Tag: Tyler Ankrum

Austin Hill Gambles with Four Tires to Win at Vegas As Playoff Drivers Struggle

Las Vegas, NV — In the closing laps, Austin Hill fights his way through the field and passed Ross Chastain to win the World of Westgate 200 in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

“That was a big statement win,” Hill declared in Victory Lane. “It means the world to me. This was the hardest one. We were going to stay out last caution, and everyone else pitted, so we needed to pit or we were screwed. So we came down pit road and restarted at the tail end of the longest line. Man, it stayed green, I had to drive all the way through the field and this truck was unbelievable.

“We’re two for two with this truck, so we’re going for three.”

Hill won the first race of the season at Daytona International Speedway, as well as the last race of the regular season at Michigan International Speedway, but he knew that wins, strong runs and no mistakes were evermore important during the Playoffs. He felt Friday night’s win was that strong run they needed to be a serious title contender.

“Coming into tonight, our number one goal was getting stage points and we did that, we got stage points in stage one and stage two. Got through that and after the second stage and we knew that some of the Playoff drivers had some issues, my only concern was going for the win,” Hill said later. “That’s all I really cared about. I didn’t think we were going to be able to catch them under green, but we did. It’s even more of a statement win because we had a little bit of an issue during practice and lost our truck chief. I know he was up watching us in the stands, but this is so special.”

It was a solid day for Chastain, but with old tires, he came up just a dozen laps short. After leading the most laps (88), the Niece Motorsports driver still finished second.

“Just (no) front tires,” Chastain shared on pit road after the finish. “They thought they got enough fuel in it on the final stop. Just all tires unfortunately.”

But the race was anything less than eventful. Three-wide action, including competitors making a five-wide pass on the front stretch early in the race, proved how each driver understood the value of every position. Unfortunately for some, mechanical issues began to unfold early throughout the race. Grant Enfinger won the regular season, but only raced for six laps, as he lost his engine and Playoff hopes. He became the first of many drivers with engine issues.

ThorSport teammates Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter both lost their engines on Lap 38, and it started to concern the eventual race winner. He shared his concerns both at that time, and later in the race where the engine seemed to lack power at various moments on restarts and while racing competitors.

“Yeah, we had to keep pulling tape each time,” Chastian continued when asked about his concern with competitors losing engines. “The first run, I had to let Austin (Hill) get in front of me to get some trash off the grill, and then the bugs were just terrible. Just a freak deal.”

Pole sitter Christian Eckes, Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland completed the top five. Brennan Poole, Brett Moffitt, Ben Rhodes, Harrison Burton and Dylan Lupton rounded out the top 10 positions.

Green flag flew for Christian Eckes, who won his second career pole in just his tenth career start in the Truck series. Ross Chastain quickly took over the lead and led the majority of the laps in the first stage, and went on to win Stage 1. Moffitt started the race in the rear of the field, but climbed his way up to ninth by the end of the stage.

The biggest news happened on Lap 6 when Grant Enfinger, who was the regular season champion, lost his motor on the front stretch. The team diagnosed the issue, attempted to repair the truck, but were unable to get back out on track. After starting the race just two points above the cutoff line, he would not collect enough points to make it into the next round of the Playoffs.

More Playoff drama unfolded during Stage 2. On the front stretch on Lap 38, teammates Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton both lost their engines at the same time. Crafton later shared that his truck appeared to lose power after running over debris that came from Sauter’s truck. That incident locked Enfinger out of the next round, and Sauter was left to the mercies of where Friesen and Ankrum finished.

More drivers began reporting engine issues, including Friesen. Natalie Decker began to come in and out of the garage, and a few other drivers retired from the race from mechanical issues. In the end, Chastain claimed the Stage 2 victory and set the pace throughout the first half of the race.

The field took the green flag to start the final stage on Lap 68, but quickly went back under yellow as Johnny Sauter eventually lost the entire motor. The troubled Playoff driver was looking to make up a couple more spots for the points required to make it into the next round, competing against Ankrum and Friesen for the final transfer position.

On Lap 82, Tyler Dippel lost his engine to bring out the caution. Teams had various strategies when they came to pit road. Chastain elected for fuel only, while Hill took four fresh tires. A mishap on pit road required him to come back down under yellow, forcing his team to restart toward the back of the lead lap trucks in the 16th position. The race was restarted on Lap 87, but many other trucks declared engine issues. Jennifer Jo Cobb and Natalie Decker went behind the wall with various engine issues

Hill fought his way through the field to catch Chastain in the closing laps, passing him on Lap 123. He led the final 12 laps to claim his third win of the season, winning by 2.116 seconds. Enfinger and Sauter were officially eliminated from the Playoffs when Ankrum and Friesen finished 11th and 19th respectively.

“We got lucky,” Ankrum stated after the race explaining his truck cutting in and out in the middle of the final stage. “On that last restart, the motor just fell on its face and I thought I just messed up on the restart, and that’s why I fell back so fast. About five laps later, it sounded like an old ‘69 Malibu. My heart sank, I thought we were blowing up. I was going to be mad, that was the first thing that was going to happen. But it cut back on, so I think it was just electrical.

It doesn’t matter how you get there (to the Round of 6), it’s just that you get there.”

