Christian Eckes Holds Off Kyle Busch For Bristol Win

Christian Eckes enjoys his sword after winning Saturday night’s WEATHER GUARD Truck Race at Bristol. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

BRISTOL, Tenn. — After securing the pole position on Saturday afternoon at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christian Eckes fended off a late rally by Kyle Busch in a return trip to Victory Lane and his first win of the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.

“It’s so sweet (to win at Bristol),” Eckes said to FOX NASCAR pit reporter Josh Sims. “There’s just so much behind this win, you know from last year missing out the championship four and losing the race with five to go.

“To come back and redeem ourselves was our No. 1 goal and not only that, but with how terribly the first three races have gone. We had a lot of issues and to come back to run good shows our resilience of this team. Just super pumped and ready for the next 19 races.”

Once the race went green, Eckes was quickly challenged by Busch early on in the going. Eckes led the first 53 laps of the race before Busch took the lead at Lap 53.

During the first run, two yellows slowed the race. The first caution came out at Lap 7 for Matt Mills who spun on the frontstretch and hit the outside of the pit wall. Then, with 20 laps to go in Stage 1, another caution came out for a three-truck incident involving Keith McGee, Taylor Gray and Stefan Parsons.

McGee spun on the backstretch after sliding up into Gray and then went sideways before coming to a stop. After the restart with 12 laps to go in Stage 1, Busch was smooth sailing and went on to take the stage victory.

Kyle Busch swept the stages in Saturday night’s Truck race at Bristol. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)

Under the caution, Las Vegas race winner Rajah Caruth was penalized for pitting outside the pit box. The green flag flew for Stage 2 on Lap 77. In a rare occasion for Bristol race standards, Stage 2 was devoid of cautions as Busch swept the stages with no issues.

In the final stage, the restart came with 108 laps to go, as Busch and Eckes were on the front row. Following the restart, Busch cleared Eckes for the lead and maintained the top position before a caution flew at Lap 144.

This time, the caution was for ThorSport Racing teammates Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes collding with each other. Majeski got loose off Turn 2 and accidentally tangled with the No. 18 of Tyler Ankrum. Afterward, Majeski spun in front of the field and Rhodes was the bystander who crashed into the side of Majeski’s truck.

Unfortunately, Majeski’s race was cut short with 80 laps to go while Rhodes struggled for the rest of the night, ultimately finsihing in the 16th position.

Kyle Busch and Christian Eckes duel for the win at Bristol on Saturday night. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

Then, Busch and Eckes battled side-by-side with each other for multiple laps before Busch cleared Eckes for a moment. Despite taking the lead, Eckes came back to take the lead with 91 laps to go while Busch fell to the second position.

There was a hairy moment between the two drivers when Eckes made slight contact with Busch as the two-time Cup series champion nearly lost his truck. Fortunately for Busch, he kept his truck clean and saved it from any major contact.

The race began heating up with 34 laps to go as Busch tried to get back to the lead and brought Crafton with him. The three drivers put on a great show until the final yellow of the race came out three laps later when Sanchez and Stewart Friesen had issues on the frontstretch.

A late-race restart would come with 24 laps to go. Eckes jumped out front of Busch and began checking out, building a 1.2 second lead over the Spire Motorsports racer.

Eventually, Busch used a different line, making ground up on the race leader. Busch cut the lead to under a second in the closing laps, but eventually ran out of time.

Mainly, Eckes held off Busch by 0.141 seconds for his seventh win of his Truck series career.

Christian Eckes waved his hands up in the air without repercussions at Bristol. (Photo: Josh James | The Podium Finish)

Overall, Eckes led two times for 144 laps en route to his first victory of the 2024 season. There were four lead changes among three different leaders and six cautions for 50 laps.

Up Next

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to the Circuit of the Americus next Saturday for the fifth race of the season.

Stage 1 Top 10 Results

1. Kyle Busch (i)
2. Christian Eckes
3. Nick Sanchez
4. Ty Majeski
5. Zane Smith (i)
6. Taylor Gray
7. Tyler Ankrum
8. Ben Rhodes
9. Kaden Honeycutt
10. Grant Enfinger

Stage 2 Top 10 Results

1. Kyle Busch
2. Nick Sanchez
3. Christian Eckes
4. Ty Majeski
5. Zane Smith (i)
6. Tyler Ankrum
7. Stewart Friesen
8. Matt Crafton
9. Ben Rhodes
10. Layne Riggs (R)

WEATHER GUARD Truck Race at Bristol Motor Speedway Race Results