TALLADEGA, Ala.: Coming into Talladega Speedway for Love’s RV Stop 225, Tyler Ankrum knew it was a wild card race in the playoffs. Anything could happen, but his biggest hopes were to win or have a good points day; unfortunately for the driver, that was not to be.
Starting Stage 1 in seventh place, the No.18 LiUna Chevrolet driver would have a relatively stable run in an uneventful stage. Ankrum would finish the stage in 11th place, one position out of getting those crucial playoff points.
Communicating to his McAnally Hilgemann Racing team, the young driver would say that his truck was a little loose on that run. Coming to the pits, he would get fuel and a minor track bar adjustment.
Stage 2 looked like another uneventful run, but on Lap 36, the caution flag would fly for a multi-truck wreck and end the stage under caution. The San Bernardino, Calif. native would finish in ninth place, earning two valuable stage points.
Once again, Ankrum would come to pit road for fuel only and was very pleased with his truck on that run.
Coming to the green flag for the start of the third and final stage, Ankrum would return to the track in 17th place. Green flag pit stops would be on tap for Lap 57, making him good to go on fuel for the rest of the race.
Unfortunately for Ankrum, “The Big One” happened on Lap 63. In an attempt to avoid getting hit by the wrecking, he spun and slid through the grass. Minor damage to the front left headlight area occurred but did not seem to affect the truck’s handling.
“It’s incredibly frustrating to know you are in a position like that at the tri-oval, and you spin out.
“Our LiUna Chevrolet was pretty damn good all day, pretty quick. It was just really hard to get anything going in either lane,” stated Ankrum.
Explaining things further, Ankrum said after looking at a replay, “It looks like the 43 tried to push me square and just went to the right a little bit and spun me out.
“Misjudged it, but that’s a part of speedway racing. You can’t ask for much of a better push than that, so it sucks, but we are going to go to Homestead and try to win now.”
Even with that wreck, Ankrum would take the green on the final restart in seventh place and look forward to a good finish, but that was not to be. A huge accident on the last lap of the race would leave Ankrum with a 14th-place finish at Talladega Speedway.
As far as the playoffs would go, Ankrum came into the Round of 8 in eighth place, 15 points below the cutoff line, and would leave in the same position but 21 points below the cutline.
Next up for Tyler Ankrum is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoff Race at Homestead-Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway on October 26th, 2024, at noon ET.
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