The Round of 6 Playoff drivers have been set with Moffitt, Chastain, Hill, Friesen, Crafton and Ankrum. The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series will compete next on October 12 in the Sugarlands Shine 250 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Fin	St	#	Driver	Sponsor / Owner	Truck	Laps	Status	Led	Pts	PPts
1	7	16	Austin Hill	Gunma Toyopet (Shigeaki Hattori)	Toyota	134	running	29	57	5
2	2	45	Ross Chastain	CarShield (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	134	running	88	55	2
3	1	51	Christian Eckes	SiriusXM (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	4	39	0
4	6	2	Sheldon Creed	Chevrolet Accessories (Maury Gallagher)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	42	0
5	3	4	Todd Gilliland	JBL Fest (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	0	41	0
6	18	30	Brennan Poole	On Point Motorsports (Steven Lane)	Toyota	134	running	0	41	0
7	4	24	Brett Moffitt	CMR Construction & Roofing (Maury Gallagher)	Chevrolet	134	running	12	40	0
8	13	99	Ben Rhodes	Havoline (Duke Thorson)	Ford	134	running	0	36	0
9	9	18	Harrison Burton	Safelite Auto Glass (Kyle Busch)	Toyota	134	running	0	31	0
10	17	5	Dylan Lupton	DGR-Crosley (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	27	0
11	16	17	Tyler Ankrum	B/X Custom Designs (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	29	0
12	15	15	Anthony Alfredo	Sim Seats (David Gilliland)	Toyota	134	running	0	25	0
13	12	87	Tony Mrakovich	Street Stores Hardware (Joe Nemechek)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	24	0
14	14	3	Jordan Anderson	Bommarito.com / WCIParts.com (Jordan Anderson)	Chevrolet	134	running	0	23	0
15	23	12	Gus Dean	LG Air Conditioning Technologies (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	23	0
16	27	9	Codie Rohrbaugh	Grant County Mulch (Codie Rohrbaugh)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	21	0
17	26	22	Austin Wayne Self	Go Texan (Tim Self)	Chevrolet	133	running	0	20	0
18	20	11	Spencer Davis	All Pro (Mark Rette)	Ford	133	running	0	19	0
19	19	52	Stewart Friesen	Halmar International (Chris Larsen)	Chevrolet	132	running	0	18	0
20	29	20	Spencer Boyd	ClickandBuyGuns.com (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	132	running	1	17	0
21	25	38	Colin Garrett	Wide Open Entrepreneurs (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	131	running	0	0	0
22	30	44	Angela Ruch	The Ruch Life (Al Niece)	Chevrolet	131	running	0	15	0
23	32	34	Justin Johnson	RedList (Josh Reaume)	Chevrolet	127	running	0	14	0
24	31	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Waldo’s Painting (Jennifer Jo Cobb)	Chevrolet	90	running	0	13	0
25	21	54	Natalie Decker	Ruedebusch Development (David Gilliland)	Toyota	87	electrical	0	12	0
26	22	02	Tyler Dippel	Lobas Productions (Randy Young)	Chevrolet	80	engine	0	11	0
27	24	19	Derek Kraus	Eneos / NAPA Filters (Bill McAnally)	Toyota	77	transmission	0	10	0
28	28	33	Mason Massey	Anderson Power Services (Josh Reaume)	Chevrolet	63	engine	0	9	0
29	10	13	Johnny Sauter	Tenda Heal (Duke Thorson)	Ford	45	engine	0	15	0
30	5	88	Matt Crafton	Fisher Nuts / Menards (Duke Thorson)	Ford	39	engine	0	16	0
31	8	98	Grant Enfinger	ThorSport Racing / Curb Records (Mike Curb)	Ford	6	engine	0	6	0
32	11	8	John Hunter Nemechek	Berry’s Bullets (Joe Nemechek)	Chevrolet	0	fuel pressure	0	0	0

September 14, 2019

Ankrum’s strong run ends in wreck

The No. 17 of Tyler Ankrum was having a great run going at Michigan International Speedway until he was involved in a wreck with four laps to go after a push gone wrong.

Matt Crafton and Ankrum had been pushing each other all day, helping each other on the restarts that are so tricky at Michigan. On the restart with four to go, Crafton misjudged his push to Ankrum, which sent him spinning in front of the field and he collected his DGR-Crosley teammate.

Despite being caught up in a wreck Ankrum was not disappointed by the outcome.

“Final restart, things got a little bit hairy,” Ankrum told MRN Radio. “I was trying to control some of my tire spin with the clutch, just modulating on the throttle, brakes and the clutch. Just got a really big shove from the 88 (Crafton), felt like he kind of got in my right rear. Just got sideways there, chasing it from there and ended up getting hit from the side.”

“It was a really good effort by my Toyota DGR-Crosley team. We had a really fast truck. I think we could have won if I would have just got a better launch on that restart and not spun my tires so much. Really great effort, just one mistake at the beginning and then we were able to recover and we all saw the speed we had there at the end. Unfortunate it happened but we’re going to go to Bristol and try to go get one there.”

Ankrum’s day started out rough being penalized for a start violation by NASCAR. He would have to serve a pass-through penalty in order to serve the violation. As a result, Ankrum did not get any stage points in Stage 1 as he finished 25th. In stage 2 he had a much better finishing position of 12th.

Before being caught up in the crash with four to go, the California native was slated to restart on the front row with a shot at the win. However, with the crash, Ankrum had to settle for a 25th place finish after starting third.

Ankrum and his No. 17 DGR-Crosley team will now shift their focus to the Playoffs where they are seeded eighth in the standings, 17 points behind first place.

August 10, 2019
1-on-1 with Gander Outdoors Truck Series rookie Tyler Ankrum

Among the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series rookies, DGR-Crosley driver Tyler Ankrum has already established his credentials as a contender by already scoring a victory when he won at Kentucky in July. Afterward, he followed his win with a runner-up finish at Pocono and a ninth-place run at Eldora. He now heads into the Michigan race weekend with a solid spot in the NGOTS Playoffs and is poised for a solid run for the Homestead finale.

SM: You established your crendetials as a top rookie contender with your win at Kentucky, followed by a runner-up finish at Pocono and a ninth-place run at Eldora. That said, how do your feel about your odds winning the Rookie of the Year battle against fellow rookies like Sheldon Creed and Harrison Burton?

