Christian Eckes

Christian Donald Eckes (born November 10, 2000) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 91 Chevrolet Silverado RST for McAnally–Hilgemann Racing. He also competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and ARCA Menards Series West. Eckes is the 2019 ARCA Menards Series champion, won the Snowball Derby in 2016, and was formerly a development driver for JR Motorsports and later Toyota.

Racing career Early years Eckes grew up in Greenville, New York. He began racing Legends Cars at thirteen years old and later moved up to racing late model stock cars and super late models. In 2015, Eckes began racing late models for JR Motorsports, as well as super late models for LFR Chassis as one of their driver development program drivers. He made his ARCA Racing Series debut at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in April 2016, driving for Venturini Motorsports. He finished eighth, the only top-ten in four ARCA races that year. Eckes also made his NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Dominion Raceway and ran two further events in the series that year. Eckes capped off his season by winning three races in a row, including a triumph in the Snowball Derby held at Five Flags Speedway where he beat 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 age fifteen while Eckes was sixteen when he triumphed.

ARCA Eckes and Venturini remained together for the following two seasons, partaking in ten races of the ARCA Racing Series during 2017 and thirteen the year after. He triumphed for the first time at Salem Speedway in April 2018, keeping teammate Chandler Smith at bay over the closing portion of the event to secure the victory. He followed up with wins at Illinois State Fairgrounds and Indianapolis Raceway Park during the year, making him the driver with the second-most wins that season despite missing seven races.

In the week following the win at Salem, Eckes landed 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 season, starting at Iowa Speedway in June. He led his first laps in the series at Iowa and took his first stage win during stage 2 at the following race in Gateway, though he later crashed out of the contest. In total, Eckes's first four starts in the Truck Series included 38 laps led and three finishes inside the top ten. thumb In 2019, Eckes embarked on a full-time campaign in the newly renamed ARCA Menards Series in the No. 15 Venturini car. Despite missing the Salem race in April due to an esophageal tear in his trachea, he went on to win the championship with four wins, thirteen top-fives, and seventeen top-tens in nineteen starts. Eckes was the first ARCA champion to not run every race since Tim Steele in 1997.

Truck Series 2019 During the same year, Eckes also ran eight races in the Truck Series with KBM's No. 51 truck. Thanks to his three top-five finishes, including a decisive third place at the Homestead season finale, Eckes helped the No. 51 crew towards the owners' championship, which was the seventh for the KBM team overall.

2020 The following year, Eckes joined the team's No. 18 truck for the entirety of the 2020 season. After five results inside the top five, including runner-up finishes at Texas, Kansas, and Michigan, Eckes made the NASCAR playoffs. However, he was eliminated after the first round, retiring in a last-lap pileup at the Talladega cut-off race. Eckes notably had a verbal and physical altercation with Ben Rhodes, who had spun him out on purpose at the fall Texas race. He finished with a winless season and an eighth-place finish in the standings.

2021 In 2021, Eckes moved to ThorSport Racing after being replaced at KBM by Chandler Smith. He entered ten races of the 22-race season, sharing the schedule with Grant Enfinger. Eckes managed to finish inside the top five on five occasions and would take his maiden win in the Truck Series at Las Vegas, besting Todd Gilliland during a late restart and being saved from an attack by Ben Rhodes by a caution that ended the race.

2022

Eckes progressed to a full-time schedule in 2022, driving the No. 98 after Enfinger moved back to GMS Racing. Though he did not win any races that year, Eckes finished eighth in the standings, scoring fifteen top-tens.

2023

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 season with a third-place finish at Daytona, before going on to win at Atlanta and Darlington — where he triumphed dominantly following five races with either a fifteenth place or a DNF — during the regular season. The first round of the playoffs turned out to be commanding, as Eckes finished second and third at IRP and Milwaukee respectively before making an outside pass on Corey Heim and Zane Smith after a late restart to win at Kansas. However, Heim would get his revenge at Bristol by passing a dominant Eckes with five laps to go; Eckes would finish second. Eckes was eliminated at the conclusion of the Round of 8 at Homestead, having finished twentieth. He won two weeks later at Phoenix and finished fifth in the final points standings.

2024: Title contender Eckes started the 2024 season with a tenth-place finish at Daytona. Throughout the season, he won at Bristol, Martinsville, and Nashville, and claimed the regular season championship. During the playoffs, Eckes won at Martinsville to make the Championship 4, albeit with controversy: though Eckes had dominated the race, winning both stages, a late caution allowed Taylor Gray to pass him during the subsequent restart. Eckes moved Gray up the racetrack aggressively and made a similar move to prevent Ben Rhodes from winning moments later, causing Gray to confront Eckes after the finish. The following week, Eckes finished third at Phoenix to claim third in the standings, being beaten by Heim and eventual champion Ty Majeski who had dominated the event.

2025: Part-time In 2025, Eckes made two starts for MHR, this time driving the No. 16 truck.

On November 20, 2025, it was announced that Eckes will return to the series full-time for MHR for the 2026 season, this time driving the No. 91 Chevrolet.

Xfinity Series 2025: Rookie Season

On August 31, 2024, it was announced that Eckes would move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series full-time in 2025, driving the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing.

