Tyler Ankrum

Tyler M. Ankrum[1] (born March 6, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 26 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. Ankrum won the 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East championship, earning DGR-Crosley's first championship in any racing series. Ankrum is the first driver born in 2000 or later to win a NASCAR national series race.

Tyler Ankrum
Ankrum at Daytona International Speedway in 2020
Born	Tyler M. Ankrum March 6, 2001 San Bernardino, California
Achievements	2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Champion 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
45 races run over 3 years
Truck no., team	No. 26 (GMS Racing)
2020 position	9th
Best finish	8th (2019)
First race	2018 Texas Roadhouse 200 (Martinsville)
Last race	2020 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
First win	2019 Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 (Kentucky)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 19 0
Statistics current as of November 6, 2020.

Racing career

Growing up on the west coast of America, Ankrum started racing quarter midgets and later moved up to late models.[2] He won his first late model race at Caraway Speedway at age 14.[3] Ankrum continues to run super late model races around the country, winning Hickory Motor Speedway's Fall Brawl in 2015[4] and finishing third in the 2018 Rattler 250.[5] He switched to the super late model in late 2015 after one year running the CARS Tour in the Late Model Stock division.[6]

K&N Pro Series East

Ankrum on track at New Jersey Motorsports Park in 2018

In January 2018, Ankrum signed with David Gilliland Racing for half of the 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East season.[7] By the third race of the season, one more race was added with the potential for more with additional funding;[8] it eventually morphed into a full-time effort. He won his first race in his fourth start at South Boston Speedway in May over teammate Tyler Dippel, and almost won the other race in the doubleheader that day if not for a run-in with Chase Cabre late in the second race.[9] Ankrum then went on a midsummer tear, winning three consecutive K&N East races, at Thompson Speedway after failing post-qualifying tech;[10] going flag-to-flag the following week in a caution-free race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway,[11] and winning a combination East-West race at Iowa Speedway, which he called "overwhelming".[12] Despite only finishing 13th at the September New Hampshire race, Ankrum left the event with an insurmountable points lead, clinching him the 2018 K&N Pro Series East championship.[13]

Camping World Truck Series

After winning the K&N Pro Series East championship, Ankrum would make his Truck Series debut at Martinsville in the No. 54 Toyota Tundra for DGR-Crosley.[14] Seth Smith, Ankrum's K&N crew chief, served as crew chief for the effort. After starting nineteenth, Ankrum finished eighteenth.[15] Ankrum ran the following race with DGR, notching his first top-ten finish in sixth at ISM Raceway.[16]

When asked in early November 2018 about 2019 plans, Ankrum noted that a lack of sponsorship would likely prevent him from running in the Truck Series full-time in 2019. He stated that his 2019 racing slate would include part-time rides in Trucks, the ARCA Racing Series and in super late model racing.[16] However, on December 14, 2018, Ankrum and DGR-Crosley announced that he would run full-time in 2019 starting with the spring Martinsville race due to age restrictions.[17] At Texas in June, Ankrum graduated high school on a stage during pre race ceremonies and then recovered from multiple incidents during the race, including a slide down pit road, to finish a career-best third.[18] On June 11, 2019, Ankrum announced that sponsorship woes had put him out of the truck, with only a handful of races left in the season.[19] He would eventually land a start and park ride with NEMCO Motorsports for races not on his DGR-Crosley schedule, allowing him to remain eligible for the playoffs.[20] On July 11, 2019, Ankrum scored his first Truck Series win at Kentucky after Brett Moffitt ran out of fuel towards the final lap. This also marked DGR-Crosley's first Truck Series win.[21] The win qualified him for the playoffs, but he did not advance past the Round of 6.

