Christian Eckes (19) during qualifying for a NASCAR truck series auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)
AP
HAMPTON, Ga.
It took a while, but Christian Eckes considered it worth the wait.
The driver of the No. 19 earned his first win of the 2023 NASCAR Truck Series on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, prevailing through a record 11 cautions and a late-race restart and an overtime finish.
Not only was the race long on its own — in laps run and time elapsed and pretty much every other metric — but official word that Eckes had won didn’t come from NASCAR until a few minutes after he’d crossed the start-finish line: A caution flag flew after the white flag was waved, and NASCAR needed to confirm that Eckes was in the lead when the race was called over.
And Eckes was.
Nick Sanchez finished second. John Huntern Nemechek finished third.
The race ended up witnessing 17 lead changes, nine leaders and 11 cautions for 58 laps. The previous record for most amount of cautions for a NASCAR Truck Series race at AMS was nine.
Eckes has now notched three Top 10 finishes in as many races this season. He also currently leads the points standings by five over Matt Crafton.
This story will be updated.
Unofficial results from Atlanta Motor Speedway
| POS | CAR | DRIVER | DELTA | LAST LAP | BEST SPEED |
| 1 | 19 | Christian Eckes | — | 31.275 | 182.141 |
| 2 | 2 | Nick Sanchez # | 0.078 | 31.241 | 183.388 |
| 3 | 17 | John Hunter Nemechek(i) | 0.206 | 31.251 | 181.753 |
| 4 | 41 | Bayley Currey(i) | 0.435 | 31.4 | 181.932 |
| 5 | 25 | Matt DiBenedetto | 0.811 | 31.604 | 182.825 |
| 6 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | 0.878 | 32.07 | 180.946 |
| 7 | 56 | Timmy Hill | 1.206 | 31.809 | 179.342 |
| 8 | 4 | Chase Purdy | 1.235 | 32.164 | 180.875 |
| 9 | 88 | Matt Crafton | 1.415 | 31.745 | 181.159 |
| 10 | 51 | Jack Wood | 1.416 | 31.64 | 180.445 |
| 11 | 98 | Ty Majeski | 2.474 | 33.17 | 182.129 |
| 12 | 13 | Hailie Deegan | 2.543 | 32.444 | 179.099 |
| 13 | 32 | Bret Holmes # | 2.935 | 32.608 | 179.621 |
| 14 | 30 | Ryan Vargas | 3.092 | 32.591 | 179.052 |
| 15 | 2 | Kris Wright | 3.309 | 32.693 | 180.539 |
| 16 | 43 | Daniel Dye # | 3.438 | 33.349 | 179.761 |
| 17 | 46 | Akinori Ogata | 3.439 | 32.518 | 179.006 |
| 18 | 35 | Jake Garcia # | 3.649 | 32.693 | 181.117 |
| 19 | 23 | Grant Enfinger | 3.826 | 32.464 | 183.552 |
| 20 | 12 | Spencer Boyd | 4.789 | 34.084 | 174.028 |
| 21 | 38 | Zane Smith | 4.996 | 35.769 | 182.946 |
| 22 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | 7.514 | 38.4 | 183.019 |
| 23 | 22 | Josh Reaume | 7.609 | 36.22 | 177.806 |
| 24 | 15 | Tanner Gray | 16.465 | 44.678 | 183.133 |
| 25 | 24 | Rajah Caruth # | 27.794 | 52.959 | 182.982 |
| 26 | 16 | Tyler Ankrum | 0.196 | 33.542 | 182.177 |
| 27 | 9 | Colby Howard | -3 | 147.754 | 182.507 |
| 28 | 1 | Layne Riggs | -3 | 35.393 | 181.77 |
| 29 | 33 | Mason Massey | -3 | 40.053 | 177.664 |
| 30 | 5 | Dean Thompson | -6 | 46.098 | 181.058 |
| 31 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | -10 | 33.491 | 182.105 |
| 32 | 45 | Lawless Alan | -11 | 84.998 | 183.194 |
| 33 | 4 | Kaden Honeycutt | -14 | 42.396 | 180.557 |
| 34 | 11 | Corey Heim | -54 | 90.148 | 181.663 |
| 35 | 20 | Mason Maggio | -85 | 184.461 | 176.006 |
| 36 | 34 | Keith McGee(i) | -130 | 226.604 | 169.158 |
Alex Zietlow writes about NASCAR, Charlotte FC and the ways in which sports intersect with life in the Charlotte area for The Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the APSE, which awarded him with Top-10 finishes in the Beat Writing and Short Feature categories in its 2021 writing contest. He previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill from 2019-22.