Ankrum Is Good To The Last Drop At Rockingham

Tyler Ankrum takes the checkered flag to win Friday at Rockingham Speedway. (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. – After nearly six full years, 130 races, and a whole lot of heartache along the way, all it took for Tyler Ankrum to get back to NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory lane was a well-timed economy run.

Stretching his Sunoco fuel for an 88-lap run at Rockingham Speedway after pitting on lap 112 of the Black’s Tire 200, Ankrum coasted to the checkered flag to steal a trophy Friday evening.

The San Bernadino, Calif., native nursed his No. 18 LiUNA Chevrolet across the finish line 6.657 seconds ahead of polesitter and runner-up finisher Jake Garcia, cashing in on arguably the strategy call of the season through its first seven races.

Ankrum led only the final 29 laps, assuming command after the TRICON Garage duo of Corey Heim and Gio Ruggiero ducked down pit lane because they couldn’t make it to the end on the gas they had.

From there, it was a lot of nervous waiting by Ankrum’s McAnally-Hilgemann Racing crew before their driver managed to get all the way home. He also banked the $50,000 Triple Truck Challenge bonus.

“It’s strange … I didn’t know where victory lane was at!” Ankrum laughed after finally climbing from his truck on the frontstretch. “I can’t thank all these MHR guys enough. For the way our day started … to go down a lap in the first stage and then come all the way back, it’s remarkable we’re here right now. I thought it was over after that first stage, truthfully.

“We stole one today; I won’t deny that,” added Ankrum, who was 22nd at the second stage break when he received the 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 Ankrum save the fuel he needed to at the end?

“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.”

Ankrum’s only win prior to Friday was at Kentucky, which is no longer on the NASCAR calendar it was so long ago, during his rookie season.

The early favorite was Front Row Motorsports’ Layne Riggs, who swept the first two stages despite only leading twice for a combined 24 laps. However, a pair of incidents that led to back-to-back red flag stoppages opened the strategy up and paved the way for Ankrum’s eventual triumph.

Defending series champion Ty Majeski was the first to find trouble, backing hard into the outside wall in turn two after losing the handle on his truck in a battle for 10th with fellow veteran Grant Enfinger.

A nearly 10-minute delay followed for repairs to the SAFER Barrier, and it was right after the race went back to yellow that Ankrum made his final stop for a full tank of fuel.

The next restart came on lap 116, and it took barely a lap after that green flag for even more chaos to break out.

A wild three-truck incident exiting turn four saw Stewart Friesen, Tanner Gray, and Matt Mills all go careening through the infield grass, with all three sustaining heavy damage and another short red flag being called to aid in the cleanup efforts.

But from there, the lap-124 restart that followed was the final one of the day, meaning that 77 laps of green-flag racing capped off the Truck Series return to Rockingham and led to wild swings in strategy down the stretch.

When Riggs, Daniel Hemric, and others pitted before the final run in an effort to get themselves to the end, Heim took control of the show and led a race-high 52 circuits between laps 119 and 170.

But he needed a caution during that run that never waved, forcing both he and Ruggiero to bail to pit road just inside of the 30-to-go benchmark. That was the turning point and Ankrum never looked back.

Garcia was able to grab second on a similar pit strategy plan as Ankrum, with Martinsville (Va.) Speedway winner Daniel Hemric crossing third to give team co-owner Bill McAnally two of the top three finishers.

Spire Motorsports’ Rajah Caruth turned in a season-best fourth ahead of Enfinger and Kaden Honeycutt.

Jack Wood, in a third McAnally-Hilgemann entry, finished seventh as the final driver on the lead lap.

Though he could never get his lap back after pitting late, Heim was still credited with eighth, with Connor Mosack recovering from a lap-two spin for ninth. Ruggiero closed the top 10.

Ankrum’s victory vaults him to third in the regular season standings, 62 points behind Heim for the series lead. Chandler Smith, who finished 13th Friday, is 22 points back of Heim in second place.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a week off before resuming at Texas Motor Speedway with the running of the SpeedyCash.com 250.

Broadcast coverage is slated for Friday night, May 2 at 8 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.