Eckes Tallies Second-Consecutive Top-Five at North Wilkesboro

Christian Eckes banked his second straight top-five finish on a sweltering Saturday afternoon at North Wilkesboro Speedway after starting deep in the field. The driver of the No. 91 Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet Silverado RST recorded a fourth-place effort, his best in three starts at the storied short track, and maintained the fourth position in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series standings. Eckes bagged 43 points on the afternoon, including 10 stage points, for the third-most of all drivers in the field.

After qualifying 18th on Friday afternoon, Eckes was one of the main attractions once the green flag dropped under intense sun on Saturday afternoon. The Adaptive One Calipers Chevy started free, but “better than yesterday” according to Eckes’ initial feedback. He advanced to 12th by lap eight and cracked the top 10 on lap 25. Despite the balance swinging tight as the green flag run elapsed, Eckes climbed to eighth on lap 40 and held that position until the end of Stage 1 at lap 70.

Crew chief Dave Elenz added adjustments on the first four-tire pit stop of the day as the No. 91 crew gained two positions with swift work. On lap 81, Eckes restarted fifth and held the sixth position until a caution on lap 119 flipped some of the field’s strategy. Eckes elected to pit for his final stop of the day as five trucks stayed on track. He lined up ninth for the lap 129 restart and made a three-wide move on the bottom of Turn 1 to advance to sixth shortly thereafter. As the second stage checker waved on lap 140, Eckes ran fourth to pocket seven additional points.

The event’s final segment went green with 99 laps to go on lap 152 with Eckes restarting on the front row in second. After briefly dropping to fourth, Eckes found his footing, reclaimed third on lap 155, and methodically tracked down the runner up position. He took the runner-up position on lap 200 but began to fight a tight condition as the afternoon’s longest green flag run progressed. Eckes crossed under the checkered flag in fourth position for his fifth top-five result of the season.

“It was a good showing, for sure,” Eckes said. “It was hot in there. My cool shirt failed running off pit road. It didn’t help anything. It was hot out there, slick. It was fun because we finally got our truck running okay. I just can’t thank these Adaptive One Chevy guys enough. We were really, really, really bad yesterday and went to work last night and got it to where it needed to be to at least contend. So, that’s all we can ask for and we’re moving on to IRP.”

Start / Finish: 18 / 4
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 483 pts. (-157)

Next Race: Friday, July 24, Indianapolis Raceway Park
How to Watch or Listen: 8:00 p.m. ET on FS1 or SiriusXM

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Christian Eckes: @christianeckes
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