After starting fourth in Friday’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200, winning the first stage and leading a race-high 82 laps, it all came down to the final moments of overtime for Christian Eckes at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway.
It was a dramatic finish, as GMS Racing’s Grant Enfinger hit the wall coming off turn four with one lap to go, bringing out the eighth and final caution. As a result, Eckes took the white flag and claimed his second victory of the season with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing.
“It’s been a rough couple weeks, so to come back and win shows the resiliency of this team. And how we had to win it just shows the fight in this team,” Eckes said in his post-race interview on FOX. “I’m ready to go, man.”
Eckes finished .962 seconds ahead of Stewart Friesen in the No. 52 Chevrolet.
“My over-the-wall crew, we worked a little harder and those guys responded with great stops. We didn’t have a great truck in dirty air, but our TRD PRO was good in clean air. We had a good restart there at the end, but I was able to get the second spot. Proud of my guys,” Friesen said.
TRICON Garage’s Tanner Gray finished third. Full-time Cup Series driver William Byron, wheeling the No. 51 Kyle Busch Motorsports entry, came in fourth after winning the second stage. Late in the race, he and Eckes were locked in a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead, but eventually, the MHR driver prevailed.
Niece Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar was fifth.
Rajah Caruth put forth a strong showing in his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet, ending his night at the 1.366-mile oval in sixth. Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace rebounded from starting 15th in the No. 1 TRICON Garage entry to finish seventh. Polesitter Corey Heim was eighth.
Kaden Honeycutt and Dean Thompson completed the top 10.