MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Less than a week after notching his first ARCA Racing Series victory at Salem Speedway, Christian Eckes is getting another big break even higher on the racing ladder.
Eckes was revealed on Thursday as the newest member of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ NASCAR Camping World Truck Series roster, set to debut in the No. 46 Toyota Tundra at Iowa Speedway on June 16.
The 200-lap race at the seven-eighths-mile oval in Newton will mark the first of four Truck Series starts for Eckes this season. He’ll return to the seat of the No. 46, a fourth entry for the team, at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois on June 23, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 27 and ISM Raceway in Arizona on Nov. 9.
Mobil 1 will serve as Eckes’ sponsor at Iowa, Gateway and ISM Raceway. His partner for the Texas Roadhouse 200 at Martinsville will be announced at a later date.
For Eckes, who still considers himself “a small-town kid from New York,” the chance to drive for team owner and former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was one he jumped at.
“Man, I can’t tell you what this means to me, to be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and know that I’m going to have four shots at driving in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series … it’s a dream come true,” Eckes told SPEED SPORT. “Kyle’s helped give so many drivers their break into the top levels of the sport and I’m privileged that he, Samantha, Mobil 1 and everyone at Toyota Racing believed in me enough to give me this opportunity.”
“I’m already counting down the days until we hit the track at Iowa. This is something I’ve hoped to have happen for a long time and now that it’s a reality, it’s an amazing feeling. I can’t wait to get started.”
Eckes landed on the motorsports map in December of 2016 after he won the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway, one of the premier events in the United States for super late models.
Then just 15 years old, Eckes fought to the finish line in a side-by-side duel with John Hunter Nemechek for the last two laps of the 300-lap event before just beating Nemechek to the finish line.
After that, Eckes endured an 18-month winless drought across all divisions he competed in before breaking through with Venturini Motorsports at Salem last weekend.
“A drought like the one I had … it makes you doubt yourself and ask if you’re really cut out to do this or not,” Eckes admitted. “That win on Sunday was a long time coming, but it was super sweet. Now we want to build on it and carry the momentum we have with our ARCA program over into the Truck Series as well.”
Cody Glick, who oversees KBM’s super late model program, will be Eckes’ crew chief for all four of Truck Series races this year.
Glick scored his first Truck Series win when Busch drove to victory from the pole at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway last August.
However, Eckes is equally looking forward to working with Busch himself and soaking in knowledge from the 2015 Cup champion and 50-time Truck Series winner.
“Kyle is one of the best ever in the Truck Series; there’s no one else that you’d want to learn from when it comes to figuring out how to wheel these things at some of the tracks I’ll be going to,” noted Eckes. “I’ll definitely be leaning on him a lot and trying to learn as much as I can from him so that I have an easier time when I’m behind the wheel.”
“I can’t say it enough how pumped I am to be working with Kyle and his entire group of guys. This is the start of something super exciting and I’m ready for the journey.”
