Tyler Ankrum good to the last drop in breaking 130 race NASCAR Trucks drought |
19/04/2025 06:51 -
It took 130 NASCAR Truck Series race across 130 starts but Tyler Ankrum finally scored his second victory in the division on Friday night in the first half of the revival event at Rockingham Speedway.
Remarkably, Ankrum did it by stretching his fuel tank to 88 laps in a run that saw every other contender near him in the top five all run out of fuel. He led the final 29 laps after a long green flag run forced Corey Heim and Gio Ruggiero to pit road because they hadn’t pit since the second stage.
"We stole one today; I won't deny that," said Ankrum, who was 22nd at the second stage break and received a free pass to get back on the lead lap. "Mark (Hillman, crew chief) making the pit call to get our track position back once we got the lucky dog was huge … and then it was all about saving fuel.
"Coming to six to go … I knew we were five (laps) short, so I was hoping I saved enough at that point. Thankfully, I did."
How did he save fuel?
"I just found something there where I was pretty much lifting 60 percent down the straightaway, and I was able to draft off of (Matt) Crafton and a couple of other guys, and I was able to save that way," he explained.
"It's just surreal. I feel like this is pretty much the way it went down at Kentucky (Speedway) in 2019."
That was his rookie season and the only victory he had until this point.
The No. 98 is done for the day after hitting the outside wall. pic.twitter.com/HfsSsXuexy
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) April 18, 2025
"I can't really blame Grant," Majeski said. "He held me tight, obviously took the air off my right side. Yeah, just embarrassed, honestly. These last three weeks isn't who I am as a driver. I feel so bad for everybody at ThorSport-(owners) Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) – yeah, I just need to be better."
The other crash
Here's all the happened during that incident ⤵️ https://t.co/WPCuOGyqgqpic.twitter.com/0GXqxrb4bP
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) April 18, 2025
Results
| Pos | Truck | Driver | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Tyler Ankrum | 200 |
| 2 | 13 | Jake Garcia | 200 |
| 3 | 19 | Daniel Hemric | 200 |
| 4 | 71 | Rajah Caruth | 200 |
| 5 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | 200 |
| 6 | 45 | Kaden Honeycutt | 200 |
| 7 | 91 | Jack Wood | 200 |
| 8 | 11 | Corey Heim | 199 |
| 9 | 81 | Connor Mosack # | 199 |
| 10 | 17 | Gio Ruggiero # | 199 |
| 11 | 34 | Layne Riggs | 199 |
| 12 | 77 | Andres Perez de Lara # | 199 |
| 13 | 38 | Chandler Smith | 199 |
| 14 | 02 | Nathan Byrd | 198 |
| 15 | 76 | Spencer Boyd | 198 |
| 16 | 07 | Sammy Smith (i) | 197 |
| 17 | 1 | Brandon Jones (i) | 196 |
| 18 | 5 | Toni Breidinger # | 196 |
| 19 | 26 | Dawson Sutton # | 196 |
| 20 | 44 | Bayley Currey | 195 |
| 21 | 56 | Timmy Hill | 195 |
| 22 | 7 | Corey Day (i) | 194 |
| 23 | 33 | Frankie Muniz # | 176 |
| 24 | 88 | Matt Crafton | 156 |
| 25 | 75 | Parker Kligerman | 147 |
| 26 | 66 | Luke Fenhaus | 136 |
| 27 | 22 | Cody Dennison | 131 |
| 28 | 15 | Tanner Gray | 117 |
| 29 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | 117 |
| 30 | 42 | Matt Mills | 117 |
| 31 | 98 | Ty Majeski | 109 |
| 32 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | 71 |
| 33 | 2 | Stephen Mallozzi | 41 |
| 34 | 90 | Justin Carroll | 34 |
| 35 | 6 | Norm Benning | 17 |
