-
Welcome to Auto Parts Forum
Whether you are a veteran automotive parts guru or just someone looking for some quick auto parts advice, register today and start a new topic in our forum. Registration is free and you can even sign up with social network platforms such as Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.
Eckes Takes Points Lead with Top-Five Performance in Texas
-
Similar Topics
-
By NAPA
High Limit Racing returned to full-time competition over the weekend with two stops the Lone Star State, and Brad Sweet earned a pair of top-five finishes in a strong restart for the
link hidden, please login to view No. 49 team. With Friday night’s program at Texarkana 67 Speedway canceled due to rain, Sweet and the No. 49 team made their way directly to Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s show. With 49 days since his last race, the Big Cat was determined to make a mark on the series and the season. Sweet set the pace right from the start. During qualifying, the NAPA driver claimed the top spot with a blistering, 13.735-second lap.
As competition heated up, the five-time World of Outlaws champion continued to shine. Sweet finished third after starting fourth in his heat race and earned a ticket to the dash by being the fastest car in his heat. During the dash draw, Sweet drew fifth. He maintained his position over seven laps to line up fifth to start the feature. He again advanced during the evening’s feature race, crossing the line third for the final podium spot.
On Sunday, the No. 49 team traveled to Crandall, Texas, for another evening of High Limit Racing at RPM Speedway. Sweet wasted no time, showing again in qualifying the speed of the NAPA machine. Posting a lightning-fast lap time of 12.245 seconds, the Big Cat went to the top of the speed chart.
In his heat race, Sweet climbed from fourth to second, securing a spot in the dash. Starting in sixth place gave the team seven laps to perfect their setup for the main event. The NAPA driver advanced to fifth and locked in that spot for the start of the evening’s 30-lap main event.
The NAPA No. 49 team put forth their best effort as Sweet navigated the Crandall race track. Maintaining his position throughout the race, Sweet crossed the finish line in fifth for his second top-five finish on the weekend.
Start / Finish:
Saturday, April 13, Texas Motor Speedway: 5 / 3
Sunday, April 14, RPM Speedway: 5 / 5
Points Standing / Total: 2nd / 386 pts. (-18)
Next Race: Tuesday, April 16, Red Dirt Raceway, Meeker, OK
How to Watch or Listen:
link hidden, please login to view NAPA:
link hidden, please login to viewBrad Sweet: 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
Chase Elliott scored his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, snapping a 42-race winless streak The win is Elliott’s 19th career Cup Series victory in his 295th start, his third at a 1.5-mile track and his first at Texas It was the Dawsonville, Georgia, native’s first victory with Hooters as the primary partner on the No. 9 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 Elliott led three times for a total of 39 laps, including the final 17 circuits The 28-year-old driver now sits fourth in the Cup Series point standings, just 32 markers behind the leader Chase Elliott and the No. 9 Hooters team qualified 24th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Once the green flag dropped, Elliott improved to 21st and remained there until the first round of green-flag pit stops got under way. As part of the team’s strategy to try to gain track position, Elliott ran long and eventually took over the lead. Crew chief Alan Gustafson was close to calling his driver to pit road, but the caution flag waved at an opportune time with Elliott still out front when the yellow flag waved on lap 50. Under the caution, Elliott brought the No. 9 Hooters Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted in the ninth position and advanced to seventh to end the first stage at lap 80.
During the stage break, Elliott relayed that the Hooter’s Chevrolet was a little edgy late in the run and could use a little bit of security. After a fast stop for four tires and fuel, the Dawsonville, Georgia, native lined up seventh to start the second stage and was up to fifth when the race was slowed for a caution on lap 101. Gustafson called Elliott to pit road for right-side tires and fuel. The driver of the No. 9 was fifth to line up for the restart. He got shuffled back to 10th early in the run and was in that same spot when the caution came out on lap 114. Staying out, Elliott restarted ninth and remained inside the top 10. He came to pit road for four tires and fuel when the race fell under caution on lap 137. With varying pit strategies, Elliott restarted in 13th and drove to 10th to finish stage two at lap 165.
Under the stage-ending caution, the team opted not to pit. Elliott took the green flag for the final stage from the fifth position on lap 172 and advanced to fourth before the caution came out for an incident the very next lap. Once again, Elliott stayed out on the track and was fourth for the restart on lap 177. He was in that same position at the time of the next caution on lap 181. After choosing not to pit, he was in fourth for the restart and moved into third on lap 185. A long green-flag run ensued, and Elliott pitted from the third position with just over 50 laps remaining in the race. He was scored in 15th when a caution came out on lap 230 before the field had cycled through pit stops. Once the teams that hadn’t pit yet made their stops under the yellow, Elliott moved up to third for the restart. The 28-year-old driver made a power move to the lead. He held point until the driver of the No. 11 worked his way by with 22 laps to go. An on-track incident brought out the yellow flag with just 13 laps remaining, giving Elliott another shot at the lead on the ensuing restart. Once the race was back under way with eight laps to go in regulation, Elliott was battling for the lead and was scored ahead when another caution flag came out. He led the field to the green flag with just two laps remaining, but an incident brought out the caution again and sent the race into overtime. Elliott held off the competition through multiple overtime restarts to earn his first victory of the season.
It was his 19th career Cup Series victory and his first premier series win at Texas. With the win, Elliott and the No. 9 team moved up to fourth in the Cup Series points standings, just 32 markers behind the leader.
“First off, thanks to everybody that came out today. You guys are unbelievable,” Elliott said following the win.
“Hooters has been a partner of ours for a number of years now. It’s been a dream of mine to pay respect to the late Alan Kulwicki. Driving this car to a victory and do a Polish victory lap, just really crazy how things came full circle there in that moment. It was pretty emotional for me. He beat dad back in the day. Here we are sharing his sponsor and having an opportunity to win today.
