Christian Eckes scores double-overtime Truck Series win at Darlington

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA - MAY 12: Christian Eckes, driver of the #19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on May 12, 2023 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

Christian Eckes stayed out front all day in Darlington and put himself in prime position for the final overtime restart. Leading a race-high 82 of 158 laps made him the control car, and he kept that lead for a lap before barely crossing the line when the caution flag flew and ended the Buckle Up South Carolina 200.

His third career win, and second of the season, came under caution after Grant Enfinger and Nick Sanchez tangled, but that didn’t make the return to victory lane any less meaningful. It follows a five week stretch with nothing but three 30th place finishes and two 15 place finishes respectively. The dominance in the truck did make it less exciting, though, to Eckes.

“I don’t really feel that excited,” he said, “because the truck was so good it drove itself. It’s been a really, really rough couple of weeks.”

“To come back and win shows the resilience of this team, and how we had to win it just shows the fight in this team, he added. “I was really determined. It’s really, really fun to be here, man, and when you have a truck like this, you’ve just got to finish it out.”

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 12: Christian Eckes, driver of the #19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on May 12, 2023 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Stewart Friesen finished second after an excellent restart in the first overtime put him just behind Eckes.

“It’s a great team effort,” Friesen called the result. “We didn’t have a great truck in dirty air, but our TRD PRO was good in clean air. We had a good restart there at the end, but I was able to get the second spot. Proud of my guys.”

Taylor Gray ended up third despite struggling with his car early in the race. Good adjustments put him back in contention, and the restarts shook out in his favor.

“We didn’t fire off that well, we were really loose to fire and fought that through practice,” Gray explained. “Then we were able to go from almost being a lap down to finishing third. Pit crew was amazing tonight and gained us spots every stop and that’s all you can ask for.”

“This is a track I feel like I’ve struggled to finish at in the past,” he added. It’s nice to finally come here and finish one out. We didn’t have the complete race that we wanted, but the end result was good and that’s all that matters.”

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 12: Christian Eckes, driver of the #19 Gates Hydraulics Chevrolet, William Byron, driver of the #51 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, Tanner Gray, driver of the #15 Black’s Tire Toyota, and Rajah Caruth, driver of the #24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, race during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on May 12, 2023 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

William Byron finished fourth, driving for Kyle Busch motorsports, followed by Carson Hocevar. Byron finished best among the Cup Series drivers, and said the result is useful experience heading into Sunday’s race.

“We needed a little bit longer runs, I think,” said Byron. “Our truck was strong on longer runs—we just had too many medium to short runs, and it was hard to get track position there to advance forward.”

“Hopefully, we learned some stuff for the Cup race. We usually run really good here, so it’s just a matter of trying to put it all together and learn some nuances with the racetrack, so hopefully we did that.”

Byron’s fellow Cup drivers finished further back, with Bubba Wallace in 7th, Ross Chastain in 13th, and Corey Lajoie in 16th. Chastain will be running the Xfinity race as well to compete in each of NASCAR’s premier series at Darlington.

DARLINGTON, SOUTH CAROLINA – MAY 12: A general view of pit roaduring the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway on May 12, 2023 in Darlington, South Carolina. (Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images)

After a clean set of first laps, the third stage counted for six cautions for cause. Notably involved in those was points leader Zane Smith, who was part of a three-car accident on Lap 101 and finished 22nd and still retains the series lead by nine points over Ty Majeski, who finished 35 laps down in 31st after his crew changed the steering box.

The first overtime was brought out in the final few laps by Jake Garcia, who spun by himself after fighting a loose truck.

The Truck Series returns for the Tyson 250 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 20th.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Buckle Up South Carolina 200
Darlington Raceway
Darlington, South Carolina
Friday, May 12, 2023

1. (4) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 158.
2. (6) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 158.
3. (11) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 158.
4. (8) William Byron(i), Chevrolet, 158.
5. (18) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 158.
6. (13) Rajah Caruth #, Chevrolet, 158.
7. (15) Bubba Wallace(i), Toyota, 158.
8. (1) Corey Heim, Toyota, 158.
9. (25) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 158.
10. (24) Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 158.
11. (3) Nick Sanchez #, Chevrolet, 158.
12. (19) Matt Crafton, Ford, 158.
13. (16) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 158.
14. (2) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 158.
15. (17) Tyler Ankrum, Toyota, 158.
16. (29) Corey LaJoie(i), Chevrolet, 158.
17. (36) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 158.
18. (14) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 158.
19. (20) Daniel Dye #, Chevrolet, 158.
20. (26) Hailie Deegan, Ford, 158.
21. (12) Taylor Gray #, Toyota, 158.
22. (22) Zane Smith, Ford, 158.
23. (34) Bret Holmes #, Chevrolet, 158.
24. (23) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 157.
25. (7) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, 157.
26. (5) Jake Garcia #, Chevrolet, 157.
27. (32) Ryan Vargas, Toyota, 156.
28. (27) Johnny Sauter, Ford, 156.
29. (35) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, 155.
30. (30) Lawless Alan, Chevrolet, Accident, 126.
31. (9) Ty Majeski, Ford, 123.
32. (10) Chase Purdy, Chevrolet, Accident, 100.
33. (33) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 78.
34. (21) Parker Kligerman(i), Chevrolet, Oil Leak, 48.
35. (31) Dawson Cram(i), Toyota, Mechanical, 36.
36. (28) Brennan Poole(i), Toyota, Engine, 20.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 105.539 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 2 Mins, 42 Secs. Margin of Victory: Under Caution Seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 37 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: C. Heim 1-26;C. Eckes 27-52;C. Heim 53-87;W. Byron(i) 88-94;C. Heim 95-97;C. Eckes 98-115;C. Heim 116-117;T. Gray # 118;C. Eckes 119-129;H. Deegan 130-131;C. Eckes 132-158.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Christian Eckes 4 times for 82 laps; Corey Heim 4 times for 66 laps; William Byron(i) 1 time for 7 laps; Hailie Deegan 1 time for 2 laps; Taylor Gray # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,11,25,51,23,42,52,1,2,4
Stage #2 Top Ten: 51,11,19,42,1,35,52,23,56,17

Owen Johnson