Continued Improvement Leads Ankrum To Miami Top Five

Tyler Ankrum (18) leads a line of trucks Friday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway. (Gavin Baker/Nigel Kinrade Photography)

HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Steady gains throughout Friday night’s Baptist Health 200 allowed Tyler Ankrum to leave Homestead-Miami Speedway with a strong fourth-place finish.

The 24-year-old from San Bernadino, Calif., qualified sixth for the fourth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race of the season and never ran outside the top 15 all night at the 1.5-mile South Florida oval.

Ankrum posted finishes of sixth and ninth in the two 30-lap stages – banking seven points toward his regular season total – before steadily fighting back forward after a slower pit stop during the second stage break left him 11th to start the second half of the race.

A spin by eventual race winner Kyle Larson with 45 laps left allowed for one final round of pit stops, where Ankrum came out sixth before lining up fifth on the choose for the race’s last restart.

From there, Ankrum ran inside the top six the rest of the way, battling briefly with Larson during the latter’s charge back through the field from his incident before giving way to the NASCAR Cup Series star.

Ankrum then scrapped with his own McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate Daniel Hemric in the closing laps before ending up fourth at the checkered flag, marking his second top-four finish in the past three races and his third top five in six career Truck Series starts at Homestead.

“It was a super fun race all night long,” noted Ankrum afterward. “We were lacking a little bit in the first two stages, as we were just super tight, but these No. 18 guys had a few awesome pit stops that kept us in the game and in contention all night long. Hats off to my team for that. I had a blast racing Larson up front, but just needed a little more experience to keep up with him on ripping the fence.

“Good to get another top-five finish under our belt, and we are ready to head to Martinsville and get some short-track racing in going forward.”

In a showcase of his moves forward throughout the race, Ankrum’s average running position was seventh – right in between his two stage finishes – and at one point got as high as second during the second half before settling into his eventual finishing position.

His Homestead effort allowed Ankrum to gain one position in the Truck Series standings, moving up to sixth place behind Stewart Friesen and sitting a comfortable 28 points clear of the early playoff cut line.

With the Miami heat in the rear-view mirror, Ankrum and his Truck Series competitors head next to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway for a third night race in as many weeks.

Broadcast coverage of the Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge 200 is slated for Friday night, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.