TC Daily Pit Stop: Eckes Wins Kansas Truck Race in Wild Finish; DiBenedetto and Crafton Eliminated From Playoffs; Connor Mosack Takes ARCA Win at Kansas; CHK Racing Withdraws; Saturday's TV Schedule!
TC Daily Pit Stop: Saturday, September 9th, 2023
Christian Eckes Puts Exclamation Point on ‘Round of 10’ with Victory at Kansas
Christian Eckes had hung around the top-five all race long in Friday night’s Kansas Lottery 200 at Kansas Speedway, but he never really looked like a contender for the race win. That is, until the final restart, where he put on some electric moves to steal the win — his third of the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season.
“That was wild. I didn’t know if I was going to win it or not. We had like a sixth-place truck all day, but with that caution coming out I knew we would have a shot at it, and here we are,” said Eckes post-race. “We haven’t won in a really long time, so wanted to kind of set the tone. What a hell of a way to do the round of 10, second, third, first. Can’t beat that, proud of all these guys.”
Eckes outdueled Zane Smith and Corey Heim on the final restart of the race, and took a trip through the grass after the race was done for some celebratory donuts.
RACE RECAP
RACE RESULTS
UPDATED DRIVER STANDINGS
UPDATED OWNER STANDINGS
INSPECTION REPORT
Matt DiBenedetto and Matt Crafton Eliminated From NASCAR Truck Playoff Contention at Kansas
Try as he might, Matt DiBenedetto just came up short of advancing to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs Round of 8 on Friday night at Kansas Speedway. The Rackley WAR racer scored stage points, and had an electric finish as he went from seventh to third in the closing laps.
However, a 20-point deficit coming into the race was too much to overcome without a win. DiBenedetto came up five points shy of advancing.
While DiBenedetto was a near-miss, Matt Crafton had a forgettable day. The three-time champion came into the race inside the cut line, but after a cut tire in practice, and slapping the wall in the race, Crafton struggled to finish 33rd, nine laps off the pace. As a result, Crafton would miss moving on by 10 points.
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Video: Christian Eckes Make Two Aggressive Three-Wide Moves to Score Victory at Kansas
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Connor Mosack Conquers Kansas Speedway, Sioux Chief Fast Track 150 For First Career Win
Connor Mosack took his first-career ARCA Menards Series win in Friday’s Sioux Chief Fast Track 150 at Kansas Speedway. In what started out as one of the most competitive ARCA races in recent memory, Mosack — the dominant driver of the day — survived a war of attrition and held off Carson Kvapil for the race win.
So many good cars — championship point leader Jesse Love and Frankie Muniz included — fell by the wayside throughout the day.
Toni Breidinger ended the race in third, and she was followed by Lavar Scott, and Jake Finch.
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UPDATED ARCA Point Standings
Video: Jesse Love Done for Day After Crash at Kansas
Video: Cut Tire Sends Frankie Muniz Hard into Wall
CHK Racing Withdraws From Kansas Xfinity Race Due to Lack of Funding
CHK Racing, which fields the No. 74 Chevrolet Camaro in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and was on the preliminary entry list for this weekend’s Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway, has opted to withdraw from this weekend’s race.
In a statement, the team cites, “lack of sponsorship and tire funding,” as the reasoning for them not competing this weekend.
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NASCAR TV Schedule Saturday, September 9 – Kansas
10 AM ET: NASCAR Xfinity Practice at Kansas (USA Network / NBC Sports App)
10:35 AM ET: NASCAR Xfinity Qualifying at Kansas (USA Network / NBC Sports App)
12 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Practice at Kansas (USA Network / NBC Sports App)
12:35 PM ET: NASCAR Cup Qualifying at Kansas (USA Network / NBC Sports App)
3 PM ET: NASCAR Xfinity Countdown to Green (NBC / NBC Sports App)
3:30 PM ET: NASCAR Xfinity Race at Kansas (NBC / NBC Sports App)