Christian Eckes continues to reap the benefits of his perfect weekend at Nashville Superspeedway, scoring the pole for Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Pocono Raceway.
The 23-year-old driver will lead the field to green in his No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, as he looks to collect his second consecutive victory in the CRC Brakleen 175.
Eckes inherited the ‘pole position’ after inclement weather forced NASCAR officials to cancel time trials for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The Rule Book sets the starting lineup, which dictates the use of NASCAR’s Performance Metric.
Corey Heim, a four-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner this season, will start from second place in Friday’s 70-lap contest. Rajah Caruth will start third in the No. 71 for Spire Motorsports.
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammates Tyler Ankrum and Daniel Dye will start fourth and fifth. Dye, driving the No. 43 Chevrolet, comes off a career-best second-place finish at Nashville Superspeedway.
ThorSport Racing teammates Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes will start from sixth and seventh. Grant Enfinger, Nick Sanchez, and Nashville polesitter Stewart Friesen will round out the top-10 in the starting order.
RESULTS: Starting Lineup — CRC Brakleen 175 at Pocono Raceway
With qualifying being determined by the performance metric (which considers previous race finish and owner points) some notables will be starting outside the top-10.
Those drivers include Tanner Gray (11th), Ty Dillon (14th), Matt Crafton (15th), Layne Riggs (17th), Connor Mosack (18th), Taylor Gray (19th), Zane Smith (21st), and Ross Chastain (27th).
Layne Riggs and Bryan Dauzat were the unlucky two drivers that had incidents during the 20-minute practice session on Friday. Both drivers had incidents off the first corner, with Riggs in the Front Row Motorsports Ford F-150 sustaining heavy damage.
Riggs and Dauzat, should they have a vehicle prepared for the start of the event, will likely have to start at the rear — should they go to a backup truck or make what would be considered unapproved adjustments.
