Eckes Grabs Truck Pole For Martinsville Elimination Race

Christian Eckes celebrates the Cometic Gasket Pole Award Friday at Martinsville Speedway. (Jacob Seelman photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – If Christian Eckes’ Cometic Gasket Pole Qualifying lap Friday at Martinsville Speedway is any indication, the rest of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series field should be worried.

Eckes, who led 133 of 200 laps en route to victory in April at the half-mile paper clip, sped to his ninth career pole and third of the season in the No. 19 Gates Hydraulic Chevrolet Silverado RST, calling his shot after being optimistic in practice that he had something to contend with.

The 23-year-old from Middletown, N.Y., turned a best lap of 19.556 seconds (96.830 mph) to top a 36-truck field at the shortest track on the NASCAR calendar. He’ll look to convert it into a victory and a guaranteed berth in the Championship 4 Friday night in the Zip ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ 200.

“I feel very comfortable with out No. 19 Gates Hydraulic Chevy, and I’m usually never happy with my truck, so hopefully that’s a good sign of things to come,” Eckes noted. “It’s the same truck, same setup … same everything, really, from the spring, so hopefully we can replicate what we had as far as success.

“Days like today, when we can win a pole and still know there are things we could do better, show how intense and how focused our McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team is,” he added. “The bar is very, very high each and every weekend, and it’s very hard to achieve that bar in this sport. I think we’re going to make some adjustments for the nighttime, but the pace is really good and that’s always the main priority.”

Joining Eckes on the front row will by playoff rival Ty Majeski, who placed the No. 98 ThorSport Racing-prepared Ford F-150 second with a time of 19.561 seconds (96.805 mph).

TRICON Garage’s Taylor Gray was the fastest Toyota driver in third (19.571/96.755), with Nick Sanchez fourth (19.617/96.529) as championship-eligible drivers swept the first two rows.

Layne Riggs tied on speed with Sanchez and starts fifth, followed by Ben Rhodes, Corey Heim, Chase Purdy, Kaden Honeycutt, and Jack Wood.

Notables outside the top 10 include playoff hopeful Rajah Caruth (11th), Johnny Sauter (13th), Matt Crafton (16th), Stewart Friesen (20th), and Matt Gould (22nd), the son of crew chief Phil Gould.

Playoff drivers Tyler Ankrum (23rd) and Grant Enfinger (33rd) both start deep in the pack after struggling for pace in both practice and qualifying, though Enfinger has the benefit of already being locked into the Championship 4 after winning the last two races on the calendar.

With 36 trucks on the grounds for 36 starting spots, no drivers missed the field, though Justin Carroll did not turn a lap and will start last in his family-owned No. 90 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro.

Broadcast coverage of the Zip ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ 200 is slated for 6 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.