Even after a two-week break for the Olympics, there isn’t a single soul in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series garage able to match Christian Eckes and the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team.
The Middletown, New York native blasted to his ninth career pole in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and his third of the season in Saturday’s single-vehicle qualifying session at Richmond Raceway.
Eckes was the second-to-last driver to post a lap time, immediately rocketing to the top of the speed charts with a lap of 22.855 seconds (118.655mph) with his Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet Silverado.
Ty Majeski, the winner of the most recent NASCAR Truck Series event at Indianapolis Raceway Park, will start alongside Eckes for Saturday’s 250-lap contest, posting a time more than a tenth of a second off the pole speed.
Posting the third-quickest time was Grant Enfinger, who laid down his third top-three start in the last four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events, driving for Codie Rohrbaugh and CR7 Motorsports.
In fourth, Layne Riggs is the furthest forward of the championship-eligible drivers in must-win situations at Richmond, should they hope to advance into the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series post-season.
ARCA Menards Series superstar William Sawalich completed the top five in qualifying for TRICON Garage, marking his second consecutive top-five starting spot at the three-quarter mile Richmond Raceway.
STARTING LINEUP: Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway
TRICON Garage teammates Corey Heim and Taylor Gray posted times good enough for sixth and seventh place, while Kaden Honeycutt, Nick Sanchez, and Tyler Ankrum completed the top-10.
Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, and Daniel Dye will start 11th, 12th, and 13th in Saturday’s event, as all three look to advance to the post-season based on their points position. Also in that battle are Matt Crafton and Tanner Gray, who qualified 17th and 26th, respectively.
Connor Zilisch, who was confirmed to be running full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for 2025 with JR Motorsports this past week, qualified a disappointing 27th-place in his second start in the Truck Series, driving for Spire Motorsports.
Piloting his self-owned No. 14 Chevrolet Silverado, Trey Hutchens was the only driver who failed to qualify for Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway.
