Winning races is a sure-fire way to get a good ride, and Christian Eckes proved that on Thursday when ThorSport Racing announced he will drive the #98 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro full-time in the 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. AHI Facility Services will sponsor his truck for the season opener at Daytona International Speedway on 18 February.
After running the full 2020 Truck season for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Eckes was relegated to part-time duty in ThorSport’s #98 which he shared with Grant Enfinger. Running ten races, he broke through at Las Vegas’ Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 where he scored his maiden series win. As Enfinger moves to GMS Racing for 2022, the #98 became open for Eckes’ taking.
“I am extremely excited to be back with ThorSport Racing and ready to kick the year off at Daytona with AHI Facility Services on the #98 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro,” said Eckes. “This is an amazing opportunity and I’m more than ready to show that I belong.”
Eckes began racing in the Trucks in 2018 on a part-time basis for KBM. At the time, he was mainly competing in the ARCA Menards Series, winning the 2019 championship for Venturini Motorsports.
His ThorSport team-mates include reigning champion Ben Rhodes and three-time champ Matt Crafton. The team has also fieded a fourth truck, the #13, that has not revealed a 2022 driver; Johnny Sauter drove the truck in 2021 but moves to G2G Racing for 2022.