Christian Eckes captured the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) regular season title on Saturday night at Richmond Raceway with a second-place finish. The driver of the No. 19 Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado RST capped off a dominant regular season campaign by scoring 54 points, leading 64 laps, and capturing his fifth-consecutive podium finish. Eckes’ first 16 races have been remarkable with 15 top-10 finishes, and has led in every race this season. He will begin the NCTS playoffs with 2038 points, second on the playoff grid, after capturing the regular season crown by a final margin of 74 markers.
Eckes notched his second pole award of the season by posting the fastest time in qualifying with a lap of 22.75 seconds. He jumped out to an early advantage and paced the field for the first 12 circuits to lead his 17th-consecutive NCTS race. A tight condition hindered his long run speed as he ran third when the event’s first caution flew on lap 56. Crew chief Charles Denike made the call for Eckes to pit for four tires for a short dash to the Stage 1 finish. The call paid off as Eckes thundered around the outside to make a three-wide move for the lead and earned his sixth stage win of the year at lap 70. The stage win and 10 points officially clinched the regular season crown.
“We were focused on putting together a solid race. It’s exciting to be the regular season champion, but it don’t mean a thing without the ring. So we got a lot to do still to get to our ultimate goal, but it’s a good start for sure,” Eckes said.
Stage 2 began with a restart on lap 80 with Eckes showing the way. He continued to lead the field until lap 115 when the balance on his Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet swung tight again. He lacked rotation in the center of each corner, but managed to run third when another yellow flag flew on lap 128. Denike and the No. 19 team employed a similar strategy as Stage 1 and elected to pit for fresh tires prior to the end of the second segment. Eckes restarted fifth and instantly moved to second. He earned another nine points on lap 140 by running in second position.
The final segment went green on lap 166 with Eckes restarting on the inside of the front row. A rash of three cautions slowed the pace and manufactured plenty of chaotic moments near the front of the field. As some drivers pitted for their final set of tires under the lap 182 caution, Eckes stayed on track to preserve a set of fresh rubber. The call paid off as a yellow flag waved on lap 224 while Eckes ran in sixth. He pitted for his final set of tires and drove from sixth back into contention. Following the final restart on lap 243, Eckes made a three-wide bid for the lead in Turn 3 but settled into second position for the final laps. The runner-up finished tied Eckes’ career-high for 10 top-five finishes and gave him nine top-five finishes in the last 11 races.
“That was a lot of fun. It was pretty gnarly how all that unfolded but hats off to these Instacoat guys. We got the truck better, just too tight all night. Didn’t have enough for the No. 98 or a couple others that were up there. So, proud of the fight, but wish we had a little more.”
— McAnally Hilgemann Racing —
