As the countdown to the Martinsville Truck Series race began with qualifying, ThorSport Racing and Ty Majeski were out as the primary hunters of the grandfather clock this year. Unfortunately, with Cam Waters’ DNF, the tables were slowly turning away from ThorSport Racing and toward McAnally-Hilgemann Racing instead. At the end of the Long John Silver’s 200, it was Christian Eckes and his #19 Chevy Silverado that took home the Grandfather Clock.

Christian Eckes’ relentless pursuit of a win at Martinsville finally pays off

For the first 100 laps of the race, it was Christian Eckes and the #19 crew that were on top. Securing both the first and second stages, Eckes was on his way to securing a dominant win. However, a one-stop strategy resulted in Eckes losing out on prime track position, having to make his way back from 19th when the final stage commenced. But with around 30 laps to go, a major pileup resulted in Eckes catching up to the 29-year-old and his #98 Ford F-150. The pair then battled it out on the restart as Eckes in the #19 entered the lead.

Over the following few restarts, Eckes held off both Majeski and Sanchez to bring home the Grandfather Clock at Martinsville Speedway. After sweeping both stages and winning for the first time in a singular race, Eckes was delighted in the post-race interview.

He shared with the media, “(It’s) something really special. Yeah, it hasn’t been an easy regular season so far, to say the least, and we came here and we weren’t that great last year, we were like, maybe a sixth-place truck and we worked really hard on it and here we are in victory lane. So just super proud of our team, and huge thanks to NAPA Auto Care, and all our partners. It’s a good day to be in victory lane. Gotta wait for that clock.” 

Before bringing home the win this year, Eckes had a stellar record at Martinsville. He finished twice in the top 5 and once in the top 10 over the last five races at the half-mile track. However, the 23-year-old New Yorker had only led 2 laps before this season, making his performance at the Long John Silver’s 200 more than just impressive.

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Whilst it’s safe to say Christian Eckes may have had a helping hand from the late cautions thrown in the race, his toughest opponent of the night had nothing but praise for the #19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing garage.

Despite heartbreak, Ty Majeski leaves Martinsville with optimism

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Although it was Christian Eckes who celebrated with the grandfather clock at the end of the Long John Silver’s 200, Ty Majeski was right up there with him. The #98 Ford fought tooth and nail with Eckes and Nick Sanchez on almost every restart but ultimately fell short by just 0.644 seconds apart. Whilst victory was ever so close for Majeski, he wasn’t one to dwell on negativity.

Speaking to Fox Sports after the race, Majeski shared the team’s alternative approach to the setup and how it may have impacted his run for the win. He shared, “Stepped out of our comfort zone a little bit and tried something for the playoffs. That’s the one that matters. I think we’ve gotten better. The #19 (Eckes) was stout tonight, he was just a little bit better than us and he had better tires. I just could not launch on restarts.”

Even Majeski felt Eckes had the upper hand throughout the race. On the final restart, Majeski revealed that his run out of the zone just couldn’t match that of the #19 Silverado. Still, the 29-year-old was beaming with optimism over what was essentially a thrilling race through and through.  He was quoted by NASCAR, “I got in hot and doored him a little bit, and he was holding me down really tight, which he needed to be. So yeah, I thought it was a good race. I hope he thinks so, too. I thought we put on a good show.”

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