Ankrum: I think they’re really good. With Michigan being the last race of the regular season, both Sheldon and Harrison have to win to make it into the Playoffs.

To be frank, Sheldon’s showed a lot of speed on these mile-and-a-half and two-mile race tracks, so I think his odds are pretty good. I’m not too sure about Burton; [Kyle Busch Motorsports] as a whole has struggled all year. But overall, they’re both great racers and both are going to have equal opportunities and equal chances to make it in. I think our chances are really good, and going into Michigan all we’ll really need to do is to keep on doing what we’ve been doing.

SM: Now that you’ve solidified your spot in the NGOTS Playoffs, have you updated any of your previous goals in regards to your Playoff campaign?

Ankrum: No. At the beginning of the year our goal was to go win a championship. The goals have stayed the same. We’re aiming high, and that’s how we’re going to continue to push forward and continue to run up front like we have been doing these past few weeks.

SM: Considering that DGR-Crosley is still somewhat new in the NASCAR garage, how did it feel scoring their first national touring series victory?

Ankrum: Oh, it’s awesome because David [Gilliland, team owner] gave me the opportunity to drive Late Models when I was first getting started in stock cars, then he gave me the same opportunity in his K&N car, and now he’s doing it in the trucks. It’s pretty special for me, and I’m super thankful for all the help I’ve had along the way.

SM: Who do you feel is your toughest competition on the track right now?

Ankrum: That’s pretty tough because the truck series is so competitive right now. This is the most competitive it’s been in a really long time; the top 15 trucks have a chance to win every week and whenever they show up.

The greatest competition right now? I’d have to say either the GMS Racing or ThorSport trucks. It’s either going to be Brett Moffitt or Grant Enfinger, Stewart Friesen (Friesen drives a GMS satellite truck), Ben Rhodes or Matt Crafton even though they’ve struggled a little bit this year. Those two teams alone right there have almost eight trucks, so competition has been real stiff. But I think we can hang with them. We’ve been hanging with them the past few weeks. We’ve been doing things a lot different in the race shop, been making a lot of improvements on our equipment and I’m really proud of what we’ve done.

Just going forward, I have the utmost confidence in our guys and I think they have confidence in me, so at this point we’re starting to really figure things out. I think they’ll have to worry about us more than we’ll have to worry about them.

SM: Due to some sponsorship issues you had to step away and run a couple of races for Joe Nemechek at NEMCO. How did that come about?

Ankrum: When we announced that I was no longer full-time, we knew that for me to maintain my points eligibility you have to participate or at least try in every race. It wasn’t about a day later that Joe Nemechek called me and offered me the opportunity to go drive one of his trucks at Iowa and Gateway. He so graciously let us drive that truck and I’m so thankful to him as well and there’s such great guys over there and they’re super easy to work with. Just super guys who were a blast to be with.

SM: Where do you feel your DGR-Crosley team has been the strongest in the 2019 campaign?

Ankrum: We haven’t run too many short tracks, but we’re really good on the mile-and-a-halfs. We’re really good on working on the setups to what I like and what I can drive to. We’re good at keeping our nose clean during long distances and staying out of everyone’s mess; it’s really been the key to our success to go on up there and try to win every race and not get too caught up in points.

Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 17 Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway on July 11, 2019 in Sparta, Kentucky. Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images.

SM: On that note, where do you as a driver feel your biggest strengths have been?

Ankrum: I feel like my ability to learn is one of my biggest strengths. I can go out there behind a truck on the race track and watch and see what he’s doing while also paying attention to what I’m doing. I feel like I can learn a lot better that way than I could learn on a simulator or watching film. Learning that way helps me a lot when I’m out inside the truck.

I also feel I can put my truck on the edge and leave it there. I feel like I can be consistent and smooth on the wheel, and I feel that’s what really makes a fast car or a fast truck. It’s easy to go out there and throw down a lap but it’s harder to go out there and do that lap after lap. I work on that quite a bit with myself and I think it’s been working so far.

SM: Inversely, where do you feel that you need the most work in regards to your on-track performance?

Ankrum: My restarts. My restarts are pretty poor. Really need to just figure out the transmission ratios for the most part, but I’ve been getting better these past few weeks. So the adjustments we’ve been making to the truck and to myself and just learning, it’s helped a lot.

SM: Going back to your recent streak of a win, a runner-up, and a ninth-place finish, that’s three strong runs on three different kinds of tracks. To what do you owe your performance to?

Ankrum: I would have to go back and owe that to my ability to learn. The ability to just take in as much as possible as fast as possible. Just the least amount of time working on the drivers and the most amount of time working on the truck and making it faster, with you making it faster along the way.

I appreciate [Crew Chief Kevin] “Bono” Manion. He’s huge, in that department he’s a genius. He just knows so much and he’s so knowledgeable it helps. Having all those guys in my corner, it’s huge.

SM: In regards to the Playoffs, there are those on social media who are quick to use you and Matt Crafton as two examples that the Playoffs are supposedly “flawed” towards “deserving” drivers: You started the season late, yet sit solidly in Playoff contention with the regular season finale at Michigan right around the corner, while Crafton sits second in points but could possibly miss out on the Playoffs if another series regular pulls off a surprise win. What’s your take on the assumption that some drivers are more “deserving” than others?

Ankrum: Well, I mean, I feel that that’s the one word everyone gets caught up on – “deserve” – right? No one deserves anything in this world. I don’t deserve someone’s love or respect; that’s why you earn things. I feel like once you earn something you deserve to have it. I feel like that’s what we’ve done this year.

We earned that win at Kentucky. With our hard work and blood, sweat, and tears we earned that win and earned our spot in the Playoffs. Even though I missed the first few races of the year, to me, that just meant I had to work harder to beat the rest. In my mind. Now, if that means that I don’t deserve it? That’s just a matter of opinion.

