The 28-year-old driver led the opening five laps of the race before ending stage one in the seventh position After finishing stage two in the 13th spot, Elliott rebounded for a fifth-place finish at the Virginia short track – his best result of the season The 2020 premier series champion is now eighth in the Cup Series points standings Chase Elliott earned a front row starting position for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Raceway, taking the green flag in second. Soggy conditions required teams to start the race on wet weather tires and Elliott powered his way to the lead by the end of the first lap. He stayed out front for five laps before his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Kyle Larson got by him. With the track quickly drying, NASCAR officials called for a competition caution at lap 30 so teams could make the switch to slick tires. Teams were able to maintain their positions as pit stops were deemed non-competitive. Elliott was third at the time of the caution and that is where he would restart on lap 48. He continued to battle inside the top 10 and was scored seventh when an on-track incident brought out the yellow flag on lap 63. The race stayed under caution for the remainder of stage one with Elliott gaining valuable stage points for his top-10 stage finish.
Under the stage break, Elliott relayed that his No. 9 UniFirst Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 was tight through the center of the turns, so the team made a chassis adjustment during its pit stop for four tires and fuel. A fast stop by the UniFirst crew gained Elliott two spots on pit road. He lined up fifth coming to the choose cone and opted for the outside lane. The 2020 Cup Series champion settled into seventh after the restart and stayed there until green-flag pit stops got under way on lap 124. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for a four-tire stop just a handful of laps later. Back out on the track, the driver of the No. 9 had to be patient as teams were on different pit strategies. Eventually, he cycled back to seventh on lap 154 and lost a position just prior to an incident forcing a yellow flag on lap 169. Elliott radioed to crew chief Alan Gustafson that he was pretty happy with the UniFirst Chevy’s handling. After pitting for four tires and fuel, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native restarted ninth and lost some momentum after a chaotic restart. When the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end stage two at lap 230, he was scored 13th.
Elliott brought the UniFirst Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for fuel and fresh tires. He took the green flag for the final stage from the 12th position on lap 240. The Hendrick Motorsports driver settled into 13th before retaking 12th on lap 247. Elliott held steady there until Gustafson called him to pit road for a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 287. He found his way back to the top 10 on lap 299 and advanced to ninth before another round of green-flag stops. After pitting on lap 335, Elliott cycled back to 10th and continued to fight hard for position. He was running in seventh with less than five laps to go and that looked like that’s where he would finish, but a caution prior to the white flag sent the race into overtime. The field came to pit road under the yellow and a fast stop by the UniFirst pit crew gained Elliott a position for the restart. He restarted from sixth and picked up one more spot to earn his first top-five finish of the season.
Following the fifth-place finish, Elliott and the No. 9 team are eighth in the Cup Series points standings, just 61 markers behind the leader.
“I felt like we kind of found a little pace there those last two runs, and we were able to actually pass a couple of cars under green. We got ourselves in a position to have a good pit stop there at the end. I stopped a little short in my box. I think we could have been one spot better there off of pit road, but nonetheless, had a good restart and gave ourselves a top-five. It was a solid night.”
Start / Finish: 2 / 5
Points Standing / Total: 8th / 209 pts. (-61)
Next Race: Sunday, April 7, Martinsville Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM
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