"I came here to win a championship and that's what I want to do”: Christian Eckes has his priorities set after 3rd Truck Series win at Kansas

Christian Eckes took his third win of his 2023 Truck Series campaign at Kansas Speedway in a thrilling last-lap battle as he passed Zane Smith and Corey Heim to take the checkered flag.

The Kansas Lottery 200 served as the elimination race for the Round of 10. Heading into the race, Eckes had already booked his spot in the Round of 8 by virtue of points. He had secured a second-place finish in the playoff opener at Indianapolis and a third-place finish at Milwaukee before winning at Kansas.

Christian Eckes has already wrapped up his victory celebrations early as he shifts focus to the next round as he reckons his job is unfinished until he wins the championship.

"It's exciting but you know at the same time the job's not finished, I came here to win a championship and that's what I want to do. So we have a lot more work to do to get there but the job's not finished," he said on the NASCAR SiriusXM radio.

Kansas Lottery 200 winner Christian Eckes

Eckes went on to explain his mindset heading into the second round of the playoffs as he said:

"I have had a rough career, over the last however many years in the Truck Series. And I'm going to do everything I can to make that possible."

The #19 McAnally Hilgemann Racing driver is only in his third full-time Truck Series season, having made his debut in 2018. He finished eighth in the standings both times.

Having never made it to the championship race, Eckes hopes to build on the momentum from the first round to the Round of 8. Despite being on an upward trajectory, he reckons there is still a lot to be done to achieve the results in the next round. He said:

"I'll give myself till about eight o'clock tomorrow morning to be excited and then it's back to work. We have a lot of work to do for the next round."

The Round of 8 consists of three rounds at the Bristol Motor Speedway, the Talladega Superspeedway, and the third race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Heading into the round, Christian Eckes is second in the Truck Series standings only two points above the cut-off mark.

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Christian Eckes reflects on the three-wide battle to the finish

The #19 Chevy Silverado driver, who had not led a lap in the race, lined up fourth in the final restart with two laps to go. He battled Zane Smith and Corey Heim for the lead as he made a sensational switch from the outside to the inside lane to clear both cars and win the race.

“That was wild. I didn’t know if I could win or not,” Eckes said. “We had sixth place truck all day but that caution came out and I thought we had a shot at it. We hadn’t won in a really long time and I kind of wanted to set the tone. What a hell of a way to end the Round of 10 – second, third, first.”

Christian Eckes will be back in action for the UNOH 300 at the Bristol Motor Speedway on September 15.