DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.: A race that went into triple overtime at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course saw Christian Eckes sneak in a top-10 finish in his ThorSport Racing debut in Friday night’s BrakeBest Brake Pads 159.
Eckes is splitting the No. 98 Toyota seat with Grant Enfinger who left the season-opener at Daytona last week with an 11th place finish despite having an opportunity to win on the final lap of the NextEra Energy Resources 250.
With a solid run by Enfinger, Eckes would start the first of his minimum 10-races for ThorSport 16th based on the event formula and despite a race infused by yellow flags, Eckes would keep his No. 98 Protect The Harvest | Curb Records Toyota Tundra tucked near the top-10 for a majority of the scheduled 44-lap event.
As teammate Ben Rhodes was approaching the white flag, the caution waved sending the field back into overtime with Eckes seeded 10th.
In the chaos leading up to the finish of the race, Eckes even was spun from another competition which sent him to pit road for tires and enough fuel to make it to the finish.
Clawing from 24th, Eckes would take advantage of two additional yellow flags and a fast Toyota Tundra to claim 10th when the checkered flag waved seven laps past its scheduled distance.
“It was a good first day, a good first day with ThorSport,” said Eckes post-race. “We fought a lot of obstacles throughout the day.
“We tried some things that didn’t really work and then we got spun with three to go and came from all the way in the back to finish 10th, so overall, a decent first day.”
Eckes, 20, was one of three ThorSport Racing trucks finishing inside the top-10. Teammate Rhodes went onto score his second and back-to-back victories to open 2021, while Matt Crafton took sixth and Johnny Sauter fell to 18th at the end.
With a strong finish and tenacity to his credit, Eckes will stay behind the wheel for ThorSport in the next Truck Series event at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway on Mar. 5, 2021.
The 1.5-mile Nevada track has produced some good results for the Toyota Racing driver, including a pole in his Truck Series track debut in 2019 and two top-10 finishes, including a third in September 2019.
Last fall, he finished eighth after starting ninth and leading five laps in a Kyle Busch Motorsports entry.
The even better news for Eckes? The No. 98 ThorSport Racing team is a former winner at Las Vegas – sending Enfinger to his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in the fall of 2018.
“I’m looking forward to getting back in a Tundra with this team in Vegas,” added Eckes.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
