Christian Eckes Digs Through Eldora Dirt Derby to Capture Top-10 Finish

Date:         Aug. 1, 2019

Event:         Eldora Dirt Derby (Race 15 of 23)

Series:        NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series

Location:   Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio (.5-mile clay oval)

Format: Three Segments; 40 laps/50 laps/60 laps

Start/Finish: 17^th/6^th (Running, completed 150 of 150 laps)

Winner:      Stewart Friesen of Halmar-Friesen Racing (Chevrolet)

Christian Eckes continued to impress with his first foray on the half-mile clay oval of Eldora Speedway, earning a top-10 with a sixth-place finish in Thursday night’s Eldora Dirt Derby. On Wednesday evening, Eckes posted the 12th-fastest time in first practice and the 13th-fastest time in second practice for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series. In the second of five qualifying races on Thursday afternoon, Eckes finished fourth, earning the 17^th starting position.

In the only dirt race of the season for the Gander Trucks Series, the green flag flew on Thursday night for 150-laps around the half-mile facility. Eckes took the flag in 17^th, but slowly and steadily made his way through the plethora of caution periods, eventually climbing into the top-10 in the final stage and surviving several late-race cautions to earn his fifth career top-10 Gander Trucks finish in eight starts.

Stage One Recap:

• Eckes qualified the No. 51 SiriusXM Tundra in the 17^th position in the second of five qualifying races.
• After several cautions in the opening laps, Eckes worked his way into the top-10 by lap 8.
• At the end of the first 40-lap stage, Eckes was 15^th.
• Crew chief Rudy Fugle elected to stay out following the stage, although the No. 51 machine was spewing water from the overflow valve due to overheating.

Stage Two Recap:

• Eckes began the second stage in 12^th.
• On lap 65, Eckes lost control and spun, triggering a wreck, but sustained minimal damage.
• Eckes finished the 50-lap second stage in the 12^th position and Fugle brought him to pit road to cool the No. 51 Toyota Tundra down, change four Goodyear tires and fill it up with Sunoco fuel. Because of the unique format of the race, pit stops were completed during three-minute periods on pit road and crews were able to do whatever work they needed to do.

Stage Three Recap:

• Eckes started the final 60-lap stage in 15^th and persevered through a myriad of caution periods near the end of the race.
• With 18 laps to go, the young driver spun out, and restarted in 18^th with 12 laps remaining in the race.
• In the final 12 laps, six of those caution laps, the young driver made up 12 positions to finish sixth. Restarting with two laps to go in 12^th, he battled through the field and nearly overtook teammate Todd Gilliland for fifth as they came to the checkered flag, earning his fifth career top-10 finish in eight NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series starts.

Christian Eckes, driver of the No. 51 Mobile 1 Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:

Talk about your first experience at Eldora in the dirt.

“It was fun. Throughout the race, it took me a little bit to get used to it, but once I did, we found some good speed. Our No. 51 Mobil 1 Tundra was really fast. I was driving pissed off at the end. We had a good top-10 finish. It was nice to come back as well as we did and score a top-10. I spun out myself once, and got spun out once, and we were still able to come back and finish sixth. Lots to be learned and we will move on to Michigan.”

Eldora Dirt Derby Recap:

• Stewart Friesen won the race with Sheldon Creed, Grant Enfinger, Mike Marlar and Todd Gilliland rounding out the top-five finishers.
• The race featured 12 cautions for 68 laps and one lead change among two drivers.

How Eckes’ KBM Teammates Fared:

Todd Gilliland, driver of the No. 4 Toyota Tundra, finished fifth

Harrison Burton, driver of the No. 18 Toyota Tundra, finished 31^st

Gander Trucks Owner Championship Standings:

The No. 51 team leaves the 15^th race of the season tied for first in the Truck Series Owner’s Championship Standings with the No. 98.

Next Race:

Christian Eckes will return to the No. 51 Tundra next week at Michigan International Speedway, on Saturday, August 10. Live coverage of the Corrigan Oil 200 begins at 1:00 p.m. EST on FS1.