But my opinion, we earned it and in a way I feel we earned everyone’s respect because they have to take DGR-Crosley seriously now. I feel that, in a sense, means that we deserve to be in the Playoffs. Whether that means there’s a rule that you have to run the entire season, granted, I couldn’t do so because of my age, and once again I did also have to get a waiver.

I’ve seen a lot of the articles saying that NASCAR is abusing this rule because blah blah blah blah blah, I feel that it’s just keyboard warriors out there on Twitter just trying to make a story and stir the pot up. But that’s just my take. I don’t think anything in this world has to do with “deserve,” it has to do with earning and respect. That’s what I really out here trying to do, just earn my right to have everyone’s respect.

August 8, 2019
NASCAR Rookie Rundown following Pocono/Iowa

With NASCAR’s national touring divisions edging closer toward their respective Playoffs, the top rookies in each division are clamoring to stake their spots in their championship races. The rookie race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is contained among three drivers (Ryan Preece, Daniel Hemric, and Matt Tifft) who are racing more among themselves, while Xfinity Series rookies have finally broken into the win column following Chase Briscoe’s win at Iowa.

The same can be said for the Gander Outdoors Truck Series, as Tyler Ankrum scored his first win at Kentucky, highlighting what has been an up-and-down season for the 18-year-old Californian. The win definitely gives momentum over fellow Truck standouts Sheldon Creed and Harrison Burton.

MENCS – Richard Childress Racing driver Hemric has started to come around as the season has progressed, as evidenced by his Pocono finish on Sunday where he finished seventh. His second top-10 of 2019 comes ahead of some stout runs in recent weeks where, with the exception of Kentucky and Loudon, he’s been lingering in the top-20. This includes a streak from the June Pocono race to Daytona where he finished as high as 12th, but no lower than 19th.

The No. 8 Luke Lambert-led team has had speed on the mile-and-a-half speedways, as Hemric qualified third at Chicago, but now it’s a matter of connecting the dots for Hemric as the team is still in its building phase.

Meanwhile, performance in Preece’s JTG-Daugherty Racing camp has remained a constant, running in the top-25 unless sidetracked with issues both on-track and mechanical. He’s shown that his primary strength lies in superspeedways, although his third-best finish of 2019 was a 16th at Martinsville. Other than that, it’s that consistency that might keep him from a Rookie of the Year victory. Still, being a rookie is about learning and growing, and given time Preece may become a contender. But there’s a ceiling at JTG-Daugherty, and he may be hitting it right now with Tristan Smith.

Meanwhile, at Front Row Motorsports, there is definite improvement for Tifft. He’s made it easy on his team, only being slowed by two DNFs in 21 starts, and as a result, he was able to boost his career-best finish from a 20th at Phoenix to a ninth-place run at Daytona. A recent Crew Chief swap with teammate David Ragan sent season-long CC Mike Kelley to the 34 while Seth Barbour helped lead Tifft’s No. 36 to one of its better outings of the season as they finished 23rd at Pocono, a week after the team finished 24th at Loudon.

The No. 36 Mustang has been finishing in the top-30 every race since Michigan, and although that isn’t saying much when compared to the other rookies on this, for a completely new team that was formed before the season began it’s definitely a step forward. At this rate, it isn’t unreasonable to expect regular top-25s out of that camp in the near future.

Chase Briscoe, driver of the No. 98 Ford Performance Ford, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series U.S. Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway on July 27, 2019 in Newton, Iowa. Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images.

Xfinity – The Xfinity Series rookie race has now yielded a race winner, as Briscoe joined his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Cole Custer as a winner this season when he won at Iowa. Briscoe is not only a weekly contender; he’s also a championship favorite now as he’s scored a win, eight top-fives, and 14 top-10s in 19 starts. He isn’t just consistent; he’s strong. He’s been in or among the leaders weekly, and there’s little doubt that Iowa will be his only win this season.

Meanwhile, the best result JR Motorsports rookie Noah Gragson has been able to put together was a second at Michigan, but considering JRM has gone from division powerhouse to not breaking into the win column yet this season isn’t Gragson’s fault. Still, four top-fives and 11 top-10s in 19 starts is nothing to frown at as a rookie. He’s only finished off of the lead lap in four races, but one of those was a sixth at Kentucky, so it isn’t for lack of effort. He’s been consistent, but the JRM strength isn’t there.

It’ll be interesting to see where the No. 11 of Justin Haley goes from this point on this season. He’s been as strong as the top rookies in the division this season, but following the death of Crew Chief Nick Harrison, the team will no doubt be faced with a firmer resolve to succeed in his honor. He’s currently ninth in points with two top-fives and 14 top-10s in 19 starts this season, including an eighth at Iowa with Interim CC Alex Yontz (who also led the team to a 10th at Michigan).

Haley came close to victory at Daytona, proving the No. 11 Kaulig Racing team has the strength and resolve to contend for wins, and as good as Haley is with his equipment (zero DNFs in 2019), it’ll be no surprise when he does score a win.

John Hunter Nemechek has had a roller coaster rookie campaign in 2019. He has three top-fives (including a second at Las Vegas) and 11 top-10s in 19 starts but sits in 10th in the standings as he’s been sidelined with three crash DNFs. He placed third at Iowa, and considering he knows what it takes to win in the series and run near the front, he’ll post more strong finishes this season.

However there’s a catch: GMS Racing’s Xfinity effort isn’t as strong as Ganassi Racing’s 2018 Xfinity effort was, as Nemechek was a Ganassi development driver when he won at Kansas last year. He can get a win, and GMS has an Xfinity Series win, and he’s come close this season to Victory Lane, but it’ll take a little more luck than it did last season to seal the deal.

