Tyler Ankrum to return to McAnally NASCAR Truck ride in 2026
STATESVILLE, N.C. — Tyler Ankrum will return to McAnally-Hilgemann Racing’s No. 18 Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
Ankrum will return to MHR for his third Truck season with the team. The announcement of his re-signing comes less than a week after his Championship 4 appearance.
Other than Corey Heim, Ankrum was the only Truck Championship 4 driver who entered the championship race with a race win. The 24-year-old California racer won at Rockingham Speedway during an early-season run of eight top-10 finishes in nine races.
Ankrum ultimately turned up the speed again in the playoffs, bagging four top-10s in the six races that led up to his first Championship 4 appearance at Phoenix Raceway.
Although he was the quietest of the four drivers at Phoenix, finishing far behind the 1-2-3 punch the other contenders packed, Ankrum still ended the season with the most top-five finishes (eight), top-10s (15), laps led (102) and best average finish (10.8) for a season in his career.
Tyler Ankrum through the years
Before joining MHR for two — and now three — seasons, he won as a newly-minted 18-year-old at Kentucky Speedway and qualified for the 2019 playoffs with David Gilliland Racing. The following year, he returned to the playoffs on points alone and improved his average finish and top-10 count with GMS Racing.
Then came the next three seasons. Ankrum failed to make the playoffs and didn’t lead more than 15 laps in a single season during this stretch, averaging 19th-place finish in two of the three season and relegating him to near-backmarker status before he joined MHR in 2024.
Since joining MHR in 2024, Ankrum’s career has been totally revitalized. He has earned more top-five finishes and led more laps in two seasons with MHR than five seasons without them. He has also seen his average finish drop from 19.2 in 2023 to 13.4 in 2024 and 10.8 in 2025.
Ankrum had Daniel Hemric, Connor Mosack and Jack Wood as his teammates in 2025. It’s unknown if any of them will also return in 2026.
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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