Eckert Runs Away at New Hampshire

The TNR Grand National Series, sponsored by Schue Lawn Service, stopped in "The Magic Mile" for what turned into a race of attrition with both strings of cautions and a long green flag run to end the race. Of the 150 laps in the Dunay Jewelers 150, only 19 were run under caution. The race also only had 5 lead changes, but a lot of hard racing for the lead and positions throughout the 20-car field. The race had several cautions following the restart from the stage caution. In the end, Johnny Eckert won his 2nd race of the season in a dominant fashion.

Eckert led 138 of the 150 laps in the race, it was the 3rd straight race where one driver led almost all of the laps turned. Jason Gracias led 10 laps and Jake Bustos led 2. Pole sitter Philip Scott did not clock any laps led and ended up finishing 16th, multiple laps down. Eckert grabbed the lead on the initial start of the race, powered past Scott and Gracias from the 3rd place starting position to the lead. During the first stage and beyond, Gracias put a lot of pressure on Eckert, even making contact on occasion. Eckert did not flinch and managed to save his tires better than anyone on the field.

A bold strategy call was made by the Outlaw Racing drivers to stay out many laps on the green flag pit cycle. They let the other leaders pit before making their stops. Eckert raced back from 6 seconds behind Jason Gracias to take the lead and drove away to win by almost 9 seconds. Eckert extends a streak that is now at four straight top 5 finishes. Drivers like Philip Scott and Bill Edwards sustained a lot of damage during those incidents, but most were able to continue racing at pace.

The TNR Grand National Series sponsored by Schue Lawn Service will be off this next Monday but will return March 27th at Talladega. Make sure to mark your calendars, because the final plate track of the season should put on a great show. TNR racing is live on WRN at 8:05 PM (EST) most Mondays.