“He drove me in the fence”: Taylor Gray calls out Christian Eckes following controversial Martinsville incident

NASCAR driver Taylor Gray slammed Christian Eckes for a controversial move the latter made in the Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200 playoff race in the Truck Series. Eckes secured his fourth race win of the season and locked himself in the Championship race at Phoenix Raceway.

Taylor Gray pilots the #17 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage in the Truck Series. In his Truck Series career, Gray has secured 17 top-ten finishes in 49 race starts. He started the playoff race at Martinsville Speedway in P3 and was among the front runners throughout the race.

After a late restart in the final stages of the race, Christian Eckes and Gray led the pack. Gray, who was in P2, briefly took the lead from Eckes but was soon bumped from behind by Eckes's #19 car, disrupting his balance. This led to Gray losing a few track positions and ultimately cost him a chance to compete for the title at Phoenix. Following the end of the race, Taylor Gray spoke with SiriusXM and reflected on the incident.

"I barely even touched him and drove underneath him, caution came out, drove him so clean from Martinsville, especially with the tires I was on. I could went into (turn)one and completely just shipped him out of the way and not have worried about it. I raced him clean I didn't want to be that guy at Martinsville."

He added:

"He goes into (turn)three and completely ships me to the fence. Now granted its Martinsville, I was expecting to get moved, I wasn't expecting to get drove to the fence. He's locked into the final four so I don't know the only thing he did was just put a target on his back[...]I raced him clean and he drove me the fence. I guess the only other thing I could have done was just plan out wrecked him like he did me."

Taylor Gray was in a must-win situation to secure his spot in the NASCAR championship race at Phoenix Raceway. Eckes, who was comfortably above the cutoff line before Martinsville, has now paved his way into the final four and will compete for his first Truck Series title.

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Furious Taylor Gray confronts Christian Eckes after Truck Series race at Martinsville

Following the end of the playoff race at Martinsville, Taylor Gray confronted Christian Eckes in the victory lane for the controversial move by the McAnally-Hilgemann driver.

The Athletic's Jordan Bianchi was present at victory lane, where the confrontation took place. He posted on X(formerly Twitter)

"Don't fu****ing sh*t something in the fuckin' pits. You're gonna have to play! I barely got you off of the bottom with tires. Do you know how many chances that I had shitting you into the fuckin' pit?"

Christian Evecks replied, "You should."

The Truck Series season finale is scheduled on Friday, November 8 at Phoenix Raceway. Catch the action live on MRN and SiriusXM at 8:00 PM ET.