Practice #1 : Rockingham Speedway

• Thursday, April 17th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Chandler Smith Rides Hot Streak into Rockingham with Truck Series Lead in Sight

Fresh from a convincing victory at Bristol Motor Speedway—a win that denied runner-up Kyle Larson a sweep of NASCAR’s three national series—Chandler Smith comes to Rockingham Speedway second in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standings, with his sights set on the top spot.

Smith is the only driver to have finished in the top 10 in all six CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races this season, and he’ll try to extend that streak in Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 (5 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I can’t wait for Rockingham,” said Smith, who drives for Front Row Motorsports. “This 38 team is on a tear right now, and we have a lot of good momentum heading into Rockingham.

“There’s a lot less pressure heading into the weekend knowing we are locked into the Playoffs, but we want more. I think we have a good shot at the Regular Season Championship.”

Smith trails series leader Corey Heim by 18 points. Neither driver has ever raced at the 0.94-mile track, which last hosted a Truck Series race in 2013.

Saturday’s race is the final Triple Truck Challenge event of the season. Both Smith and Martinsville winner Daniel Hemric are eligible for a $150,000 bonus, should they win a second Triple Truck Challenge race this season.

A $50,000 prize is available to any other highest-finishing series regular.

Four drivers in Friday’s field raced at The Rock in the Truck Series during its two-year presence in 2012 and 2013. Matt Crafton and Norm Benning, with two starts each, and Grant Enfinger and Parker Kligerman with a single start each.

• Rockingham Speedway
• Black?s Tire 200
• Pole Winner: Jake Garcia
• Age: 20
• Team : No 13 - Quanta Services Ford
• Owner: Duke Thorson
• Crew Chief: Jeriod Prince
• Jake Garcia won the Pole Award for the Black?s Tire 200 with a lap of 2205 seconds, 153469 mph
• This is his first pole in 57 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his first pole and sixth top-10 start in 2025
• This is his first pole in one races at Rockingham Speedway
• Chandler Smith (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2025 and his first in one race at Rockingham Speedway
• Ben Rhodes (third) posted his first top-10 start at Rockingham Speedway It is his fourth in seven races this season
• Connor Mosack (fourth) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Saturday, April 19th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer

Tyler Ankrum Ends 130-Race Drought with Strategic Fuel-Saving Win at Rockingham

It had been so long since Tyler Ankrum won his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race that the driver of the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Chevrolet couldn’t find Victory Lane after winning Friday’s Black’s Tire 200 at Rockingham Speedway.

After a prodigious effort at saving fuel, Ankrum coasted across the finish line 6.657 seconds ahead of pole winner and runner-up Jake Garcia to break a 130-race drought dating to July 11, 2019.

Ankrum’s last win was so long ago that the track that gave him his maiden victory — Kentucky Speedway — has long since fallen off the NASCAR national series schedule.

In the series’ return to “The Rock” after an 11-year absence, Ankrum had to battle back from damage sustained during an accident on Lap 2, an incident that put him a lap down. Ankrum got his lap back as the beneficiary under caution for Stage 2 break after Lap 90 and embarked on a heroic drive to the front.

The trophy wasn’t the only reward Ankrum got for the victory. He also earned a $50,000 check for winning the final Triple Truck Challenge race.

“It’s strange — I didn’t know where Victory Lane was at,” Ankrum said after climbing from his truck. “The way this day started, going a lap down and (crew chief) Mark (Hillman) making a pit call to get the track position back…

“Just saving fuel, man. I knew we were five (laps) short. I was hoping I had saved enough, and we did… 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.

“It’s just surreal. I feel like this is pretty much the way it went down at Kentucky in 2019.”

Ankrum took the lead for good on Lap 172 after Corey Heim and Gio Ruggiero came to pit road. The two TRICON Garage drivers stayed on the track during consecutive cautions early in the final stage and were running 1-2 before having to come to pit road for fuel.

Heim seemed confused by the strategy that kept him on the track while other top contenders pitted for the fuel they hoped would carry them to the end of the race.

“I felt like if we had the track position we would have been in really good shape from the very start,” said Heim, who started 15th and finished eighth. “Just didn’t have a good qualifying effort on my end. It was kind of an uphill battle from there all day.

“I didn’t exactly know what happened there the last 40 laps there, but we pitted, and it seems like some of the other guys didn’t run of fuel. Unfortunate. Just a weird deal in that last stage but have to be better on my part to qualify better and have the track position.”

Even though the Front Row Motorsports Fords of Layne Riggs and Chandler Smith pitted after Heim’s final stop, both ran short of fuel and had to bring their trucks to pit road in the closing laps.

Daniel Hemric, Rajah Caruth and Grant Enfinger benefited from the Fords’ gas shortage, finishing third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

Trouble continued to follow reigning series champion Ty Majeski, whose truck broke loose from the inside lane in Turn 1 while he was racing Enfinger on Lap 109. Majeski’s No. 98 ThorSport Ford backed into the outside wall and was eliminated from the race. He finished 31st after a 13th-place run at Martinsville and a 33rd-place result at Bristol in the previous two races.

“I can’t really blame Grant,” Majeski said. “He held me tight, obviously took the air off my right side. Yeah, just embarrassed, honestly. These last three weeks isn’t who I am as a driver. I feel so bad for everybody at ThorSport—(owners) Duke and Rhonda (Thorson) — yeah, I just need to be better.”

Heim, who led a race-high 52 laps compared to 43 for Garcia and 29 for Ankrum, held the top spot in the series standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith and 62 points over Ankrum in third. Kaden Honeycutt, Jack Wood, Corey Heim, Connor Mosack and Gio Ruggiero finished sixth through 10th, respectively, in Saturday’s race.

• Drivers Entered: 35
• Laps Scheduled: 200
• Margin of Victory: 06.657 Seconds
• Time of Race: 1 Hours 49 Minutes 37 Seconds
• Average Speed: 102.904
• Cautions: 5 for 33 laps
• Lead Changes: 11
• Green Flag Passes: 623 (3.7 passes per green flag lap)

• Rockingham Speedway
• Black?s Tire 200
• Race Winner: Tyler Ankrum
• Age: 24
• Team : No 18 - LiUNA! Chevrolet
• Owner: William Hilgemann
• Crew Chief: Mark Hillman
• Tyler Ankrum won the Black?s Tire 200, his second victory in 143 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races
• This is his first victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2025
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Rockingham Speedway
• Jake Garcia (second) posted his first top-10 finish in one race at Rockingham Speedway It is his fifth top-10 finish in 2025
• Daniel Hemric (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Rockingham Speedway
• Connor Mosack (ninth) was the highest finishing rookie
• Corey Heim leads the point standings by 22 points over Chandler Smith