HAMPTON, Ga.:
Starting in the fifth position, the No.19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet driver would be encouraged to save fuel at the beginning just like at Daytona International Speedway. With this plan, the team could make it to the end of the second stage with a good chance to win the race.
By Lap 11, the Greenville, NY driver would charge his way to the front of the field and take over the top position.
Coming to the end of Stage 1, Eckes would report to the team “I have no brake pedal. It’s non-existent. It goes all the way to the floor. “
Clearly upset over the radio, the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver communicated tersely “I don’t think that you understand the severity of this situation. It’s smoking. Some sort of fluid running on the right side of the floorboards.”
As the team put together a plan to repair the issue, crew chief Charles Denike attempted to console Eckes, letting him know that they would find the leak, clamp it off and add brake fluid and get him back on the track but the Chevrolet driver would say: “ I can manage it but I just can’t stop.”
On his first attempt to come down to pit road, Eckes could not slow down enough to enter his pit stall safely so he would return to the track to come around and try it again. Once again coming down pit road, he would make it to his pit stall and stop with the assistance of his pit crew.
Going a lap down on pit road during the repairs to his Chevy Silverado, Eckes would return to the track in the 31st position and tells his team that “If the caution comes out, I am going to have to put it in the wall to slow down.”
When the caution came out on Lap 51, Eckes would get the truck slowed down enough to get into the garage area to repair his brakes but unfortunately for the 23-year-old driver, both he and his crew chief were called to the NASCAR hauler after the race for miscommunicating his brake issue to a NASCAR official.
Eckes expressed his disappointment after exiting his truck in the garage. “The No. 19 Napa Auto Care Chevrolet was really good today. I felt like it was the best truck by a decent amount. He would go on to state “I was able to put a little bit of room on them in the first stage so to be out with something pretty stupid is bad. We’ll learn from this and move onto Vegas.”
Next up for Eckes is the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday March 1st, 2024, at 9pm E.T.
Follow Grace Krenrich on Twitter @grace3140 or email at [email protected]