So just, man, couldn’t be more grateful for this journey and kind of the path that hasn’t always been fun, but certainly have enjoyed working with our guys. We’ve been working really hard and really well together. Like I said, hasn’t always been fun, but we’ve enjoyed the fight together.
Couldn’t be more proud of our team. Thanks to our partners at link hidden, please login to view, Chevrolet. Everybody at Hendrick Motorsports. Had a big week last week. Boss, thank you for sticking with me. Really, really proud of this. Appreciate all the folks back home that have stuck with me and helped us get back on track.”
Start / Finish: 24 / 1
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 303 pts. (-32)
Next Race: Sunday, April 21, Talladega Superspeedway
How to Watch or Listen: 3:00 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Chase Elliott: link hidden, please login to view
Hendrick Motorsports: link hidden, please login to view
No. 9 Team: 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 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
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing / McAnally-Hilgemann 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 put on a furious rally on an overtime restart to capture an eighth-place finish on Saturday afternoon at Circuit of the Americas (COTA). The driver of the No. 19
link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet Silverado RST had an eventful, up-and-down afternoon but showcased his resilience by rebounding from two penalties to record his second top-10 result at COTA. After qualifying 10th on Friday afternoon, Eckes was forced to start at the tail of the field after the NAPA Auto Care team changed transmissions before the race. The New Yorker was undeterred by starting shotgun and rocketed to 14th on the opening lap. An early caution on lap three helped Eckes continue his rapid run to the front on a lap six restart when he cracked the top 10. He maintained his top-five position at the end of Stage 1 on lap 12 to collect six points in fifth position.
Crew chief Charles Denike brought Eckes to pit road for four tires, fuel, and a small adjustment under the first stage caution. Eckes restarted 11th on lap 15 as several trucks stayed on track. He immediately climbed into fifth on lap 18 and took advantage of an impending caution to pit on lap 21 before the yellow flag flew. However, Eckes was nabbed with a penalty for exceeding track limits and was sent to the tail of the field. He restarted 23rd on lap 24 and hustled his way to close Stage 2 in 12th on lap 26.
During the second stage caution, Eckes stayed on track to inherit track position and restarted eighth on lap 29. While running sixth on lap 30, Eckes incurred another track limit violation and ran 26th after serving the penalty under green. With the aid of a caution on lap 38, he restarted 10th on lap 40, but spun at the top of Turn 1 on lap 41. Denike and the NAPA Auto Care team gave Eckes four tires for the two-lap overtime as he restarted 22nd on lap 45 with two laps to go. As the OT green flag dropped, Eckes went on an all-out rampage, slicing through the field in the final two laps to take the checkered flag in eighth position.
“We came from the back at least four times today and felt like we were a top-three truck,” Eckes said. “Our NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet was pretty well balanced but just had too many mistakes on my part. Our team did a great job responding from it to get back to eighth at the end.”
Start / Finish: 10 / 8
Points Standing / Total: 6th / 177 pts. (-30)
Next Race: Friday, April 15, Martinsville Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: FS1, MRN or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing / McAnally-Hilgemann 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
Redemption was served on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS) as Christian Eckes was victorious after leading 144 laps and swept the night for his first victory at “Thunder Valley”. The driver of the No. 19
link hidden, please login to view Chevrolet Silverado RST atoned for his runner-up finish at BMS last September in convincing fashion by pacing practice, earning his seventh-career pole award, and leading the most laps. The sixth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) victory of his career vaulted him to fifth in the championship standings after earning a race-high 57 points.
Eckes put the entire field on notice during practice that his NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet would be the truck to beat. He posted a quick time of 15.55 seconds in practice and backed it up with MHR’s third-straight pole on the BMS concrete, and his second-consecutive. At the green flag, Eckes jumped out to a quick lead and paced the opening 52 circuits. A loose handling condition hindered him from collecting a playoff point in the first segment but still earned nine points in second position at the end of Stage 1 on lap 65.
Crew chief Charles Denike kept Eckes on track during the first stage caution to employ a one-stop strategy in an effort to maintain track position. The race ran without incident from lap 77 through the end of Stage 2 on lap 130. During the run, Eckes continued to wrestle with a loose condition on corner entry and was scored third to earn eight points at lap 130 before coming to pit road for his only pit stop of the night for four tires, fuel, and adjustments.
The NAPA Auto Care team gained a position for Eckes on the stop and allowed him to restart on the front row for the lap 143 restart. He began to pressure Kyle Busch for the race lead on lap 154 and reclaimed the top spot on lap 159. Eckes perfectly executed a restart on lap 227 and created a comfortable gap over the final 24 circuits. In the waning laps, Eckes was able to fend off Busch’s response for the lead and banked his first BMS win. His victory also marked a historic night for MHR as teammates Zane Smith and NCTS points leader Tyler Ankrum joined him in the top-five, marking the first time the organization has had three of the top-five finishers.
“Oh, man, it’s so sweet” Eckes said. “There’s just so much behind this win from last year, missing out on the Championship 4 and losing the race with six (laps) to go. To come back and redeem ourselves was our number one goal, and not only that, but the first three races, how terribly they’ve gone. We had a lot of issues, and to come back and run really good just show the resilience of the team.”
Start / Finish: 1 / 1
Points Standing / Total: 5th / 142 pts. (-32)
Next Race: Saturday, March 23, Circuit of the Americas
How to Watch or Listen: 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN or SiriusXM
NAPA:
link hidden, please login to view
Christian Eckes: link hidden, please login to view
Bill McAnally Racing / McAnally-Hilgemann 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.