Tyler Ankrum driving a great race during the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas. (Photo Christopher Vargas | The Podium Finish)
LAS VEGAS — Tyler Ankrum entered the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader.
Ankrum, who switched from Hattori Racing Enterprises to an expanding McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the offseason, has started the 2024 campaign hot. After finishing 11th at Daytona International Speedway and seventh at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ankrum was able to continue his momentum qualifying in fifth place.
Once the green flag waved, Ankrum showed that his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet Silverado was there to stay, running inside the Top 10 for the entirety of Stage 1, before finishing in the fourth position in the stage.
However, Ankrum fell back after the Stage One pitstops, restarting back in row five in the 10th position when Stage 2 went green on Lap 37. After battling just inside of the top 10 during Stage 2, Ankrum fell a few places back in the closing laps of the stage, finishing in 12th.
After a quick caution to start the final stage when Dean Thompson got into the wall, Ankrum was able to gain some of his track position back and rebound up to sixth place with just under 55 laps to go.
Ankrum made his final pit stop on Lap 103 during green flag pit stops and cycled out in the fourth position, only behind the eventual winner of the race Rajah Caruth, and Tricon Garage teammates, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray. Ankrum was able to get by both Heim and Gray after a tough battle in the closing laps to come home runner-up, Ankrum’s best finish since 2020 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“I wish we would have had 10 more laps, and I think we could gotten it,” Ankrum said after the race. “But we tend to say that a lot in racing. I wish we would have been able to do it, but I think our time is coming.”
Ankrum’s time looks like it may be coming. He has already set a career-high in laps led with 62 through three races. Ankrum has matched his top five totals from the last two seasons combined, as well as retaining his spot as the points leader.
“We had a very good race. We executed well. We made few, minimal mistakes and that’s all you can really ask for with a race.”
Ankrum and his team will have an extra week to prepare as the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series resumes racing on Mar. 16 when teams square off at Bristol Motor Speedway.
