Christopher Bell Scores First NASCAR Truck Win Since 2017

Christian Eckes dominated Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Tennessee Army National Guard 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but it was a NASCAR Cup Series regular, who eventually won the war.

Christopher Bell claimed his first Truck Series win since his 2017 championship-winning season, as he took the lead from Eckes, who led a race-high 132 laps, with 63 laps remaining. Bell never looked back as he held off Chandler Smith, who was looking for his second consecutive win in this event, for the win.

Gio Ruggiero would come home with a third-place finish, while Ross Chastain would finish fourth. Eckes would fade to a fifth-place result in what amounted to a frustrating and controversial final stage for the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver.

With 70 laps remaining, Corey Heim nudged past Eckes for the lead of the race. Heim, who was looking for his third consecutive NASCAR Truck Series win, which would have resulted in a $350,000 Triple Truck Challenge payout, didn’t get to fully clear Eckes before his bid to win was over.

As Heim was going by, Eckes turned left from the high lane, seemingly in an effort to line up behind Heim going into Turns 1 and 2. However, Eckes misjudged the move, and made contact with the right rear quarterpanel of Heim’s No. 1 TRICON Garage truck, which sent him crashing hard. Kaden Honeycutt, Heim’s teammate and the series point leader was swept up in the crash as well.

Heim would go on to finish 30th, while Honeycutt would finish 31st.

With his runner-up finish, Smith regained the point lead, which he lost at Rockingham Speedway last weekend due to a post-race disqualification. After Friday night’s race, he holds a one-point lead over Honeycutt, while Heim, not a full-timer, and Layne Riggs sit four points back in third and fourth.

Smith also nearly took home a $50,000 payday, which he could have achieved with a win in the final, of three Triple Truck Challenge races this season.

Next up for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway on Friday, May 1. That race will be televised on FS1, and coverage of the race is scheduled to begin at 8:00 PM ET.

Tennessee Army National Guard 250 Race Results

1. 62-Christopher Bell
2. 38-Chandler Smith
3. 17-Gio Ruggiero
4. 45-Ross Chastain
5. 91-Christian Eckes
6. 98-Jake Garcia
7. 26-Dawson Sutton
8. 7-Kyle Busch
9. 77-Carson Hocevar
10. 12-Brenden Queen
11. 99-Ben Rhodes
12. 19-Daniel Hemric
13. 18-Tyler Ankrum
14. 5-Chase Briscoe
15. 16-Justin Haley
16. 52-Stewart Friesen
17. 44-Andres Perez de Lara
18. 71-Daniel Suarez
19. 14-Mini Tyrrell
20. 15-Tanner Gray
21. 25-Carson Ferguson
22. 34-Layne Riggs
23. 88-Ty Majeski
24. 76-Spencer Boyd
25. 81-Kris Wright
26. 4-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
27. 9-Grant Enfinger
28. 13-Cole Butcher
29. 10-Corey LaJoie
30. 1-Corey Heim
31. 11-Kaden Honeycutt
32. 2-Luke Baldwin
33. 56-Timmy Hill
34. 42-Tyler Reif
35. 33-Frankie Muniz
36. 22-Clayton Green