On November 14, 2019, Ankrum joined GMS Racing for the 2020 Truck season.[22]

Personal life

Ankrum originally wanted to be a golfer after his father, who also dabbled in racing. After growing up on a ranch in Southern California, Ankrum and his family moved to North Carolina for racing.[23] He attended Lake Norman High School.[2]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World 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	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2018	DGR-Crosley	54	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	LVS	TAL	MAR 18	TEX			42nd	54	[24]
		17																							PHO 6	HOM
2019				DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR 19	TEX 6	DOV 9	KAN 11	CLT 27	TEX 3			CHI 13	KEN 1*	POC 2	ELD 9	MCH 25	BRI 20	MSP 9	LVS 11	TAL 7	MAR 25	PHO 26	HOM 22	8th	2182	[25]
	NEMCO Motorsports	87	Chevy										IOW 31	GTW 30
2020	GMS Racing	26	Chevy	DAY 27	LVS 11	CLT 13	ATL 15	HOM 2	POC 9	KEN 16	TEX 6	KAN 33	KAN 28	MCH 4	DAY 6	DOV 7	GTW 12	DAR 11	RCH 5	BRI 7	LVS 10	TAL 16	KAN 34	TEX 16	MAR 12	PHO 8	9th	2198	[26]
2021				DAY	DAY	LVS	ATL	BRI	RCH	KAN	DAR	COA	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	MSP	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO

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	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2018	DGR-Crosley	17	Toyota	NSM 5	BRI 4	LGY 3	SBO 1*	SBO 3	MEM 2	NJM 9	TMP 1	NHA 1**	IOW 1	GLN 7	GTW 6	NHA 13	DOV 11	1st	574	[27]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

1. "Team Event Rosters – Bristol Motor Speedway – Thursday, August 15, 2019" (PDF). NASCAR. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
2. Barrett, Travis. "Tyler Ankrum Looking To Give DGR Crosley Something To Sing About". NASCAR.com. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
3. "Tyler Ankrum Excited About First Win". www.race22.com. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
4. Paul, Brandon. "Top 10: Short Track Racing Stories From the Weekend". Speed51. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
5. Paul, Brandon. "Burton Slithers By Choquette in Final Turn to Win Rattler". Speed51. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
6. Evans, Zach. "Tyler Ankrum Prepares For Jump TO CARS Super Late Models". Short Track Scene. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
7. Fenwick, Adam. "Ankrum Joins David Gilliland Racing For K&N East Races". Speed Sport. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
8. Weaver, Matt. "Three takeaways from the NASCAR K&N Pro Series race at Bristol". Autoweek. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
9. Evans, Zach. "South Boston Produces Pair of First-Time K&N East Winners". Speed51. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
10. Jacobs, Jaxson. "Tyler Ankrum wins second NASCAR K&N East race at Thompson in Throwback 100". Autoweek. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
11. Jacobs, Jaxson. "Tyler Ankrum Dominates at New Hampshire". NASCAR Home Tracks. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
12. Jacobs, Jaxson. "Tyler Ankrum Continues Dominance at Iowa". NASCAR Home Tracks. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
13. Utter, Jim (September 22, 2018). "Tyler Ankrum clinches K&N Pro Series East title at New Hampshire". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved September 22, 2018.
14. "K&N East champ Tyler Ankrum to make Truck Series debut at Martinsville". nascar.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
15. "10/27/2018 race: Texas Roadhouse 200 (Truck)". Racing Reference. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
16. Catanzareti, Zach. "Tyler Ankrum: The Newest Student of the Truck Series". KickinTheTires. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
17. Utter, Jim (November 14, 2018). "K&N East champ Tyler Ankrum to move up to Trucks in 2019". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved November 15, 2018.
18. Lunkenheimer, Beth. "Tyler Ankrum Recovers From Spin & Slide To Score Career-Best Finish At Texas". Frontstretch. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
19. Christie, Toby. "Sponsorship Falling Through Has Pushed Tyler Ankrum to Part-Time Truck Series Schedule". TobyChristie.com. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
20. Segal, Davey (September 13, 2019). "Tyler Ankrum Advances To Round of 6 Amid ThorSport Engine Woes". Frontstretch. Retrieved September 15, 2019.
21. "Tyler Ankrum lands first Gander Trucks triumph at Kentucky". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
22. Bonkowski, Jerry (November 14, 2019). "Tyler Ankrum to drive truck for GMS Racing in 2020". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
23. Gluck, Jeff (July 1, 2020). "12 Questions with Tyler Ankrum". The Athletic. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
24. "Tyler Ankrum – 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 3, 2018.
25. "Tyler Ankrum – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
26. "Tyler Ankrum – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
27. "Tyler Ankrum – 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 3, 2018.

External links

• Tyler Ankrum driver statistics at Racing-Reference