Ankrum's battle at The Last Colosseum comes up short

Tyler Ankrum collected a 23rd place result in his fifth start at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night. The driver of the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro sits 15th in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings after 20 of 23 events.

Practice at Bristol Motor Speedway would be split into two groups, Ankrum being in group two. Once he could get a few laps under his belt, Ankrum would time in 30th on the speed charts for the lone practice session at Bristol Motor Speedway. Ankrum felt he needed more turn in the center to help him overall. Ankrum would qualify 25th out of 38 trucks for the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. This would put him on the inside of row number 13 to start the event.

At the drop of the green flag, Ankrum would ride around in the top 20 for most of the first stage, track position on the night would be at a premium. Early on in the race, Ankrum reported back to his team that his truck was a tight in the center, and he needed a little more turn as the night went on for the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. Ankrum would finish the first 55 lap stage in the 22nd position.

The end of stage one would see Ankrum hit pit road for four new tires, an adjustment, and some Sunoco racing fuel. Ankrum would again be mired back in traffic for stage two. The bottom line was dominant on the night, Ankrum would restart most of the night choosing the bottom lane. He radioed to the crew that the balance just wasn't where he needed it to be to capitalize in stage two, he would ultimately finish 21st in stage two.

Stage three would start of with a bang, as Ankrum would restart in the 25th position. A long green flag run ensued to start the final stage of the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics. Ankrum would once again be mired back in traffic for the entirety of stage three. With no cautions, Ankrum would battle Ty Majeski for most of the third stage for the 22nd position. When the checkered flag flew, Ankrum would cross the line in the 23rd position.

Tyler Ankrum Quote:

“This place was just crazy tonight. After watching the ARCA race right before ours, it looked like it was back to the old school Bristol Motor Speedway. That's exactly what happened during our race, the bottom was definitely the dominant line. I feel like we had a pretty decent truck, we just could not get the track position at all tonight. That third stage was pretty brutal going green for the entire time. I want to thank my team for busting their butts week in and week out to bring a truck to the track for me. We will hit it hard for Talladega in a couple weeks."