TRUCKS: Sudden transmission failure hands Christian Eckes first series last-place finish
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
PHOTO: Steven Taranto, @STaranto92
Christian Eckes picked up the 1st last-place finish of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career in Saturday’s Fr8 Racing 208 at EchoPark Speedway when his #91 NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet had a transmission failure after 2 of 125 laps.
The finish came in Eckes’ 118th series start. In the Truck Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 4th for the #91, the 45th from transmission issues, and the 466th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 61st for the #91, the 183rd from transmission problems, and the 2,026th for Chevrolet.
Last Friday in Daytona, Eckes made some of the most aggressive moves of the night, battling in and around the lead en route to a 3rd-place finish. It must have been a cathartic experience for the series veteran, who last year struggled through a litany of mechanical failures and downright bad luck in his first season competing in what is now the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. Eckes didn’t finish six times that season and only started to get his footing in Kaulig Racing’s #16 once he’d been eliminated from Playoff contention. Then Kaulig shuttered their O’Reilly program to embark on their current Truck Series campaign with RAM, where Eckes wasn’t hired. But a nine-time Truck Series race winner doesn’t stay unemployed for long. And so, the McAnally team came calling, bringing Eckes back to the program with which he finished 3rd in the 2024 standings. After a pair of late-season starts in the team’s #16, he now pilots the #91 previously driven by Jack Wood.
Eckes was one of 36 drivers entered to fill Saturday’s field, meaning all would qualify. With no practice scheduled, Eckes would first hit the track next-to-last in qualifying, where he timed in 15th with a lap of 32.353 seconds (171.360mph).
Rolling off 36th and last was Caleb Costner, who after running six races for Mike Harmon Racing in 2025 made his season debut with his own Truck Series effort. Running the same #93 as he does in ARCA, Costner carried sponsorship from Autobank RV Sales & Service on his blue-and-yellow Chevrolet.
By race day, delayed an hour by rain, Costner would be joined by five other drivers for pre-race penalties. Giovanni Ruggiero made Round 2 in qualifying, but didn’t turn a lap in that session due to a tire rub that required adjustments. This put Ruggiero 10th on the grid, only to surrender that spot before the green. Grant Enfinger timed in 14th, only to be docked for a splitter violation in technical inspection on his #9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet. Brenden Queen had a mechanical issue in the rear of his #12 Cummins RAM after qualifying 28th. Flat tires also handed penalties to both 4th-place starter Tyler Ankrum in the #18 LiUNA! Chevrolet and 23rd-place Dawson Sutton in the #26 W.A.R. Shocks / Rackley Roofing Chevrolet.
When the race started, Costner was last across the stripe based on intervals, showing 3.602 seconds back of the lead. Dawson Sutton, the lowest-ranked penalized driver, was already up to 34th, 3.342 seconds back, pulling ahead of original 34th-place starter Tyler Tomassi in Motorsports Business Management’s #69 Tomassi Law Ford, now 35th and 3.555 behind. By the end of Lap 1, Costner had gained a couple positions, dropping Tomassi to last, 5.107 seconds back of the lead and already four-tenths back of new 35th-place runner Justin S. Carroll in the #90 Carroll’s Automotive Toyota. That same time by, NASCAR penalized Costner for changing lanes at the start.
On Lap 3, when Costner served his penalty, Eckes dropped off the pace and immediately pulled behind the wall, where initial reports indicated a driveshaft issue. “We’re done, correct?” said someone on the radio on Lap 5. The crew got the truck on jack stands and looked under it. On Lap 12, Eckes said he had transmission issues, that he had only reverse, first and second gear, but didn’t have third or fourth. The team said there was no way they could complete a transmission change in 90 minutes, so they were done for the afternoon. NASCAR declared Eckes the first driver out soon after.
Meanwhile, Caleb Costner lost a lap for his pass-through penalty for the start violation, then around Lap 16 lost seven more laps when he came to pit road for a fuel leak. The team checked the fuel lines and refueled the truck, only to incur an improper fueling penalty which he served on Lap 21. By the finish, Costner still gained two more spots for a 33rd-place finish before handling woes ended his race. The first truck he passed was Justin S. Carroll’s #90 Carroll’s Automotive Toyota, which was towed backwards into the garage after a rear gear failure. He then passed Daniel Hemric, whose suspension issue on the #19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet put two McAnally-Hilgemann Racing trucks in the Bottom Five. Completing the group was Dawson Sutton, whose penalized #26 slammed head-on into the frontstretch wall after a late-race tangle with Cole Butcher’s #13 Atlantic Tiltload Ford. Sutton was classified behind Butcher, and was credited with one more lap complete than Costner.
In only his second race since he returned from serious injuries suffered in a big block modified wreck last summer, Stewart Friesen nearly scored the win in his #52 Halmar International Toyota. Friesen worked his way to the lead on Lap 118 before Kyle Busch made the winning pass
LASTCAR STATISTICS
*This marked the first last-place finish for the #91 in a Truck Series race since November 8, 2024, when Jack Wood’s own turn in the McAnally-Hilgemann entry resulted in a crash after 58 laps at Phoenix. Eckes’ run marked the first in the series for the number at Atlanta.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
36) #91-Christian Eckes / 2 laps / transmission
35) #90-Justin S. Carroll / 65 laps / rear gear
34) #19-Daniel Hemric / 88 laps / suspension
33) #93-Caleb Costner / 99 laps / handling
32) #26-Dawson Sutton / 100 laps / crash
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Niece Motorsports (1)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (2)
2026 LASTCAR TRUCK SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
