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Why Christian Eckes Wants Advice from Matt Kenseth Ahead of NASCAR Truck Series Race at Martinsville

Published 10/27/2020, 5:30 AM EDT

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USA Today via Reuters

When the NASCAR Truck Series race at the Texas Motor Speedway concluded, Ben Rhodes was not a happy figure. Apparently, he got tangled with Christian Eckes and it compromised both their races. In the end, Rhodes ended up in a lowly 20th, while Eckes finished in 25th place.

Rhodes blamed Eckes for the contact, and especially when the #51 car retaliated and wrecked him. When that contact happened, Ben Rhodes went and collided with an unsuspecting Josh Bilicki.

After Rhodes has his say, Christian Eckes gave his version of events and blamed the former. He tweeted out, “Matt Kenseth, you got any pointers?”

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This is a reference to an incident at the 2015 race at the Martinsville Speedways, involving Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano. If one didn’t know any better, Christian Eckes was planning to get revenge by deliberately taking Ben Rhodes out.

Is Christian Eckes planning to do a Matt Kenseth in the NASCAR Truck Series?

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For the uninitiated, the whole saga dates back to that year’s race at the Kansas Speedway. Matt Kenseth was dueling with Joey Logano, with the former in a difficult situation after getting wrecked in the previous race. Logano was under no such pressure, as his berth was already sealed.

With three laps left, Kenseth executed an aggressive block on Logano, who exacted revenge by turning him around at Turn 1. As a result, Kenseth finished 14th, and as a further slap to the face, Logano won. This put Kenseth in danger of elimination, at a time when he seemed like a genuine title contender.

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Unfortunately, NASCAR themselves made it worse when former CEO Brian France called Logano’s block a ‘smart move’. With the seeds sown, Martinsville arrived, and an eliminated Kenseth had nothing to lose, but Kenseth got taken out by Logano’s teammate Brad Keselowski. Kenseth went to the garage and returned to the track, before going and taking out Logano.

The point is, will Christian Eckes try the same stunt with Ben Rhodes, just to mess with him? Obviously, deliberate incidents are frowned upon, but hopefully, Eckes will not try anything silly.

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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