The NASCAR Truck Series is often never too far from controversy, and another one has popped up yet again. This time around, the drivers involved were Christian Eckes and Taylor Gray. Eckes eventually won the Truck race at the Martinsville Speedway, his method of victory certainly grabbed the headlines. While all that was happening, Ty Majeski ended the race in 11th place, which was enough to secure a Championship 4 spot.

Eckes knew that he was coming under attack during the race, and he defended himself like his life depended on it. The #19 driver pretty much dominated the proceedings, leading 187 laps out of 200. However, in the closing laps of the race, Ben Rhodes and Taylor Gray began hounding him on fresher tires. On the final restart with 5 laps left on the counter, Gray got the better start. That was when Christian Eckes decided that desperate times called for desperate measures.

Ty Majeski had a front-row seat to the drama

Race restarts tend to be chaotic, but in this case, it was intentional chaos. As Gray snatched the lead, Eckes not-so-subtly bumped his left rear at the corner. The desired result was the former being forced to wrestle his truck back under control. With the momentum lost for Gray, Eckes was not about to decline the invitation and barged past. Rhodes also tried to sneak past, but Eckes tried the same stunt on him and it worked once again.

Ty Majeski, who finished in P11, said after the race, “Well, he’s got to race those guys at Phoenix now. He kind of was in the cat bird seat to choose who he raced at Phoenix. Made his decision and, he’s obviously a great racer and I have a lot of respect for Christian. We raced really hard, but clean together. I’m glad I’m not a part of the drama tonight, so nobody’s got any grudges against me, going into Phoenix, that I know of. So that’s a good thing.”

While all that was unfolding, the #19 driver was just glad that he was not involved. The last thing he needed was his truck torn up and his Championship 4 hopes dashed because he did something stupid. Making enemies before Phoenix was not a wise thing to do for Christian Eckes, as he will enter the finale with a target on his back.

Will Christian Eckes have to watch his back?

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To be honest, Majeski does have a point about Eckes racing them at Phoenix. Aside from Eckes and Majeski, Corey Heim and Grant Enfinger are the other two Championship 4 contenders. In other words, now that Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes no longer have any stakes and gloves will be off in Phoenix. Who knows, maybe the two drivers will cool off during the week, or they may be petty and mess with Eckes’ championship hopes.

The NASCAR Truck Series often bears witness to some brand of chaos, and Martinsville did not disappoint. To be frank, people really should have seen this incident between Eckes, Rhodes, and Gray coming. A short track, mixed with being a final chance to reach the championship 4, in an already chaotic division, is a lit powder keg. As such, drivers were always going to get desperate in their bid to reach the final 4.

With the season finale on the horizon, this could very well happen again. Although four drivers are gunning for the title, they still have to face the entire Truck Series grid, and enemies made in the past will not be kind in the final race of the season. Do you think Christian Eckes will get wrecked in Phoenix in pursuit of the Truck Series Championship?