Harrison Burton goes inside of GMS Racing driver Brett Moffitt at Pocono. Photo by Kirk Schroll

NGOTS – Harrison Burton still continues to lead the Truck Series rookie class with seven top-fives and nine top-10s in 14 starts, which currently leaves him fifth in points with his No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team. Despite the strong showings, though, he can’t seem to finish any higher than third-place, a feat he’s accomplished four times this season.

It’s granted that Burton feels a bit of pressure in his role as a full-time rookie; he’s with a championship-winning organization that has yielded some of the hottest names in NASCAR in recent memory. There’s also pressure considering that the No. 18 is the flagship entry in an organization that has put it in Victory Lane countless times. But unlike his snake-bitten teammate Todd Gilliland, Burton stands a higher chance of placing strongly in the Playoffs and even scoring a win.

Sheldon Creed, however, is not too far behind Burton; with four top-10s he’s currently ninth in points. There’s still pressure on him as he is with a championship-winning organization as well, not to mention his teammate, defending champion Brett Moffitt, has already won twice this year. But Creed needs to exercise a modicum of balance. He’s aggressive behind the wheel, and although it’s nice that there’s a driver who is up on the wheel and ready to get the job done, he’s put himself in situations that have left him with a wrecked truck.

He’s been up front a lot in 2019 and led a lot of laps, so it’s not entirely impossible he parks it in Victory Lane by the end of the season.

Tyler Dippel has definitely been on the underdog side of things, as he’s managed to put himself in the top-15 more often than not. His season highlight so far was when he finished eighth in the first Texas race of 2019, but aside from that his No. 02 Young’s Motorsports entry has only finished outside the top-25 once this season (a crash at Daytona left him in 29th). He’s quietly consistent, and although his equipment may not be top-notch, he’s posting good, solid results that could land him a ride with a solid team down the road.

Tyler Ankrum, on the other hand, got a late start on the season driving for DGR-Crosley Racing, and he’s making up for it in spades. Despite losing a sponsor and being relegated to a couple of appearances in Joe Nemechek’s No. 87, he’s scored a win at Kentucky as well as three top-fives and five top-10s. At Pocono on Saturday he put his No. 17 Toyota in the runner-up spot to Ross Chastain, scoring his second-straight top-two finish, thus showing that the young Californian means business.

Ankrum keeps his equipment together and stays out of wrecks (his save at Texas in June was nothing short of legendary), and considering the No. 17 has momentum he could very well win again this season. If their sponsorship issues can get squared up soon, he could post some more strong results when the Playoffs come around.

July 30, 2019
Ankrum, Burton round out top three finishers at Pocono

Coming off a big win at Kentucky a couple of weeks ago, DGR-Crosley driver Tyler Ankrum was hoping to carry that momentum to Pocono Raceway, a track he has never raced on before Friday.

Ankrum qualified his No. 17 Truck in the ninth position after Friday’s qualifying session, giving him some decent track position. From there, all Ankrum and the DGR-Crosley team could do is hope to move forward and they did just that.

After an eventful first couple of laps, the California native was able to miss all the drama that took place early. In fact, Ankrum avoided all the turmoil throughout the race, finishing 10th in Stage 1 and 21st in Stage 2 after pitting to gain track position for the third and final stage.

Ankrum restarted on the front row alongside eventual race winner Ross Chastain. He was able to get close to Chastain with 13 to go, with the leader saving a little bit of fuel in case of a caution. But ultimately, Ankrum wound up finishing second. Still, it was an impressive performance at a track he had never raced on before.

“I fought myself there at the beginning of the race,” Ankrum said to MRN Radio in his post-race interview. “I was just kind of stepping on my own toes, overdriving the racecar. That’s really easy to do here (at Pocono). You know, you don’t really feel over driving the truck, but the lap times show it. As soon as I could fix myself, it was smooth sailing from there. I burned my tires up trying to chase Ross (Chastain) down, couldn’t get close enough to him in the draft, but just kind of ping-ponged right there.”

“You know, awesome Toyota Tundra, gotta thank Railblaza, DGR-Crosley and all the people who helped me get here.”

With the second-place finish, it gave Ankrum his second top-five of the season.

For Harrison Burton and company, it was a much-needed finish and a great points day for the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports team who is facing the possibility of missing the Playoffs. (Photo by Kirk Schroll/SpeedwayMedia.com.)

Burton came into Pocono sitting right outside the cutoff line and was hoping to have a good day, and he did indeed have just that.

Burton finished third in Stage 1 and after staying out for Stage 2, he was able to win that stage by not pitting under the first stage break and gained some playoff points.

For Stage 3, Burton restarted ninth and had to really work his way up to the front without any cautions. The No. 18 KBM driver was able to do so, finishing in the third position.

“We had a really good truck, we were really fast,” Burton explained to MRN Radio. “It was fun, we had to charge through the field there. We started ninth on the last restart and just had to go. Just ran out of time there at the end, just frustrating. Those guys had good strategy and we were cutting it close there on fuel. I knew they were riding around a little bit, thinking I could get to them. Driving as hard as I could there at the end and driving my butt off at the end, just couldn’t come our way.”

It was Burton’s seventh top five of the season.

July 27, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Kentucky
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series came to Kentucky Speedway for race No. 13 of the 2019 season and what an exciting race it was.

The NASCAR Truck Series saw another first-time winner Thursday night just days after Justin Haley scored his first victory at Daytona. This time, it was Tyler Ankrum for DGR-Crosley who took home the checkered flag and earned his first career win.

Ankrum took the lead from Brett Moffitt with a lap and a half to go, as Moffitt ran out of gas on the backstretch, and Ankrum claimed what was a popular win across the NASCAR community.

While it was a great night for Ankrum and his team who put themselves in a possible playoff spot, there are still potential sponsorship woes for the youngster who hopes to be fighting for the championship at Homestead-Miami.

