Charlotte Runner-Up Keeps Eckes' Truck Title Hopes In Play

Christian Eckes (Jacob Seelman/SWN photo)

By Justin Glenn, SWN Staff Writer

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2026) – Most conversations around the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season have centered on the heavyweight championship war between Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs, but veteran Christian Eckes has held his own and remained steady through three Chase races as well.

At Charlotte Motor Speedway Friday night, Eckes did that once again by finishing second in the Ecosave 200, surging past Honeycutt late but falling short of chasing down Riggs for the trophy.

It gave Eckes back-to-back second place finishes following a similar strong drive at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 26. 

“Not only our team [am I encouraged by the speed], but all of McAnally Hilgermann Racing. We have three cars in the top 10, so it’s good to see progress across the board,” said Eckes, looking at the bigger picture. “Our NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet was really solid all day.”

His night was made on the final restart with 11 to go. Eckes restarted fourth and looked to take advantage of Honeycutt and Riggs being within arms’ length, after the pair’s dominance smothered the competition most of the night.

Eckes used the top lane to get clear of Bayley Currey and settled into third. Down the back straightaway he used a top-groove run to dive to the inside of Riggs, who was second at the time. 

The momentum stalled, but it positioned him well in the mix had any troubles found the leaders. Riggs and Honeycutt continued to race aggressively, with Honeycutt mirror driving to block and manipulate air in an effort to affect Riggs’ truck balance.

Seven laps were left when Honeycutt’s defense collapsed like a tower of cards, with his No. 11 Toyota sliding into the outside wall briefly before a near half-spin.

Honeycutt lost all forward momentum, which left Eckes to easily pass him for second. The 25-year-old didn’t have a shot at Riggs, who took control of the lead with clean air, but being in the right place at the right time allowed Eckes a fourth podium finish on the year. 

Eckes said he had speed, but the difference from a win was the pace that Riggs possessed, after the eventual winner led 47 laps and felt confident early about his ability to pass and control the race. 

“We were kind of slow down the straightaways, struggling with a couple of balance items,” Eckes said. “But it’s still good to finish second.”

Eckes passed Gio Ruggerio for fourth in the points standings due to his Charlotte effort Friday night. Although steep, he is 88 points back of leader Honeycutt with four races left and still in mathematical contention for the Truck Series title. Eckes is also 11 behind Chandler Smith from the top three overall.

Some of his gain came from 13 stage points after an eighth-place qualifying effort earlier in the day Friday.

Even after losing six spots on pit road to start stage two, Eckes stayed the course and finished strong. In doing so, the Middletown, N.Y., native collected his fifth straight Charlotte top 10 dating back to 2022.

The Truck Series now heads to Phoenix Raceway, the final West Coast date in 2026. In six Phoenix truck starts, Eckes has just one finish worse than ninth place, and won there in 2023. He also finished ninth during his lone NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series season with Kaulig Racing in 2025. 

At this juncture, Eckes isn’t focused on a points number. He knows that if he can break through back into victory lane – which would end a nearly two-year, 24-race winless drought – the points would start to take care of themselves.

“It’s back-to-back weeks [with second place results]. We obviously want to win; I feel like we’re right on the cusp of doing that,” Eckes noted. “We’ll move on and hopefully we can do it.”

Coverage of the Truck Series from Phoenix is slated for Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90. 

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