Eckes Finishes Second in Frantic Photo Finish at Sonoma

Christian Eckes returned to moonlight in the No. 19 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet SS at Sonoma Raceway and showed off with a scintillating second-place result on Friday afternoon. The NASCAR Xfinity Series regular recovered from an early spin to contend for the victory after rebounding from the tail of the field. Eckes went from third to first on the final lap and finished second in a three-wide photo finish in wine country.

Eckes rejoined forces with the Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) team to drive the No. 19 NAPA Chevy to jumpstart his weekend in Sonoma, Calif., and came within feet of capturing the organization’s first home track win. The 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series regular season titlist posted the sixth-fastest time in qualifying and ran consistent times to start the race. After the race’s first caution on lap 18, the subsequent restart gave Eckes a prime chance to bolt into contention. His attempt to go from fifth to second in Turn 7 went awry as he wheel-hopped and spun without contact. After going back to 16th, he regained the 12th position by the race’s halfway caution at lap 32.

When the event restarted on lap 38, he instantly advanced to eighth and rejoined the top five by lap 43 with just over 20 laps remaining. A caution on lap 52 allowed him and BMR teammate Jack Wood to make a bid for the win and traded barbs for a podium spot. Eckes claimed third on lap 61, and a critical caution flew immediately following on lap 62.

The caution set up a one-lap dash to the finish with Eckes restarting on the outside of row two. As the leaders tangled off course in Turn 2, Eckes swiped the lead and held off the dominant cars through Turn 10. Entering the final hairpin Turn 11, Eckes was bumped by the No. 18 while side by side for the lead. The two traded blows off the final corner approaching the checkers, and Eckes finished second in an electric three-wide climax.

“That was almost really cool,” Eckes said. “I was lacking a lot of forward drive on the exit all day. I put us behind wheel hopping in to (turn) seven but we got back to the front with a shot at it near the end. The last lap was wild. The leaders got together and fortunately we had a hole to get through on the restart. I was hoping to get our NAPA Chevrolet enough of a gap through the esses that they couldn’t get to us in Turn 11, but the No. 18 snuck up to my bumper and got me off line enough that there was nothing I could do. Wish we could have gotten Bill (McAnally) a win here, and everyone at BMR. It’s great to have the extra track time, and hopefully it’ll pay off for our Kaulig Racing team on Saturday.”

Start / Finish: 6 / 2

Next Race: Saturday, August 9, Tri-City Raceway, West Richland, WA
How to Watch or Listen: Floracing.com

NAPA: @NAPARacing
Christian Eckes: @christianeckes
Bill McAnally Racing: @BMR_NASCAR