MOTORSPORT AMERICA SPOTLIGHTS PHOTOS BY DAVID J. GRIFFIN IN NASCAR’S RETURN TO THE LEGENDARY NORTH CAROLINA MOTOR SPEEDWAY AT ROCKINGHAM
NASCAR Wire Services – Rockingham, N.C. — 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 BTS 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.
The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Racing Quanta Ford led the field for 43 laps in the BTS Black’s Tire 200 and saved just enough fuel in the closing moments of Friday’s race to notch the second runner-up result of his career to tie a career-best finish.
“These guys work really, really hard and put together really nice pieces for me to come drive,” Garcia said. “I’ve got good trucks under me now and can run up front.”
Chandler Smith Runs out of Gas in the End
Chandler Smith arguably had the fastest truck in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ return to Rockingham Speedway but ran out of fuel in the closing laps in Friday’s BTS Black’s Tire 200. The 22-year-old Georgia native from Talking Rock started the Black’s Tire 200 in P2, sharing the Front Row with his fellow Georgian, ThorSport Racing driver Jack Garcia, who hails from Monroe. Smith maintained his track position throughout the race; however, he ran out of fuel while he was running P2 behind Tyler Ankrum, with less than two laps to go. He eventually secured a P13 finish at The Rock. Smith has already clinched a spot in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs.
Indeed, Tyler Ankrum stretched his fuel mileage across the final 88 laps at The Rock to score his first win since 2019 and snap a 130-race winless streak, the longest in series history. Garcia is still searching for his first trip to Victory Lane, but a stretch of four consecutive top 10s is building momentum in the right direction for the 20-year-old Georgian.
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 a 12-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 the 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 Marietta, Georgia’s Corey Heim came to pit road. The Tricon Garage driver stayed on the track during consecutive cautions early in the final stage and was running P1 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.”
The Truck Series will return to action in two weeks at Texas Motor Speedway for the SpeedyCash.com 250 on Friday, May 2 (8 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Special thanks from Motorsport America to contributing photographer David J. Griffin for coverage from Rockingham Speedway.