Christian Eckes joins Kyle Busch's exclusive club following Martinsville Speedway decider domination

Christian Eckes emerged victorious in Saturday’s Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway and propelled into the Championship 4. As per journalist Joseph Srigley, the 23-year-old native of New York led 137 of 200 laps en route to his fourth win of the season. However, there’s more to it.

Eckes became the fifth driver in NASCAR Truck Series history after Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague, and the two-time Cup Series champion, Kyle Busch, to lead 1000 laps in a single season. He stands second in the Championship 4 rumble with Grant Enfinger leading the grid and Ty Majeski and Corey Heim rounding up the top 4.

Srigley confirmed the news of Eckes’ achievement through a recent post on X (formerly Twitter) and said,

“Leading 137 laps at Martinsville, @ChristianEckes becomes the fifth driver in NASCAR Truck Series history to lead 1,000 laps in a season. Eckes joins Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Jack Sprague, and Kyle Busch in that exclusive club.”

Eckes’ victory was far from a clean one. Following the final restart, the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing speedster moved playoff driver Taylor Gray in Turn 3. Next, he tussled with ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes, ultimately pushing his No. 99 Ford F-150 up the track, and took the checkered flag himself.

In a post-race interview, Eckes said (via Jayski),

“I wasn’t going to lose this race—this truck was too good. The 17 (Gray) was hard racing. I feel bad about the 99 (Rhodes). I just got way too loose entering the corner.”

He added:

“I’m proud of everybody for working hard, and we’re going to Phoenix.”

Eckes finished 1.191 seconds ahead of Rhodes, who finished second in the 36-driver field. Chase Purdy, Gray, and Nick Sanchez rounded up the top five positions. Eckes will start his engine next in the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway, which is scheduled for November 8, 8 pm ET onwards.

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Taylor Gray shoves Christian Eckes following the Truck race at Martinsville

Tempers flared between TRICON Garage driver Taylor Gray and Christian Eckes on the pit road. Gray, who made his NASCAR debut in 2021, had his career’s potential first Truck Series win ahead of him. However, he was only able to finish fourth, which wasn’t enough to get him what he wanted—a ticket to the coveted championship race.

The 19-year-old driver walked up to Eckes and, following a heated exchange of words, shoved the latter and walked away. Gray told Frontstretch.com:

“It doesn’t matter. It’s between me and him. I expected him to move me, I didn’t expect him to ship me to the fence. Especially when I raced him like I did in (turns) 1 and 2.” (0:46)

Grey added:

“He races like that with everybody. He does that all year long. He’s done it to everybody. He races Corey Heim like that. He races everybody like that. Nobody cares because he’s won four races now.”(1:15)

When asked if he was looking forward to paying Eckes back next week at Phoenix, Gray said,

“If I do anything, I’m going to get fined or I’m going to get penalized. That’s the way NASCAR works. They can wreck you all they want, but as soon as you want to go get them back, you’re going to get penalized for it.” (1:50)

Eckes would have made the Championship 4 even if he had finished second, but for Gray, a win was all that could have gotten him a spot in the final battle of the season. Gray will not have a shot at the title next year as he is expected to join Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series camp.