Line ‘Em Up
As the season is winding down, the intensity did not disappoint for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Martinsville was home to the penultimate race in their schedule, and some tempers were shown and some heat was felt under the helmet. Christian Eckes started the race from the pole with Ty Majeski beside him. Taylor Gray and Nick Sanchez made up the second row. The stage lengths were 50 laps for the first two and the final stage was 100 laps.
Little Space to Move
Majeski got a bad start that allowed Eckes to scamper away in the lead. Sanchez and Layne Riggs got by Gray for third and fourth. The fight for the bottom lane sorted itself out which allowed Eckes to pull away quickly. He had a second lead only ten laps into the race. Behind him, there was not a lot of movement in the top ten. Eckes caught the lapped trucks which slowed him down but did not hurt his lead.
Corey Day and Tyler Ankrum fought hard to stay on the lead lap. Good trucks got caught and lapped early in a run, as happens at the paperclip. Then, Matthew Gould lost power and brought out the first caution with fifteen to go as he stopped on the backstretch. Ben Rhodes was the first truck on pit road for service. Ankrum, Enfinger, and Johnny Sauter followed suit.
Eckes and Majeski restarted the race on the front row with nine to go. Rajah Caruth pulled out of line to pass on the restart but hit the curb with no room to go. As the trucks regrouped under caution, the battle for stage points was at a premium. There was hard fighting around the track by all of the trucks within sniffing distance of those points. Caruth got into the wall fighting hard. Eckes, enjoying watching the fighting, scampered away and won stage one!
Quick Stage
Majeski and Eckes restarted the race on the front row. Eckes got another good restart, and Majeski made up for his horrible start to the race. Eckes, who was so much faster, pulled away from the truck in his rearview mirror.
Kaden Honeycutt got up to fifth after some pit strategy helped him out a bit. Corey Heim had some complaints about his truck so they went to work under the first caution. It seemed to help, he was able to keep up a bit better.
Eckes built a two-second lead with twenty to go in the stage. Majeski struggled to keep up with the leader but was two seconds ahead of the Sanchez in third. Ankrum, after pitting for new tires and fuel on lap 38, passed his way into the top ten. Caruth was caught by Eckes and lapped. He still struggled after the incident in the first stage and brought his truck behind the pit wall for repairs.
Another caution came out when Dylan Lupton stopped on the track. He spun all by himself and backed his truck into the wall. That caution ended the stage. Eckes got the stage win, Majeski finished in second, and Sanchez and Heim finished in third and fourth.
Late Drama
Rhodes, yet to pit, restarted the stage on the front row with Eckes beside him. Rhodes got a great restart. However, Eckes caught back up to Rhodes and used his bumper to get around for the lead. Sanchez was able to get by Rhodes for second. Eckes built another lead of over two seconds. Seven of the eight playoff drivers were in the top ten fighting for their playoff lives. Caruth, after his repairs, brought his truck back out on track.
Eckes continued to pull away. With fifty to go in the stage, his lead was over five seconds. He kept carving through the lapped trucks. Heim fell out of the top ten after struggling with his truck for most of the race. The next caution came out for Honeycutt. He hit the wall with his right front and was able to limp it to his pit stall.
The Grand Finale
Eckes and Sanchez restarted from the front row. Eckes got another great restart. Majeski got underneath Sanchez but could not make the pass. Taylor Gray got around Stewart Friesen for fourth. Eckes scampered away with a lead of over 2 seconds. Gray charged late passing Majeski for third. He caught Sanchez but as he was making the pass, Brett Moffitt brought out a caution as he backed his truck into the wall. Tanner Gray was pushed into Moffitt by Dean Thompson.
Eckes and Tay. Gray restarted on the front row. They both had good restarts but Eckes was able to take the lead. Tay. Gray stayed close behind. Then, Johnny Sauter brought out another caution. Friesen got turned and the stack up is where Sauter got hit and the most damage.
Eckes and Tay. Gray, were again, on the front row with five laps to go. Tay. Gray got a great restart. He pulled away and took the lead. Eckes used his bumper to move Tay. Gray out of the way and take the lead.
Rhodes pushed Eckes out of the way for the lead. Eckes once again used his bumper to move Rhodes out of the way. While all this was going on, Chase Purdy moved into second place. Eckes took the white and checkered flag to win the Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200!
The Aftermath
After getting out of his truck, Tay. Gray wanted to express his displeasure with Eckes. He charged to the start-finish line with NASCAR Security beside him. He voiced his anger using some expletives while Eckes was celebrating. There was a mixture of boos and cheers from the crowd.
Marvin’s Moment
In my opinion, Eckes raced Taylor Gray very dirty. Gray did nothing egregious. He raced Eckes very cleanly and could have cleared him out easily. Gray expected the same clean race. Eckes would have made the Playoffs without the win in the Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200. I do not know what the right answer is but Eckes could have handled that a bit differently. One thing that I do know is that Eckes will not win the championship next week in Phoenix. If Taylor or Tanner Gray are near Eckes for the last run next week, Eckes will be handled with.
