LAS VEGAS, Nev: Tyler Ankrum was closing the gap significantly to leader Rajah Caruth late in Friday night’s Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, but the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver ran out of laps and settled for a runner-up finish.
From the drop of the green flag in practice, Ankrum showcased the speed in his No. 18 LiUNA! Chevrolet turned the fastest lap in practice and backed up the strong lap in practice with a fifth-place result in qualifying.
From the drop of the green flag, Ankrum held his own, but as the race pressed on, the handling of his No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing faded. The former Truck Series winner had to wait for the middle of Stage 3 before he showed up to play in the closing laps in the third Truck Series race of the season.
A vital pit stop by the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team not only kept the San Bernardino, Calif. native in the hunt, but Ankrum took advantage of some of his competitor’s misfortune during their green flag pit stops to march back into the top five with less than 20 laps to go.
Over the next seven laps, Ankrum caught the TRICON Garage duo of Corey Heim and Taylor Gray, took the runner-up spot from Gray on Lap 121, and began his attempt to reel in Caruth.
The two Chevrolet drivers would slice and dice through lap traffic and take turns at posting the fastest lap on the track, but with Caurth stretching his lead with eight laps to go, Ankrum began trimming the deficit with six laps remaining.
More than two seconds back, Ankrum crossed the start-finish line, 0.851 seconds behind Caruth, to claim second place and his best finish of the 2024 Truck Series season.
“I’m incredibly satisfied; I had every ounce of energy going into focusing,” said Ankrum after the race. “We started off the race there pretty good. Had a bad pit stop and that set the stage, we just got behind and way too tight.”
Ankrum applauded his team and pit crew for improving the handling of his truck and being mistake-free during the only green flag pit stop of the race.
“The pit crew made the right adjustments and had really quick stops – no mistakes on a green flag pit road,” added Ankrum.
“It was definitely a hot battle with Corey (Heim) and Taylor (Gray). It was a lot of fun, ran up front there. Congratulations to Rajah, as well as Chad Walters, his crew chief. He crew chiefed’ me back in 2020. He’s a great crew chief and with a talented driver. Congratulations to them.
“I’m happy for LiUNA! Getting second place at Vegas, I can finally say that I got Vegas figured out and I can run good here.”
Ankrum believed, though, that if the race had another 10 laps, he would have been able to battle Caruth for the victory.
“I wish we would have had 10 more laps, and I think we could have gotten it,” he said. “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 heads into the first off week for the Truck Series retaining the points lead by five over Ty Majeski, Corey Heim (-7) and Rajah Caurth (-10).
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01 or email at [email protected].
