Dominant day ends in 7th for Tyler Ankrum
HAMPTON, Ga. — Despite leading the most laps and being primed to make the winning move, Tyler Ankrum finished seventh Saturday at Atlanta.
Ankrum led 46 of the first 107 laps. He was no slouch in the other 61 laps as he also finished second in each stage.
As Ankrum sat tucked in behind leader Grant Enfinger and ahead of Kyle Busch, he made his move anticipating Busch would go with him.
Busch didn’t.
“I knew I had a fast enough truck to drive away. I thought there was no way in hell Kyle doesn’t come with but he didn’t. Then he shucked the 9 later and won, so kudos to him,” Ankrum said.
“It was an overly-confident, conceited move.”
Ankrum ended up seventh on a day after where he felt confident in what he and his team had.
“We had the best strategy. We had the best truck all night long. The other trucks didn’t race as smart as us, they didn’t pit as smart as us. And half of them still beat me. Just sucks,” he said.
While Ankrum now leads the points by 10 points over Ty Majeski, the Atlanta loss weighed heavy on him.
“It’s just heartbreaking. These guys work so hard. They never left the shop earlier than 9 o’clock each night this week. It’s awesome they’re bringing this speed, the Trackhouse pit crew was doing phenomenal. It’s great to have the speed but it just sucks.”
On what tracks he’s looking forward to, Ankrum said, “With this speed, we have all of them.”
The next race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, March 1, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Green flag flies just after 9 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com