ThorSport Racing adds Christian Eckes to 2021 driver lineup
ThorSport Racing announced Thursday that Christian Eckes has been added to their 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) driver lineup.
Eckes, who drove the No. 18 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota Tundra in 2020, will split the 22-race NCWTS schedule in the No. 98 Champion Power Equipment Toyota Tundra with Grant Enfinger.
Enfinger will run 12 races while Eckes will run the other ten. Jeirod Pierce will serve as the crew chief for them. Pierce will be taking over for longtime crew chief Jeff Hensley.
Enfinger’s first two races will be the Feb. 12 Daytona season opener and the March 20 Atlanta race. Eckes’ first two races will be the Feb. 19 Daytona road course race and the March 5 Las Vegas race.
“It’s pretty nice because we don’t have to worry about points or making the playoffs,” Eckes said. “We can go out and win races, try to make the playoffs in owner points and win the owner championship.”
No further details have been announced on the remainder of the schedule for either driver.
2021 will be ThorSport’s first season with Toyota since 2017. Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Ben Rhodes will each be returning to race full-time in their respective rides for the upcoming season.
Johnny Sauter will drive the No. 13, with Sakar International’s Vivitar brand returning as his sponsor and Joe Shear Jr. returning as his crew chief. 2021 will be Sauter’s tenth full-time NCWTS season with ThorSport.
Matt Crafton will drive the No. 88, with Menards and their partners returning as his sponsor and Carl JoinerJr. returning as his crew chief. It will be Crafton’s 20th full-time NCWTS season with ThorSport and his 16th consecutive season racing full-time for the team.
Ben Rhodes will drive the No. 99, with Bombardier as his sponsor and Rich Lushes as his new crew chief. Lushes previously served as Sauter’s truck chief. 2021 will be Rhodes’ sixth full-time NCWTS season and sixth with ThorSport.
The first race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is Friday, February 12, at Daytona International Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET; TV: FS1, Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
SOURCES:
NASCAR
Racing-Reference.Info
Thorsport Racing
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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