Personal life Eckes was born on November 10, 2000, to George and Darlene Eckes. He has an older sister, Erica. Eckes attended George Washington University Online High School.

Craftsman Truck Series NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Pts Ref 2018 Kyle Busch Motorsports 46 Toyota DAY ATL LVS MAR DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW8 GTW28 CHI KEN ELD POC MCH BRI MSP LVS TAL MAR9 TEX PHO9 HOM 35th 110 2019 51 DAY22 ATL LVS MAR TEX DOV KAN CLT TEX IOW GTW14* CHI KEN POC4 ELD6 MCH15 BRI MSP LVS3 TAL MAR17 PHO HOM3 20th 271 2020 18 DAY22 LVS23 CLT14 ATL3 HOM8 POC33 KEN6 TEX2 KAN13 KAN2 MCH2 DRC12 DOV11 GTW32 DAR5 RCH18 BRI12 LVS8 TAL18 KAN6 TEX25 MAR4 PHO4 8th 2238 2021 ThorSport Racing 98 Toyota DAY DRC10 LVS9 ATL BRD RCH KAN4 DAR COA35 CLT11 TEX NSH POC12 KNX GLN13 GTW31 DAR BRI LVS1 TAL MAR PHO6 21st 263 2022 DAY3 LVS28 ATL16 COA6 MAR12 BRD5 DAR17 KAN5 TEX2 CLT4 GTW2 SON35 KNX12 NSH6 MOH5 POC8 IRP16 RCH8 KAN10 BRI8 TAL5* HOM7 PHO30 8th 2230 2023 McAnally–Hilgemann Racing 19 Chevy DAY3* LVS6 ATL1 COA30 TEX15 BRD30 MAR15 KAN30 DAR1* NWS25 CLT6 GTW2 NSH23 MOH3 POC7 RCH11 IRP2 MLW3 KAN1 BRI2* TAL19 HOM20 PHO1 5th 2319 2024 DAY10 ATL32 LVS6 BRI1* COA8 MAR1* TEX4 KAN3 DAR4 NWS6 CLT10 GTW2 NSH1** POC3 IRP2* RCH2 MLW3 BRI4 KAN3 TAL6 HOM9 MAR1* PHO3 3rd 4034 2025 16 DAY ATL LVS HOM MAR BRI CAR TEX KAN NWS CLT NSH MCH POC LRP IRP GLN RCH12 DAR BRI NHA9 ROV TAL MAR PHO 89th 01 2026 91 DAY3 ATL36 STP15 DAR3 CAR13 BRI5* TEX8 GLN16 DOV7 CLT6 NSH8 MCH32 COR9 LRP5 NWS4 IRP33 RCH3 NHA28 BRI KAN CLT PHO TAL MAR HOM -* -*

Season still in progress Ineligible for series points

ARCA Menards Series (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.) ARCA Menards Series results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pts Ref 2016 Venturini Motorsports 66 Toyota DAY NSH8 SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH 40th 625 15 MAD14 WIN IOW11 IRP26 POC BLN ISF DSF SLM CHI KEN KAN 2017 DAY NSH3 SLM8* TAL TOL8 ELK2 POC MCH MAD5 IOW8 IRP10 POC WIN2 ISF6 ROA DSF SLM19 CHI KEN KAN 16th 1980 2018 DAY NSH8 SLM1 TAL TOL21 CLT POC11 MCH MAD GTW4 CHI IOW11 ELK2 POC13 ISF1 BLN11 DSF4 SLM7 IRP1* KAN 12th 2650 2019 DAY4 FIF3 SLMINQ† TAL26 NSH1* TOL3 CLT7 POC3 MCH7 MAD7 GTW2 CHI7 ELK11 IOW2 POC1 ISF2 DSF1* SLM2 IRP2 KAN1 1st 5045 † – Qualified for the 2019 Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 but was replaced by Harrison Burton due to illness

K&N Pro Series East NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pts Ref 2016 LFR Driver Development Group 15 Ford NSM MOB GRE BRI VIR DOM7 STA COL9 NHA18 IOW GLN GRE NJE DOV 31st 98

ARCA Menards Series West ARCA Menards Series West results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pts Ref 2025 Bill McAnally Racing 19 Chevy KER PHO TUC CNS KER SON2 TRI PIR14 AAS MAD LVS PHO 31st 72

CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour (key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.) CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pts Ref 2015 Empire Racing 82 Ford SNM18 ROU HCY SNM TCM MMS ROU CON 33rd 38 JR Motorsports 9 Chevy MYB10 HCY 2016 1 SNM12 ROU12 HCY9 TCM21 GRE10 ROU3 CON3 MYB4 HCY5 SNM3 4th 249

CARS Super Late Model Tour (key) CARS Super Late Model Tour results Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Pts Ref 2015 LFR Chassis 15 Chevy SNM ROU HCY SNM TCM MMS ROU18 CON MYB HCY6 34th 42 2016 JR Motorsports SNM ROU HCY2* TCM GRE ROU CON10 MYB HCY SNM 28th 57 2017 Fury Race Cars Toyota CON2 DOM3 DOM7 HCYWth HCYWth BRI AND2 ROU TCM ROU HCY CON3 SBO11* 7th 173