Christian Eckes

Christian D. Eckes (pronounced "eck-iss") (born November 10, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 98 Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing. Eckes is the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion, and also won the Snowball Derby in 2016 and was formerly a development driver for JR Motorsports and then Toyota.

Christian Eckes
BornChristian D. Eckes
(2000-11-10) November 10, 2000
Middletown, New York
Achievements2019 ARCA Menards Series champion
2016 Snowball Derby winner
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
35 races run over 3 years
Truck no., teamNo. 98 (ThorSport Racing)
2020 position8th
Best finish8th (2020)
First race2018 M&M's 200 (Iowa)
Last race2020 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 19 3
Statistics current as of December 7, 2020.

Racing career

Eckes grew up in Middletown, New York. He began racing Legends Cars at thirteen years old. He later moved up to racing late model stock cars and super late models.[1]

In 2015, Eckes began racing late models for JR Motorsports, as well as super late models for LFR Chassis as one of their driver development program drivers.[2][3]

In April 2016, Eckes made his ARCA Racing Series debut at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Tennessee, driving for Venturini Motorsports.[4] He finished eighth, the only top-ten in four ARCA races that year.[5] Eckes also made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Dominion Raceway.[6] He ran two more events that year, at Columbus Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.[7]

He won three races in a row to end the season, one at Myrtle Beach Speedway, at Southern National Motorsports Park and the Snowball Derby, at Five Flags Speedway.[8] At the Snowball Derby, Eckes won over John Hunter Nemechek.[9] Although some reports pegged him as the youngest winner, those reports were erroneous, as Chase Elliott won the event in 2011 at age fifteen while Eckes was sixteen when he triumphed.[10]

In December 2016, Eckes and Venturini announced nine ARCA races in 2017.[11]

In July 2017, Eckes and Venturini re-signed for an enlarged ARCA schedule in 2018 that included fifteen races.[12] He triumphed for the first time at Salem Speedway in April 2018. Eckes kept fellow Venturini Motorsports driver Chandler Smith at bay over the closing portion of the race to secure the victory.[13] He followed up with wins at Illinois State Fairgrounds and Indianapolis Raceway Park during the year.

In the week following the win, Eckes landed a deal with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Kyle Busch Motorsports to drive the team's No. 46 entry in four races in the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, starting at Iowa Speedway in June.[14]

Eckes beside his 2019 ARCA car at Madison

On October 24, 2018, it was announced that Eckes would run the No. 15 full-time for Venturini Motorsports in 2019.[15] Despite missing the Salem Speedway race in April due to a esophageal tear in his trachea,[16] he went on to win the 2019 ARCA Menards Series championship with four wins, 13 top fives, and 17 top tens in 19 starts. Eckes was the first ARCA champion to not run every race since Tim Steele in 1997.[17]

During the 2019 season, he ran seven races in the Truck Series with KBM in the No. 51.[18] The following year, he joined the team's No. 18 for the full 2020 Truck season.[19] Eckes made the NASCAR playoffs but was eliminated after the first round; at Texas in October, Eckes was intentionally spun by Ben Rhodes, eliminating Eckes from the race. He later confronted Rhodes and had a verbal and physical confrontation.[20] He finished with a winless season and an eighth-place finish in the standings.

In 2021, Eckes moved to ThorSport Racing after being replaced at KBM by Chandler Smith.[21] He will enter 10 races of the 22-race season, sharing the schedule with Grant Enfinger.[22]

Personal life

Eckes attended George Washington University Online High School.[1]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 NCWTC Pts Ref
2018 Kyle Busch Motorsports 46 Toyota DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW
8		 GTW
28		 CHI KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP LVS TAL MAR
9		 TEX PHO
9		 HOM 35th 110th [23]
2019 51 DAY
22		 ATL LVS MAR TEX DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW
14*		 CHI KEN POC
4		 ELD
6		 MCH
15		 BRI MSP LVS
3		 TAL MAR
17		 PHO HOM
3		 20th 271 [24]
2020 18 DAY
22		 LVS
23		 CLT
14		 ATL
3		 HOM
8		 POC
33		 KEN
6		 TEX
2		 KAN
13		 KAN
2		 MCH
2		 DAY
12		 DOV
11		 GTW
32		 DAR
5		 RCH
18		 BRI
12		 LVS
8		 TAL
18		 KAN
6		 TEX
25		 MAR
4		 PHO
4		 8th 2238 [25]
2021 ThorSport Racing 98 Toyota DAY DAY LVS ATL BRI RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW MSP BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO

K&N Pro Series East
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NKNPSEC Pts Ref
2016 LFR Driver Development Group 15 Ford NSM MOB GRE BRI VIR DOM
7		 STA COL
9		 NHA
18		 IOW GLN GRE NJE DOV 31st 98 [26]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 AMSC Pts Ref
2016 Venturini Motorsports 66 Toyota DAY NSH
8		 SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH 40th 625 [27]
15 MAD
14		 WIN IOW
11		 IRP
26		 POC BLN ISF DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN
2017 DAY NSH
3		 SLM
8*		 TAL TOL
8		 ELK
2		 POC MCH MAD
5		 IOW
8		 IRP
10		 POC WIN
2		 ISF
6		 ROA DSF SLM
19		 CHI KEN KAN 16th 1980 [28]
2018 DAY NSH
8		 SLM
1		 TAL TOL
21		 CLT POC
11		 MCH MAD GTW
4		 CHI IOW
11		 ELK
2		 POC
13		 ISF
1		 BLN
11		 DSF
4		 SLM
7		 IRP
1*		 KAN 12th 2650 [29]
2019 DAY
4		 FIF
3		 SLM
INQ†		 TAL
26		 NSH
1*		 TOL
3		 CLT
7		 POC
3		 MCH
7		 MAD
7		 GTW
2		 CHI
7		 ELK
11		 IOW
2		 POC
1		 ISF
2		 DSF
1*		 SLM
2		 IRP
2		 KAN
1		 1st 5045 [30]
† – Qualified for the 2019 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 but was replaced by Harrison Burton due to illness

References
  1. Fambro, Cassie (December 20, 2017). "Driving fast, but still in class: Christian Eckes' balancing act". Lake Norman Publications. Stride Learning. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  2. White, Heath (January 12, 2016). "Christian Eckes Joins JRM Late Model Lineup for 2016". Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  3. "Christian Eckes, Tanner Gray and Riley Herbst to Represent LFR Driver Development Group at Hickory Motor Speedway – LFR Chassis". www.lfrchassis.com. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  4. "Christian Eckes Returns to Familiar Grounds for ARCA Season Debut". SpeedwayDigest. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  5. "Driver Christian Eckes 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  6. "Eckes Scores Top 10 Finish in Successful K&N East Debut". Speed51. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  7. "Driver Christian Eckes 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  8. Marquis, Andy (April 27, 2017). "Marquis: My Short Track Draft – race22.com". Race22. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  9. Long, Dustin (December 7, 2016). "Christian Eckes wins Snowball Derby". NASCAR Talk. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  10. Bonkowski, Jerry (December 2, 2017). "PREVIEW: Kyle Busch to start 15th in Sunday's 50th Snowball Derby". NASCAR Talk. Archived from the original on April 8, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  11. "Snowball Derby winner Christian Eckes signs with Venturini for 2017". ARCA Racing Series. December 9, 2016. Archived from the original on April 10, 2018. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  12. "Rookie Christian Eckes lookin' up; extends partnership with VMS through 2018". ARCA Racing Series. July 20, 2017. Archived from the original on April 9, 2018. Retrieved April 9, 2018.
  13. Radebaugh, Don (April 22, 2018). "Christian Eckes holds off Chandler Smith in ARCA Salem thriller". Autoweek. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  14. McFadin, Daniel (April 26, 2018). "Christian Eckes lands four-race deal with Kyle Busch Motorsports in Truck Series". Yahoo Sports. Archived from the original on May 16, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  15. Wilson, Steven B. "Christian Eckes, Venturini Motorsports Together Again for Full ARCA Slate in 2019". Speedway Digest. Archived from the original on October 26, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  16. McFadin, Daniel (April 15, 2019). "Christian Eckes hospitalized for small tear in trachea, misses ARCA race". NBC Sports. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  17. "Christian Eckes wins ARCA Menards Series finale, championship". NASCAR. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  18. Rutherford, Kevin. "Christian Eckes, Brandon Jones Return to Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck Roster". Frontstretch. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
  19. "Christian Eckes to drive the No. 18 Safelite® Autoglass Tundra in 2020" (Press release). Kyle Busch Motorsports. November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  20. Cheek, Adam (October 25, 2020). "'KBM Trucks Run Over Everybody': Ben Rhodes Among Drivers Angry As Wrecks Mar Texas Truck Race". Frontstretch. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  21. "Chandler Smith to drive No. 18 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021". NASCAR.com. December 7, 2020.
  22. "ThorSport 2021".
  23. "Christian Eckes – 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  24. "Christian Eckes – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on February 9, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  25. "Christian Eckes – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
  26. "Christian Eckes – 2016 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  27. "Christian Eckes – 2016 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  28. "Christian Eckes – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  29. "Christian Eckes – 2018 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved December 2, 2018.
  30. "Driver Christian Eckes 2019 ARCA Menards Series results". Racing Reference. Archived from the original on April 14, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2019.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Chase Elliott		 Snowball Derby Winner
2016		 Succeeded by
Kyle Busch
Preceded by
Sheldon Creed		 ARCA Menards Series Champion
2019		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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