Years down the road, when we look at the juggernaut that McAnally-Hilgemann Racing has become in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, we’ll be able to look back to the two-year period that the team had Christian Eckes behind the wheel of its No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado as the point where the trajectory began to point upward.
While Eckes is set to depart the team at the conclusion of Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway, as he will pursue a full-time run in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with Kaulig Racing in 2025, Eckes is laser-focused on bringing home a championship to Bill McAnally, who helped him rejuvenate his racing career, which had stalled out following stints with Kyle Busch Motorsports and ThorSport Racing.
Together, McAnally and Eckes have grown from pretenders to true championship contenders, and in their final race together, they have a chance to pull off a championship as one of the four Championship 4 contenders. Eckes badly wants to give McAnally a championship on Friday evening.
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“It would mean a lot,” Eckes said of bringing home a championship for McAnally during Thursday’s Championship 4 Media Day. “We’ve worked really hard to get where we’re at right now. When I first came to the team, zero top-fives, and only a handful of top-10s between two teams. So, to come and win four races the first year and now four races with another race to go in the second year with a chance at a championship in both, it’s definitely pretty cool. Hopefully we can finish it off.”
And how fitting it would be if Eckes could deliver in Avondale, Arizona. Prior to moving to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series full-time in 2020, McAnally was known for his ultra-competitive ARCA West program which has captured 11 championships. Eckes thinks McAnally’s team having championship experience at Phoenix, albeit in a different series, will be great experience to pull from.
“Bill’s roots are ARCA West, right? So, having them here this weekend as well, he’s been in this situation before with them also coming to Phoenix having to win a championship. To have that experience, and those people around us is definitely good,” Eckes said.
While McAnally’s outfit hails from the West Coast, Eckes is a native of Middletown, New York. While New York is a big place, most NASCAR racers come from the Carolinas or California. Eckes is proud to carry the banner for his home state.
“Yeah, it means a lot for sure. I think the last one was [former NASCAR Truck champion] Todd Bodine, maybe. So, maybe we can follow in his footsteps this weekend,” Eckes quipped.
If Eckes is going to capture the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship on Friday night, where he’ll be pitted against Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger, and Ty Majeski, he’ll likely have to encounter Taylor Gray at some point, and that could be trouble.
Last week, Eckes dominated at Martinsville Speedway, but at a tire disadvantage to Gray in the closing laps, Gray was able to get around Eckes for the race lead. But Eckes wasn’t prepared to walk out of Martinsville without a second grandfather clock.
Eckes gave a big bump and run to Gray, which shipped Gray nearly up into the outside wall. Eckes would then proceed to do the same to Ben Rhodes, who snuck by for the lead after the incident with Gray. Gray, who needed to win the race to advance to the Championship 4, took exception to being raced like that by Eckes, who was essentially locked into the Championship Race.
Is Eckes worried that Gray could exact some revenge on Friday, and attempt to foil his championship hopes?
“I’m not concerned about it, no,” Eckes stated without pause. “I expect him to race hard, I expect everyone to race me hard. Because that’s my mentality every weekend is that I want to be raced hard because that’s how I race. And that’s how I want to be raced, how I race.”
Eckes continued, “If he races me hard, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. But obviously, if there’s a situation where I get crashed because of it, then I’m going to be a little bit upset, yeah.”
While Gray will be the truck to watch all race long, when he’s in spitting distance of Eckes, the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver will have a truck, which his team debuted at Milwaukee earlier this year. In the one race with the then-new truck, Eckes started third and finished third. The driver and the team hope the truck can have the speed they need to secure their first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.
“We built a new one for Milwaukee this year, kinda the same plan as last year, honestly,” Eckes said. “We built a new one for Milwaukee and then brought it to Phoenix. Same thing here, it’s been sitting on ice since August. Feel very comfortable with the vehicle that we brought.”
If Eckes crosses the line ahead of the other Championship 4 drivers to score the championship, he plans to celebrate hard with his race team, which Eckes bought an Airbnb for this week, so they could all enjoy their last weekend with Eckes as their driver.
“Probably a lot of alcohol involved,” Eckes said when quizzed on what the celebration would entail. “But I don’t know. We’ll have to see when we get there. But yeah, I’m looking forward to this last weekend. It’s a little emotional. Just kinda they’re the closest guys you’re around for two years, and then you’re leaving. Just looking forward to spending time with them at our last dance.”
The starting lineup will be set for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race in a qualifying session, which will take place on Friday, November 8 at 4:00 PM ET. That session can be watched on FS2 and streamed on the FOX Sports App with a valid cable subscription login.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race is also set for Friday, November 8. That race will be televised on FS1 with coverage kicking off at 8:00 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will carry the live radio call of the event.
