Ankrum On Martinsville Runner-Up: ‘It’s A Real Tear-Jerker’

Tyler Ankrum (left) nearly won Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway. (MHR photo)

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – On the final restart of Friday night’s Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200, Tyler Ankrum could see a potential end to his six-year winless drought in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

He had control of the race – inheriting the lead after a double-spin by Kaden Honeycutt and Ty Majeski as that duo battled for the top spot moments earlier – and he had a teammate behind him in Daniel Hemric to help protect the bottom lane when the green flag waved.

The only thing he couldn’t plan for, after escaping to the lead on the eight-to-go restart, was Hemric getting to his bumper and nudging him out of the way for the win in turn three on lap 196.

Ankrum fought back to the flagstand on the outside, but couldn’t hold Hemric back once they got to turn one with four laps left. He slotted back into second; he just couldn’t get back to Hemric again to repay the challenge for the victory.

It marked Ankrum’s fourth runner-up finish and 17th top five since his only career Truck Series victory, which came at Kentucky Speedway on July 11, 2019.

"So close there at the end, I think I just needed a little bit better of a restart,” he noted afterward. “Super happy for Daniel and MHR to get the team a win. Hopefully we can come back just one spot better on the next run.

“I can’t thank LIUNA and Chevrolet enough for all their continued support. We had a super fast truck and hats off to the guys for keeping us so consistent recently,” Ankrum added. “We will take a week off to regroup and go get them in Bristol.”

Tyler Ankrum (18) chases Jake Garcia Friday night at Martinsville Speedway. (Scotte Sprinkle/Race Face Digital photo)

While it was bittersweet for Ankrum to come so close and not seal the deal, he was equally happy for Hemric, his veteran teammate who came to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing during the offseason with hopes of rejuvenating his own NASCAR career.

“If it couldn’t be us, I can’t think of a nicer guy to win,” Ankrum said of Hemric. “Yeah, he gave me the bumper, but you’re going to do that at Martinsville. I honestly would much rather have a teammate give me the bumper for the win, so when it all shakes out we still get a win for MHR.”

Did Ankrum feel Hemric had him outclassed from a setup standpoint?

“Honestly, no, I felt like he had as good of a truck as I did,” Ankrum admitted. “He was just in that better position (second row inside) on the final restart to make a move from behind. It’s kind of like superspeedway racing, where you don’t necessarily want to be in the lead going down the back(stretch) on the final lap.

“MHR hasn’t run one-two very often, so it’s another milestone for our team, regardless of which one of us got the trophy in the end.”

In fact, Friday night marked the third top-two sweep in team history for MHR, made more impressive by the fact that Ankrum qualified 24th and had to work forward with a combination of strategy and speed to get himself in position in the closing laps.

But that didn’t take the sting out of how close he came to finally tasting the thrill of victory again.

“It’s a real tear-jerker,” Ankrum admitted, “especially with how hard we worked all night long. It would have been a Cinderella story, but it wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series takes a week off before heading to Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway for the first of two Truck Series stops at The Last Great Colosseum this season.

Broadcast coverage of the WeatherGuard Truck Race from Bristol is slated for Friday night, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.