LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Tyler Ankrum looked like he had a truck on Friday night (March 14) that could’ve ended his 127-race winless streak.
Instead, he had to scrap and claw just to finish 10th in the Ecosave 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. And Ankrum minced no words as he put the blame on a certain area his team, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, as to what cost him a shot at NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win number two.
“Super fast truck,” Ankrum told Frontstretch. “Just, we screwed up in the engineering department.”
Ankrum qualified on the front row for the race and stayed right around there for most of the first stage, leading laps in the process. When Ankrum took the lead again on lap 38, he didn’t relinquish it for the rest of stage two.
But Ankrum lost the lead and several other spots on pit road, and he never saw the front again the rest of the night. And that’s where the anger at the engineering department came into play.
“We showed up to the racetrack with a completely set of wrong speeds and lights and numbers, and nothing right was on the dash,” Ankrum said. “So that was why we were so terrible on pit road, and that was why we lost eight positions on pit road and that’s why we ended up where we were.”
The night got worse when Kaden Honeycutt spun right in front of Ankrum, and in an act of avoidance, the No. 18 got into the outside wall hard.
He kept his foot in it. 👏 pic.twitter.com/5oMu0Wtnf3
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 15, 2025
Still, Ankrum rallied, climbing his way back into the top 10 with just a handful of laps to go.
“It sucks,” Ankrum said. “We had the truck to win. I took a wrecked truck, took it to the top 10 again.
“So yeah, it’s embarrassing, man. You can’t expect to show up and win these races when you show up like that.”
These issues come just two races after engine issues took out Ankrum at Daytona International Speedway, resulting in a 34th. The No. 18 truck has been fast the past two races, finishing third at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
But Friday night could’ve been Ankrum’s chance to clinch a playoff spot and end a winless streak that dates back to July of 2019. He led 39 of the opening 62 laps, and those 39 circuits led were the fourth most laps he led in a race in his career.
“We’re gonna move on to wherever we go next, [Homestead-Miami Speedway], and hopefully we’re better,” Ankrum said. “Because at this point in time, I don’t know. It’s every other race.”
When Frontstretch asked Ankrum if he’ll say anything to the team to get changes he wants, he replied with, “Yeah, a lot.”
“None of it’s pretty,” Ankrum said. “This is just crazy. I’ve never had mechanical issues like this or electrical issues like this ever in my life, and we found a way to hit all of them. So I don’t know where we go from here.”
Michael Massie joined Frontstretch in 2017 and has served as the Content Director since 2020.
Massie, a Richmond, Va., native, has covered NASCAR, IndyCar, SRX and the CARS Tour. Outside of motorsports, the Virginia Tech grad and Green Bay Packers minority owner can be seen cheering on his beloved Hokies and Packers.