Last Fall at Bristol Motor Speedway, Christian Eckes failed to close the deal at Bristol Motor Speedway, after winning the pole position and leading 150 of 200 laps, only to be passed late in the race by Corey Heim.
This year, Eckes has picked up the pole for the second straight time at the half-mile short track, putting his No. 19 NAPA AUTO CARE Chevrolet Silverado at the top of the speed charts with a lap of 15.122 seconds (126.888mph).
RESULTS: Weather Guard Truck Race at Bristol — Qualifying Results
It’s the first pole of the season for the Middletown, New York-native and the seventh of his career in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series — four of which have been while paired with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
Nick Sanchez, winner of the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway, qualifying on the outside of the front row for Rev Racing, coming up under a tenth of a second short of the pole.
Taylor Gray will start Saturday’s 250-lap contest from third place, as he looks to continue his streak of top-five finishes to three, after a pair of fourth-place runs at Atlanta and Las Vegas.
Running his third consecutive race in the NASCAR Truck Series, Kyle Busch will start in fourth place, while Ty Majeski, winner at the short track in 2022, will complete the top five starters.
Rajah Caruth, the winner in the NASCAR Truck Series’ last event at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, will start from sixth, with NASCAR Cup Series full-timer Zane Smith just behind in seventh place.
Kaden Honeycutt will start Saturday’s race from a career-best eighth place, with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye rounding out the top-10 in ninth and tenth.
With just 36 drivers entered for Saturday’s Weather Guard Truck Race all drivers who made a practice and qualifying lap will take the green flag, all the way down to Mason Maggio in 36th, who didn’t post a lap in time trials.
