Christian Eckes may have won the battle, which took place Friday night in the Zip Buy Now, Pay Later 200 at Martinsville Speedway, but his path to victory increased the inherent difficulty of winning the war, which is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.

While the driver of the No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet Silverado led 187 of 200 laps in Friday night’s race at Martinsville, he found himself at a tire disadvantage to Taylor Gray, who was looking to lock up in Championship 4 with a victory. Gray, who lined up alongside Eckes on the race’s final restart, passed Eckes for the race lead in Turns 1 and 2, and it appeared he was on his way to a surprising victory for a place in Championship 4.

But Eckes had other ideas.

The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet slammed into the side of Gray’s No. 17 truck, sending Gray onto the track and out of contention for the victory. Ben Rhodes then took the lead, but Rhodes would suffer a similar fate as Eckes would also dispatch his No. 99 ThorSport Racing Ford with two laps to go.

Once Rhodes and Gray were eliminated, Eckes was able to cap off his dominant run with his fourth victory of the season by crossing the finish line 1.191 seconds ahead of Rhodes, while Chase Purdy, Taylor Purdy and Nick Sanchez rounded out the top five. finishers.

Here’s a replay of the final five laps of Friday night’s race:

As Eckes performed his recovery lap, Gray showed his displeasure by making contact with him on the track. Gray then drove away and parked on pit road while Eckes celebrated the victory.

After scoring the victory, the New York native’s ninth of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career, Eckes downplayed the contact with Gray and said he simply refused to lose a race he had dominated as strongly as he did on Friday evening.

“It’s awesome. Like I told everyone, I wasn’t going to let us lose this race, the truck was too good,” Eckes said. “The 17 (Taylor Gray) was a tough race, but I feel bad with the 99 (Ben Rhodes). I just slacked off too much going into the turn, uh, everyone’s really happy with me, but I I don’t care. Thank you Thank you everyone for working hard and we’ll go to Phoenix.”

After getting out of his truck, Gray then made a B-line to Eckes where he faced the race winner. in makeshift victory lane on the front stretch of the 0.526-mile short track.

After a quick but heated conversation, Gray returned to his truck where he began recounting how he lost Friday night’s race. Gray was particularly upset because he felt he was running clean with Eckes and simply expected the same in return.

“Race 19 (Christian Eckes) reached (laps) one and two on the restart and previous times. I was on tires. I barely touched him,” Gray said. “I rolled under him and the warning came out. So clean for Martinsville, especially for the tire advantage. I could have gone into (a corner) and gone completely away without worrying about it. I ran it clean. I didn’t want to be that guy in Martinsville.”

Gray said he expected that as he got around Eckes on the final restart he would get a boost from behind, but the driver of the No. 17 truck said he didn’t expect the level of contact he received from behind.

“We took the restart and ran him clear in (laps) one and two. Take him out of (lap) two, and he comes in in (lap) three and completely sends me to the fence. Now , okay, it’s Martinsville, I expected to be moved – I didn’t expect to be moved to the fence, especially with the way I faced him, and he’s stuck in the final four , so I don’t know.

With this victory, Eckes joins Grant Enfinger, who won the first two races of the round of 16 of the playoffsCorey Heim, who finished seventh, and Ty Majeski, who came home 11th, entered the Championship 4 field, and will compete next Friday in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship race at Phoenix Raceway for the title. However, as Gray noted, Eckes, by winning Stages 1 and 2 earlier in the race, was essentially locked into Championship 4 anyway.

Eckes won the race, but now faces retaliation next weekend in Phoenix.

“The only thing he did was put a target on his back,” Gray seethed before explaining, “and unfortunately, in this day and age, I can’t go to Phoenix and do anything to him. be it, because I’m going to do it.” go get a $20,000 fine, so he gets away with this bullshit and has no repercussions.

While Gray said Friday night he wouldn’t go to Phoenix to fight back, Rhodes, a two-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series champion and runner-up who was also the target of a late-lap push from Eckes, said Gray has a reason to be angry, and whether Gray retaliates or not, Eckes is at the mercy of what Gray decides to do next.

“When you’re locked in and you’re running really bad and you’re making enemies like Taylor Gray, it’s a big deal because (Gray won’t) go to Phoenix (with a chance to win a championship) now and I think Christian would have done it again scored points and he’s at Taylor’s mercy next week,” Rhodes said. “The point I’m trying to make is that you really have to look at the big picture when you want to win championships. That’s what we did for our two championships, we don’t “We weren’t the most dominant truck, but we tried to do it. We played the game to the best of our ability and speed, and we managed to bring it home.”

Can Eckes win a championship next week at Phoenix Raceway? Time will tell.

Friday night’s race marked the end of championship hopes for Gray and three other drivers. Nick Sanchez (finished fifth), Tyler Ankrum (eighth) and Rajah Caruth (31st) joined Gray outside the playoff cut line after Friday night’s race. Caruth experienced an issue with his brakes early in the event, causing him to take the No. 71 Spire Motorsports truck to the garage for repairs, effectively ending his hopes of qualifying for the Championship 4.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship race is scheduled for Friday, November 8. This race will be televised on FS1 with coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide radio broadcasts of the event.