The 17-year-old got his first win in only his 12th start.

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Stewart Friesen – Friesen delivered another top-five finish for his No. 52 Halmar Racing team. The Canadian finished second for his eighth top-five finish of the year. It was a wild day for Friesen, however, as NASCAR confiscated his primary truck for a firewall issue which could have been a potential competitive advantage. Friesen would have to start last, but it didn’t take him long to get up front and contend for the win. He finished sixth in Stage 2. And as others were running out of gas, Friesen ran out of time and finished 7.373 seconds behind Ankrum. Friesen matched his second-place finish from Texas earlier this season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Third
2. Ross Chastain – While many other drivers had trouble, Chastain did not, despite racing in an unsponsored truck. He qualified fifth and finished fifth, and second in both stages, respectively. Chastain didn’t lead any laps but by finishing inside the top-10 for both stages, he earned a playoff spot and is now in the top-20 in the point standings. Things continue to look up for the Floridian, as he continues to chase the Truck Series championship. Hopefully, it’s the only time Chastain is an unsponsored truck.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Second
3. Harrison Burton – Burton got himself another top-five finish for the 2019 Truck Series season. The No. 18 Safelite driver qualified sixth and stayed there for most of the night. Burton finished sixth in Stage 1 but found trouble in Stage 2 as he went sideways after a restart and received minor damage. Due to the incident and being off strategy from everyone else, Burton would only finish 16th in the second stage. He made the most of it, however, and climbed up to fourth as the final stage began. At the end of the night, the 18-year old wound up third for his sixth top five of the season. Unfortunately, despite earning a third-place finish, Burton is in danger of missing the playoffs as he sits ninth in the standings with only three races left until the playoffs began.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fourth
4. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt came oh so close to taking home his second consecutive win of the season Thursday night in Kentucky. But the No. 24 GMS Racing driver pushed his truck too far, as he fell a lap and a half short of victory when his truck ran out of gas. Before then, it wasn’t until lap 110 when Moffitt took the lead. In his first stint, he would only lead 11 laps before taking the lead again on Lap 125. From there, the Grimes, Iowa native led for 24 laps until running out of fuel. Moffitt finished a disappointing seventh after leading a combined 35 laps. For his efforts, he finished seventh in Stage 1. Moffitt leads the playoff points standings.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – First
5. Austin Wayne Self – A driver who benefited from other drivers running out of gas late was Texan, Austin Wayne Self, who finished sixth. Surprisingly, it was his first top-10 finish since the season opener at Daytona. Self also finished eighth in the second stage. It was a great outing for his family owned No. 22 team.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
  
  Unranked
  
  1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger had a great day going, qualifying on the pole, his second of the year. The Alabama native finished second in Stage 1, but bad luck hit in Stage 2 when Enfinger got loose in Turn 4 and went up the track and taking Brandon Jones with him, smacking the wall hard. Enfinger’s night would be cut short early on Lap 66 after leading 22 laps.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Fifth
  
  Honorable Mention
  
  1. Spencer Davis – In just his third Truck Series start of the season, Davis finished eighth after starting 21st. The Georgia native even finished fifth in the second stage. It was his first top-10 finish since Texas of 2018.
  
  2. Tyler Hill – Hill is making the most out of his first Truck Series season. It was his third start of 2019 with a still new team. Hill, the brother of Timmy Hill, finished 11th, one spot outside the top-10. It’s the best finish that the No. 56 Truck has seen so far in its short career.
July 16, 2019
Tyler Ankrum scores first career win at Kentucky

Former NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Series champion Tyler Ankrum earned his first career Gander Outdoors Truck Series win at Kentucky Speedway after passing Brett Moffitt with two laps to go.

“I can’t even describe it,” Ankrum explained to MRN Radio in his post-race interview about the last laps. “I don’t know if anything was going through my head honestly, I was just trying to drive as hard as I could. This DGR-Crosley Railblaza/Academy Toyota, it was on fire. I just can’t believe that we did this!

Coming into the Buckle Up in Your Truck 225, Grant Enfinger won the pole earlier in the day, his second of the season. Stages were broken up into 35/35/80 laps to make up the 150-lap race.

It was clean and green without any major incidents in the first stage. As a matter of fact, the stage would remain caution free. There were some notable incidents, however, as Austin Hill came down pit road on Lap 28 with possible engine issues. Just a few laps later on Lap 33, he went behind the wall for the rest of the night and wound up with a disappointing 31st place finish.

Sheldon Creed and the No.2 GMS Racing team took home the first stage after leading all 35 laps.

The action picked up, especially on pit road when Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton were each caught with a commitment line violation and had to serve a penalty.

Stage 2 began on Lap 41 and saw a lot of incidents ramp up. The first incident took place right after the restart when Spencer Boyd and Natalie Decker made contact with each other and were sent viciously into the wall, destroying both trucks. The incident also collected Jordan Anderson and a little bit of Sauter’s truck as well.

On Lap 56, the third caution was brought out for the No. 42 of Chad Finley, when his truck just snapped loose and wound up hitting the wall off Turn 4. Finley would wind up 26th after starting 12th.

More action occurred under caution when the No. 4 of Todd Gilliland come down pit road with the hood up. It appeared there were engine issues, possibly a plug wire or it was down a cylinder. But there was no confirmation from the team on the issues for the No. 4 truck.

The next caution flew on Lap 60 when Harrison Burton got loose in Turns 1 and 2, eventually going sideways. Burton brought two other trucks with him in the incident, Gus Dean and Josh Bilicki. Sauter once again barely escaped the wreck without any major damage.

Five laps later, the No. 98 of Grant Enfinger hit a bump in Turn 4 with Brandon Jones to his outside. The two would make hard contact with each other, slamming Jones in the wall with his truck eventually catching on fire. Both Jones and Enfinger would be done for the night.

