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  • NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

Weather Guard Truck Race Results

Bristol Motor Speedway

March 16th, 2024

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RESULTS

START POS

FINAL STATUS

LAPS COMPLETED

LAPS LED

POINTS

PLAYOFF POINTS

1

Christian Eckes

19 |

1

Running

250

144

57

5

2

Kyle Busch

7 |

4

Running

250

105

0

0

3

Zane Smith

91 |

7

Running

250

1

0

0

4

Matt Crafton

88 |

20

Running

250

0

36

0

5

Tyler Ankrum

18 |

9

Running

250

0

41

0

6

Corey Heim

11 |

15

Running

250

0

31

0

7

Taylor Gray

17 |

3

Running

250

0

35

0

8

Rajah Caruth

71 |

6

Running

250

0

29

0

9

Grant Enfinger

9 |

13

Running

250

0

29

0

10

Layne Riggs

38 |

28

Running

250

0

28

0

11

Bayley Currey

41 |

12

Running

250

0

26

0

12

Kaden Honeycutt

45 |

8

Running

250

0

27

0

13

Daniel Dye

43 |

10

Running

250

0

24

0

14

Jake Garcia

13 |

17

Running

250

0

23

0

15

Tanner Gray

15 |

21

Running

250

0

22

0

16

Ben Rhodes

99 |

16

Running

250

0

26

0

17

Nicholas Sanchez

2 |

2

Running

250

0

37

0

18

Stefan Parsons

75 |

25

Running

249

0

19

0

19

Conner Jones

66 |

14

Running

249

0

18

0

20

Ty Dillon

25 |

26

Running

249

0

17

0

21

William Sawalich

1 |

19

Running

248

0

16

0

22

Stewart Friesen

52 |

23

Running

248

0

19

0

23

Dean Thompson

5 |

22

Running

247

0

14

0

24

Timmy Hill

56 |

27

Running

247

0

13

0

25

Matt Mills

42 |

18

Running

247

0

12

0

26

Thad Moffitt

46 |

33

Running

246

0

11

0

27

Lawless Alan

33 |

29

Running

246

0

10

0

28

Mason Massey

02 |

31

Running

245

0

9

0

29

Mason Maggio

21 |

36

Running

244

0

8

0

30

Spencer Boyd

76 |

30

Running

242

0

7

0

31

Bret Holmes

32 |

24

Running

242

0

6

0

32

Keith McGee

22 |

34

Running

238

0

5

0

33

Chase Purdy

77 |

11

Running

228

0

4

0

34

Ty Majeski

98 |

5

Engine

170

0

17

0

35

Trey Hutchens III

14 |

35

Suspension

113

0

2

0

36

Justin S Carroll

90 |

32

Brakes

57

0

1

0

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  • POS 1 | LEADER

    headshot of Christian Eckes

    POS1

    LEADER

    Christian Eckes

    Driver badge number 19 |

  • POS 2 | 0.141

    headshot of Kyle Busch

    POS2

    0.141

    Kyle Busch

    Driver badge number 7 |

  • POS 3 | 2.221

    headshot of Zane Smith

    POS3

    2.221

    Zane Smith

    Driver badge number 91 |

Christian Eckes wins Bristol for first Truck victory of 2024

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Sometimes a victory tastes sweetest when it comes as a chaser for a bitter defeat.

That was certainly the case for pole winner Christian Eckes, who held off Kyle Busch in the closing laps to win Saturday night‘s Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos

In last year‘s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff race at Bristol, Eckes gave up the lead to Corey Heim with six laps left and finished second by 0.218 seconds. The loss cost Eckes, who led 150 laps in that event, a berth in the Championship 4 at Phoenix, where his victory in the season finale gave him a consolation prize but not a title.

On Saturday night, Eckes passed Busch for the lead on Lap 159 and held it for the final 92 circuits as Busch made a frenetic charge that fell just short. In traffic, Eckes crossed the finish line 0.141 seconds ahead of the career Truck Series victory leader.

“Oh, man, it‘s so sweet,” said Eckes, who won for the first time this season, the first time at Bristol and the sixth time in his career. “There‘s just so much behind this win from last year, missing out on the Championship 4 and losing the race with (six) to go.

“To come back and redeem ourselves was our number one goal, and not only that, but the first three races (of this season), how terribly they‘ve gone. We had a lot of issues, and to come back and run really good just shows the resilience of the team.”

By putting his No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing Silverado in Victory Lane, Eckes extended Chevrolet‘s 2024 Truck Series winning streak to four races.

Under the sixth and final caution, which slowed Busch‘s pursuit for eight laps, Busch radioed to his team, “We‘re a second-place truck, maybe third.”

But that didn‘t prevent Busch from charging after Eckes after a restart on Lap 227 of 250. As the run progressed, Busch cut into Eckes‘ lead, which had grown to more than one second, and closed to his back bumper by the time Eckes crossed the finish line.

“The crazy part about it is, we fought loose all through practice, all through qualifying, all through the beginning part of the race on older date codes,” Busch said. “Then we put on the newer date codes of tires and were instantly tight. So, just not being able to prepare and practice on what you expect to race on hurt us.

“We tightened up all day, and obviously I don’t think we were as tight as the 19 (Eckes) at the end but, you know, just track position. I let him go early in that run to just go burn his stuff off and track position at the end, just aero effects… Didn’t have enough rubber on the road to outduel him.”

Zane Smith finished third in the first race of a double-duty weekend. Three-time series champion Matt Crafton was fourth after joining Eckes and Busch in a three-way battle for the lead before the final caution for a shunt involving Stewart Friesen and Nick Sanchez on Lap 219.

EXCLUSIVE: Sanchez, Friesen have confrontation on pit road

Series leader Tyler Ankrum was fifth, extending his margin over second-place Corey Heim to 17 points. Heim finished sixth, followed by Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger and Sunoco rookie Layne Riggs.

Ty Majeski, the winner at Bristol in 2022, spun from the top five at Lap 144 shortly after the start of the Final Stage, collecting ThorSport Racing teammate Ben Rhodes in the process. Majeski’s No. 98 Ford later went behind the wall due to mechanical issues, resulting in a 34th-place finish.

The Truck Series returns to action next Saturday at Circuit of The Americas (1:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Eckes as the race winner. The No. 91 Chevrolet driven by Zane Smith was found with one lug nut unsecured, which will result in a monetary fine.

Contributing: Staff report.