23-year-old Christian Eckes is in the midst of his best season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He has recorded three wins, an average finish of 5.9 and won the regular season championship. Putting together one of the best seasons in Truck Series history should warrant consideration for a ride in the NASCAR Xfinity Series or NASCAR Cup Series. But it hasn’t been that simple for Eckes. While fellow young drivers like Corey Heim and Sam Mayer get linked to new rides, Eckes’s future options are more sparse. That begs the question: is Christian Eckes underrated?
Eckes has raced against some of the Truck Series’s best talents. Since he started full-time in 2020, he has raced against champions like Sheldon Creed and Ben Rhodes, and he currently shares the front with fellow phenom Corey Heim.
Let’s start with Creed and Rhodes. Creed won the title in 2020 and proved himself to be a hot commodity with his results in the Truck Series. While Creed was winning the championship, it took Eckes some time to find his footing as he went winless in his first season in Trucks. During this time, Rhodes has won two championships in 2021 and 2023, both years where Eckes was running part-time or failed to make the Championship 4. While Eckes was learning the Truck Series, these two stole the headlines with their championship prowess.
While Eckes took a few years to find his groove, Heim found it almost instantly. He won two races during his part-time run in 2022 before bursting onto the scene with three wins and a regular-season title in his first full-time season a year later. Heim is Toyota’s most promising prospect in the lower ranks and has been linked to a third 23XI Racing seat in the Cup Series for most of the year. Only a year younger than Eckes, Heim has quickly taken the Truck Series by storm, garnering headlines away from the driver of the No. 19 truck.
One thing that is in Eckes’ way is the seeming lack of support from a manufacturer. Despite driving one of the top Chevy teams in the Craftsman Truck Series, he doesn’t have direct loyalty from Chevrolet, Ford, or Toyota. Compare this to Heim, who is supported by Toyota Racing Development, or Creed, who was a Chevy driver for multiple years before his switch to Joe Gibbs Racing. Not having ties to a manufacturer makes it difficult for a driver to move up, and in Eckes’ case, this could explain why he has not been in consideration for a move to the Xfinity to Cup Series.
Eckes has been linked to one ride in the Cup Series: the third Front Row Motorsports car. He is one of three names dropped by Bob Pockrass as candidates for the seat. FRM is a Ford team, while Eckes currently drives for Chevrolet. However, Chevy doesn’t seem keen on promoting their young driver anytime soon, causing Eckes to look elsewhere for a ride. What goes in his favor is the lack of star talent in Ford’s pipeline. This could allow him to come in and join a “Tier One” Ford team, getting the support from a manufacturer he needs.
As stated before, Eckes is one of the names linked to the third FRM seat in the Cup Series. If he continues his strong season in Trucks, it would be hard not to consider him for a future Cup Series seat. He hasn’t been linked to any Xfinity Series rides recently, meaning it’s most likely the third FRM car or a return to the Truck Series for the 23-year-old.
It seems like Eckes will stick it out in Trucks if he doesn’t land the seat, which isn’t a bad thing. He has become one of, if not the guy to beat in the Truck Series and has separated himself from the rest of the field. Eckes is still really young, meaning there is plenty of time for him to continue to dominate and get his name out there like the rest of his peers.
What do you think about all this? Let us know on Discord or X what your take is, and don’t forget you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube.
Five years ago, turning Atlanta into a drafting track felt like madness. Drivers were mad, fans were skeptical, and the history of track reconfigurations didn’t exactly inspire confidence. Now, nine races into the new era, it’s fair to ask a wild question — is EchoPark Speedway actually one of the best tracks in NASCAR?
From instant classic finishes to all three national series delivering intensity, the new configuration has built a reputation quickly. What once looked like a risky overreach now feels like a bold move that paid off in a big way. The bigger debate might be what happens next. If the surface keeps wearing and the style evolves again, Atlanta could shift yet another time. For now, though, this track has gone from controversy to cornerstone.
Watch Also
NASCAR President Steve O’Donnell claims that he feels NASCAR “got a little lazy” in its attempts to keep growing the sport during a recent interview.
NASCAR’s Steve O’Donnell is entering his first full season as NASCAR President, after taking over the post from former President Steve Phelps in March 2025.
O’Donnell took over his post during a turbulent time in sports history, as schedule changes and car generations compounded fans’ growing issues with things such as the 2014 playoff system.
To add to his troubles, NASCAR was in the midst of a heated antitrust lawsuit with two of its teams, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, that was bound for court in late 2025.
Ultimately, NASCAR would manage to put a bow on most of its troubles before the start of the 2026 season, settling the lawsuit with the two teams, changing its points format, and expressing an openness to explore changes to its NASCAR Next Gen car, such as increased horsepower on short tracks and road courses.
This whirlwind of change is turning gears in the NASCAR fanbase, with many fans saying a lot of the reshuffling is just as good for the sport as putting things such as the lawsuit and playoffs in the rear-view mirror, a sentiment shared by O’Donnell.
During an interview with Sports Business Journal on Monday, the long-time NASCAR executive said, “This is the first year I can remember where we’re going into the season, just talking about racing and what’s great about NASCAR.”
This isn’t the only shared feeling between O’Donnell and NASCAR fans, as prior to that, he said he felt NASCAR had grown “a little lazy” after overtaking IndyCar as the top motorsport in America, something he has even told NASCAR employees.
“When I started at NASCAR, we were chasing IndyCar, and the goal was, if we can just kind of surpass IndyCar, and we did that, and, you know, I’ve told our employees, I think we all got a little lazy.” — Steve O’Donnell
While many fans would agree that NASCAR has turned around for the better, there is still work to be done, and in O’Donnell’s eyes, the sport is in a prime spot to grow.
“My job and all of our jobs is to bring the industry together and talk about, we got a pretty cool thing going here, and we can really grow it,” O’Donnell said.
NASCAR isn’t exactly setting lofty goals for itself in 2026, at least in public, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the attention of its fanbase.
While the revived Chase format has drawn back some eyes, things like NASCAR’s “Hell Yeah” advertising campaign were the talk of the NASCAR community entering the 2026 Daytona 500.
That race also produced a finish that saw NBA legend, team owner, and former NASCAR lawsuit plaintiff, Michael Jordan, bring home another major race win on National TV with driver Tyler Reddick.
This race also saw a slight increase in viewership from the 2025 Daytona 500, one hurt by a major rain storm that blew in early in the race’s running.
Though TV ratings may not be skyrocketing, NASCAR has early momentum to make 2026 good enough to set a firm foundation for O’Donnell’s goals of growth, but maintaining that momentum will be another challenge in and of itself.
What do you think about this? Let us know your opinion on Discord or X. Don’t forget that you can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
The NASCAR Truck Series breaks off from the main touring series schedule this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series aren’t racing. So, whether you are going to be at the track or home, what does the forecast look like for the race weekend in Austin, Texas?
Before the OAP Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the OAP Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the OAP Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
Before the Cup Series Race (11:00 AM – 2:00 PM)
During the Cup Series Race (2:00 PM – 5:00 PM)
After the Cup Series Race (5:00 PM – 8:00 PM)
When the three NASCAR National Series rolled into Austin for COTA’s first NASCAR race weekend in 2021, no one could have guessed the chaos that lay in wait. A major rain shower did not prevent the series from racing that day, as, though it was still somewhat foreign at the time, NASCAR sent the Cup Series out in the rain for a chaotic race, ultimately won by Chase Elliott.
Note: This article will be updated with a more accurate and detailed forecast as the race weekend nears.
