Practice #1 : Martinsville Speedway

• Martinsville Speedway
• Long John Silver's 200
• Pole Winner: Ty Majeski
• Age: 29
• Team : No 98 - Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford
• Owner: Mike Curb
• Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr
• Ty Majeski won the Pole Award for the Long John Silver's 200 with a lap of 19417 seconds, 97523 mph
• This is his seventh pole in 72 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his second pole and sixth top-10 start in 2024
• This is his first pole in three races at Martinsville Speedway
• Christian Eckes (second) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2024 and his fourth in six races at Martinsville Speedway
• Layne Riggs (third) posted his first top-10 start at Martinsville Speedway It is his second in six races this season
• Layne Riggs (third) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Friday, April 5th, 2024
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Christian Eckes claims masterful Martinsville victory in NASCAR Trucks

It was indeed a special night for NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Christian Eckes, who dominated Friday night’s Long John Silver’s 200 at Martinsville Speedway.

Eschewing a trip to pit road between the first and second stages at the 0.526-mile short track, Eckes led the first 104 laps, swept the stages and worked his way back through the field from 19th after pitting at the Stage 2 break.

Undeterred by the chaos that produced 11 cautions for 81 laps, Eckes took the lead for the final time on Lap 172 in a side-by-side battle against pole winner Ty Majeski, who regained the top spot when Eckes came to pit road for the only time during the 200-lap event.

“Something really special,” Eckes said of the effort of his No. 19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing team and the quality of his Chevrolet. “We came here last year, and we weren’t really that great… we were maybe a sixth-place truck (started sixth and finished 15th).

“And we worked really hard on it, and here we are in Victory Lane. So just super proud of this entire team.”

The victory was the second of the season for Eckes, who won from the pole at Bristol last month. It was his first triumph at Martinsville and the seventh of his career.

Starting from the top spot on the grid, Majeski gave up the lead on the first lap as Eckes powered past him.

“The 19 (Eckes) was tough tonight,” Majeski said. “He was just a little but better than us. He had better tires (in the final stage), and I just could not launch on restarts…

“But I think we left here with the points lead today. Really solid day. Obviously, you want to win. I wanted that grandfather clock (trophy), but I’m super proud of this team. We’ve been working hard at getting our trucks better, and just a little but short tonight.”

Majeski leaves Martinsville as the series leader, with a seven-point edge over Corey Heim and Tyler Ankrum.

Chase Purdy ran third to post his fourth top-five finish in 81 Truck Series starts. Nick Sanchez was fourth, followed by Ankrum, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Sammy Smith, Kaden Honeycutt and Heim.

Australian Supercars star Cam Waters finished 30th in his NASCAR debut, a casualty of a chain-reaction collision on Lap 177 that left his No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford spewing hot vapor like a geyser.

“I had so much fun tonight and all day today,” Waters said. “It is totally different racing from what I usually do, and I just wanted to learn. I learned so much.

“There at the end I just had nowhere to go and knocked the radiator out of it. It is a shame, but I was having fun and learning and had some awesome battles, too.”

• Drivers Entered: 34
• Laps Scheduled: 200
• Margin of Victory: 0.644 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 52 Minutes 54 Seconds
• Average Speed: 55.908
• Cautions: 11 for 81 laps
• Lead Changes: 5
• Green Flag Passes: 1,107 (9.3 passes per green flag lap)

• Martinsville Speedway
• Long John Silver's 200
• Race Winner: Christian Eckes
• Age: 23
• Team : No 19 - Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet
• Owner: Bill McAnally
• Crew Chief: Charles Denike
• Christian Eckes won the Long John Silver's 200, his seventh victory in 97 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his second victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2024
• This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in six races at Martinsville Speedway
• Ty Majeski (second) posted his second top-10 finish in three races at Martinsville Speedway It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2024
• Chase Purdy (third) posted his second top-10 finish in five races at Martinsville Speedway
• Layne Riggs (15th) was the highest finishing rookie
• Ty Majeski leads the point standings by 7 points over Corey Heim