Who Is Christian Eckes? All About The NASCAR Rising Star
Christian Eckes Bristol Motor Speedway, source: twitter.com/BMR_NASCAR
Christian Eckes is a professional stock car racing driver from Middletown, New York. Born on November 10, 2000, he currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Eckes has had a successful career in racing, having won the Snowball Derby in 2016 and the 2019 ARCA Menards Series championship.
Prior to joining McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, Eckes was a development driver for JR Motorsports and Toyota. He has also won the 2016 Myrtle Beach 400 and was awarded the 2016 CARS Late Model Stock Tour Rookie of the Year. With 6 wins, 48 top tens, and 7 poles in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Eckes is considered to be a rising star in the world of stock car racing.
Racing Career
Christian Eckes began his racing career at the age of thirteen in Legends Cars before moving up to late model stock cars and super late models. In 2015, Eckes joined JR Motorsports to race late models and LFR Chassis as one of their driver development program drivers.
Eckes made his ARCA Racing Series debut in April 2016 at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Tennessee, driving for Venturini Motorsports. Although he finished eighth, it was the only top-ten finish in four ARCA races that year. Eckes also made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Dominion Raceway and ran two more events that year at Columbus Motor Speedway and New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Eckes ended the 2016 season by winning three races in a row, one at Myrtle Beach Speedway, at Southern National Motorsports Park, and the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway. At the Snowball Derby, Eckes won over John Hunter Nemechek. Although some reports pegged him as the youngest winner, those reports were erroneous, as Chase Elliott won the event in 2011 at the age of fifteen while Eckes was sixteen when he triumphed.
In December 2016, Eckes and Venturini Motorsports announced nine ARCA races in 2017. In July 2017, Eckes and Venturini re-signed for an expanded ARCA schedule in 2018 that included fifteen races. Eckes won his first race at Salem Speedway in April 2018, keeping fellow Venturini Motorsports driver Chandler Smith at bay over the closing portion of the race to secure the victory. He followed up with wins at Illinois State Fairgrounds and Indianapolis Raceway Park that year.
The week following his win at Salem Speedway, Eckes signed a deal with NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team Kyle Busch Motorsports to drive the team's No. 46 entry in four races in the 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, starting at Iowa Speedway in June.
On October 24, 2018, it was announced that Eckes would run the No. 15 full-time for Venturini Motorsports in 2019. Despite missing the Salem Speedway race in April due to an esophageal tear in his trachea, he went on to win the 2019 ARCA Menards Series championship with four wins, 13 top fives, and 17 top tens in 19 starts. Eckes was the first ARCA champion to not run every race since Tim Steele in 1997.
During the 2019 season, Eckes ran eight races in the Truck Series with KBM in the No. 51. Finishing third at Homestead later that year, Eckes locked up KBM’s seventh Owner’s Championship.
In 2020, Eckes joined KBM's No. 18 for the full Truck season. Despite making the NASCAR playoffs, he was eliminated after the first round. At Texas in October, Eckes was intentionally spun by Ben Rhodes, eliminating Eckes from the race. He later confronted Rhodes and had a verbal and physical confrontation. He finished with a winless season and an eighth-place finish in the standings.
In 2021, Eckes moved to ThorSport Racing after being replaced at KBM by Chandler Smith. He entered 10 races of the 22-race season, sharing the schedule with Grant Enfinger.
After his maiden win at Las Vegas in 2022, Eckes moved up to full-time in the No. 98 after Enfinger moved back to GMS Racing. He finished and tied a career-best 8th in the final standings, despite having no wins.
On December 6, 2022, McAnally-Hilgemann Racing announced that Eckes would pilot the No. 19 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet Silverado in 2023, replacing Derek Kraus. Eckes started the 2023 season with a third-place finish at Daytona. He then scored wins at Atlanta, Darlington, and Kansas. Eckes was eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 8 at Homestead. He won two weeks later at Phoenix and finished fifth in the final points standings.
Eckes started the 2024 season with a 10th-place finish at Daytona. A month later, he won at Bristol.