With the wreck taking place so close to the end of Stage 2, the second stage ended under caution and with the No. 88 of Matt Crafton taking the stage win and earning 10 Playoff points.

The third and final stage began on Lap 76 and saw a long green flag run toward the finish line.

A few notable incidents occurred in the stage as well. Stage 1 winner, Sheldon Creed, wound up having a flat right front tire shortly after the stage restarted.

Later on, as the stage began to wind down, Tyler Ankrum took the lead on Lap 73. Despite a hard-charge from Ben Rhodes, he could not take the lead from Ankrum and Chicago winner Brett Moffitt took second place.

Pit stops began to take place shortly after lap 100. Even with the pit stops, it appeared most drivers did not have enough to make it on fuel to the end, which saw the race become a fuel mileage game.

Moffitt tried outsmarting Ankrum on his pit stop, while Ankrum had a somewhat longer stop. Moffitt would still be the leader after his final round of pit stops.

With about 20 to go, Rhodes and Brennan Poole made contact with each other. This left Rhodes with a left rear tire to go down, while Pool had a right front tire go down late in the going.

Just 10 laps later with 10 to go, the race leaders, including Moffitt, were told to start saving a little bit of fuel in case of caution. During that run, other drivers like Matt Crafton and Todd Gilliland fell short and ran out of gas. Moffitt continued running thinking he had enough to make it on fuel. Unfortunately, he ran out of gas just half a lap away from taking the white flag. Ankrum, who just turned 18-years-old, went on by to take the lead and eventually his first ever career win.

“I accidentally put a ice bag down my chest, ripped my right side ear mold out,” Ankrum told MRN Radio. “So half the time, all I could understand was inside or outside. I honestly did not hear a whole lot, so I’m so proud. Man, that’s all I got, I don’t know. This goes to show that youngsters and underdogs can still win. You know, I don’t think DGR has been viewed as a GMS, KBM, or ThorSport team but they will be now. I’m honestly so proud of that, that’s what I’ve been wanting to do. I’m all about improvement, improving every single week trying to get better and that’s what we did, we finished it!”

It was Ankrum’s first Truck Series win in just 12 starts. His previous best finish was third at Texas in June. Ankrum led three times for 40 laps and has currently earned a spot in the Playoffs.

There were five cautions for 33 laps, with 10 lead changes among seven drivers.

Playoff Watch
1. Brett Moffitt, Two wins
2. Ross Chastain, One win, Clinched playoff spot
3. Johnny Sauter, One win
4. Austin Hill, One win
5. Tyler Ankrum, One win
6. Grant Enfinger, +73
7. Stewart Friesen, +61
8. Matt Crafton, +40
Below the cut line
9. Harrison Burton, -40
10. Ben Rhodes, -60
11. Todd Gilliland, -110

Up Next: The Truck Series will take another week off before heading to “The Tricky Triangle” of Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 27.

July 11, 2019
Tyler Ankrum recovers from spin and finishes third at Texas

Just when you thought that the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race couldn’t get any wilder, it did. Tyler Ankrum, the recent high school graduate, went for a wild slide down pit road after a restart Lap 74 but still managed to score a top-five finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

The San Bernardino, California native started the race in the eighth position. While he did not earn any stage points, the No. 17 DGR-Crosley driver was able to avoid all the crashes and the melee that took place throughout the night for a third-place finish.

“I had it sideways because (Stewart) Friesen got off my door and I saw pit road, and I gunned it,” Ankrum said to MRN Radio about his wild pit road slide. “I was like alright, we’ll either hit the grass or pit road, and I thought I had it semi saved and we started heading toward the wall. I thought this was going to hurt. So just slammed on the brake and turned left, pushing the clutch just thinking to myself, this is going to hurt. It eventually stopped, spun back but man, it was a nerve-wracking moment for me. At that point, I thought our night was done because we were coming back from two laps down. We were two laps down again at that point because when you go down pit road at 190 mph, they kind of don’t like that, so they penalize you for that. And also going a lap down because we blew all four tires. It was definitely an eventful night for us.”

Despite finishing in the third position and earning his best career finish since his sixth-place finish at this track earlier in the year, Ankrum doesn’t know if he’ll be racing the next two races.

“We really don’t know for the next two races for money,” Ankrum said. “You know, struggling to find sponsorship, I don’t know if we will or not. Altogether, our season has been escalating tremendously. I felt our No. 17 DGR truck, our No. 17 Railblaza Toyota Tundra could win a race. I think tonight proved it. We led laps and actually passed for the lead, and maintained the lead and maintained a solid gap. I think this DGR-Crosley team could do it, but it’s going to take a lot of resources to do it to pull it together. I think going forward, we can do it.”

It was a memorable night for Ankrum who graduated high school on stage tonight during driver intros. He led nine laps during the race to capture his first Truck Series top five.

June 8, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Power Rankings-Dover
The NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series returned to on-track action this past weekend at Dover International Speedway, famously known as the Monster Mile.

While it’s known to reach out and bite drivers, the drivers, for the most part, able to tame it. One, in particular, Johnny Sauter, took the lead with 30 to go and went on to win the JEGS 200. It didn’t come without some controversy, however, as Sauter fought an ignition issue early on but he rebounded nicely for the win.

While it was Sauter’s third consecutive win at Dover, how did everyone else fair? Was Stewart Friesen able to keep the points lead?

Here’s a look at this weeks power rankings.
1. Grant Enfinger – Enfinger and the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment team had a good day at Dover, finishing fourth after starting sixth and running inside the top-10 all day. Enfinger even finished fourth in both stages and led three laps. Nonetheless, Enfinger had something to smile about after the race was over, as he took over the points lead by four points over teammate Johnny Sauter. It was Enfinger’s fourth top five of the year thus far.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- 2nd
2. Brett Moffitt – Some say Moffitt should have won this race. The No. 24 team got off to a great start Friday by qualifying on the pole. As the race started, Moffitt completely dominated and won Stage 1 and finished third in Stage 2. He consistently stayed up front, led 81 laps and finished second.
  
  Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked
3. Johnny Sauter – You could say Sauter got the monkey off his back by winning at one of his favorite racetracks. He showed speed in qualifying by starting on the outside pole. Sauter won Stage 2 but faced an ignition issue afterward. The No. 13 team was able to get it fixed and ultimately Sauter went on to win. Believe it or not, it was his first win of the season. Keep an eye on Sauter and company as they just might start to go on a tear this summer.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – Not Ranked
4. Matt Crafton – Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team were able to salvage a top-five finish at Dover this past weekend, but not without a tough start. The two-time champion had to drop to the rear after an engine change before the race. Problems only got worse for Crafton as they started to face plug wire issues. Crafton came back to finish fifth. However, the No. 88 team had seen better days and were looking forward to getting out of Dover. Nice rebound, however, for the veteran driver.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 3rd
5. Ross Chastain – Chastain had an eventful day at the Monster Mile. He didn’t have nearly as strong a truck as in past races this year but still managed a top 10 finish, even after some close calls. There was a moment late in the race, where he almost lost control of his truck which would have brought out a caution. A late race caution helped the team get a decent finish to continue their great run in the 2019 season.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 4th
  
  Fell Out
  
  1. Stewart Friesen – After qualifying fourth and finishing fifth in Stage 2, the No. 52 team was really nowhere to be seen throughout the race. Friesen wound up 12th and lost the points lead to Grant Enfinger, and now sits third in the standings, 11 points behind.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 1st
  
  2. Tyler Ankrum – Ankrum quietly finished ninth at Dover but didn’t make too much noise, as he has had in previous races, such as his sixth-place finish in March at Texas.
  
  Previous Week Ranking – 5th
May 8, 2019
NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series Power Rankings-Texas 1
The NASCAR Gander Outdoor Truck Series visited the Midwest this past weekend to Texas Motor Speedway.

It was the fifth race of the 2019 season and from the get-go, the Vankor 350 was a wild event. Turn 2 was the trouble spot for the night with four cautions taking place in that turn.

The action didn’t stop there though. The end of Stage 1 saw Thorsport teammates make a nervous moment for the team owner as Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes battled it out for the stage win.

When the race was winding down, Stewart Friesen found himself chasing down Kyle Busch for his first career win. Friesen was only able to get to Busch’s back bumper, but once he did, Friesen’s truck got tight and went away. Ultimately, a familiar foe played the same song, fourth verse. Fourth verse as Kyle Busch continued his winning dominance in the Truck Series.

While Busch won again for the fourth time this year, Truck Series regulars had to settle for a solid points night and look forward to a win at Dover, where Busch is not competing.

Here’s a look at this week’s power rankings following the Vankor 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.
1. Stewart Friesen – Another second place finish for the No. 52 driver out of Canada. He came close to snapping Kyle Busch’s win streak, but just got tight at the end. Only a slip up on Busch’s part (which is rare on his part) or a late race caution would have given Friesen another chance. As much as he wanted to win, the Canadian still had a solid night and continues to be the Truck Series points leader by six points.
Previous Week Ranking- 3rd

2. Grant Enfinger – A top five finish for the Alabama driver who finished fourth after starting on the pole. The highlight of the night came at the end of Stage 1 narrowly edging Ben Rhodes to win the stage. For Stage 2, he finished seventh. In the end, the No. 98 team wound up fourth after “almost wrecked all three restarts,” Enfinger said coming to the checkers. It was his third top five of the year.

Previous Week Rankings – 5th

3. Matt Crafton – The winless streak continued following Texas for Crafton and the No. 88 Menards team finishing fifth. However, since the Vegas race, it’s all been about consistency for Crafton who has finished inside the top-10 in all races this year, except Atlanta where he finished 14th which he had come down pit road for a loose wheel under caution. Crafton finished 12th and second in both stages, respectively. Ultimately, the No. 88 Thorsport driver finished fifth. He’ll look to Dover, where Crafton won a couple of years ago.

Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked

4. Ross Chastain- While it wasn’t the night Chastain wanted, he still had a great finish and was able to claim another top-10 of the season. It was a relatively quiet night for the Floridian who finished seventh. Chastain finished 13th and fourth in both stages, respectively. He never really contended for the win, but momentum is everything in NASCAR and it’ll carry to Dover.

Previous Week Ranking- 5th

5. Tyler Ankrum- A great run for the No. 17 DGR-CROSLEY driver who finished sixth, despite his teammate Anthony Alfredo’s truck who caught on fire in a scary crash in Turn 2. Alfredo would be okay and have no serious injuries. Ankrum, however, finished seventh and tenth in both stages, respectively. Ankrum tied his best finish of sixth Friday night in his young career. The last time he finished sixth was last November at ISM Raceway.

Previous Week Ranking- Not Ranked.

Fell Out
1. Brett Moffitt – Moffitt had a great night going until, with 20 to go, he had a tire go down and was forced to pit. The No. 24 GMS Racing team finished 19th, four laps down. If you look throughout the race, the results don’t reflect how well Moffitt was running before this unfortunate mishap. He started on the front row in second and finished sixth in both stages. After a forgettable finish, Moffitt will look forward to Dover in May.
Previous Week Ranking- 1st
1. Ben Rhodes – After an eventful ending to Stage 1 where Rhodes finished second to Enfinger and going on to finish third in Stage 2, he really was not seen for the rest of the night. The Carolina Nut Company Ford F-150 ThorSport team wound up in 10th place.
Previous Week Ranking- 4th
April 1, 2019