Christian Eckes

25-Year-Old Driver  
McAnally-Hilgermann Racing
2025 Stats
Points
0
Starts
2
Wins
0
Poles
0
Top 5
0
Top 10
1
2025 Xfinity Stats
Points
784
Starts
33
Wins
0
Poles
0
Top 5
6
Top 10
15
2026 Fantasy Outlook
After spending last season racing full-time in the O'Reilly Series, Eckes returns to the trucks in 2026. He'll pilot the No. 91 Chevrolet for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing and take on the full schedule. Eckes was a Top-5 driver in this division of NASCAR in 2023 and 2024, however, that was while he was paired with crew chief, Charles Denike. This time around he'll be matched up with Dave Elenz and look to recapture the form that propelled him to eight victories and 35 Top-10 finishes over those two seasons. It will be tricky to get back all that performance, but we believe Eckes can get some of it back right away in this steady race team. Expecting multiple wins could be a stretch, but we believe he'll get back into the win column at least once this season. Read Past Outlooks
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Car No. 91 Chevrolet
Crew Chief Dave Elenz
Rookie Year 2020
Birth Date 11/10/2000
Born Greenville, New York, United States
Country UNITED STATES
Third at Daytona
Craftsman Truck Series
February 14, 2026
Eckes finished third in the Fresh from Florida 250 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Friday night.
ANALYSIS
The veteran driver and excellent superspeedway driver would get to battle for the win Friday night under the lights at Daytona. Eckes would start 11th on the grid and despite leading just one lap, he'd be a fixture among the Top 10 most of the evening. He would avoid the many accidents and keep his No. 91 Chevrolet in the battle until the end. An overtime finish would add some drama and Eckes would battle it out on the final lap in a four-wide finish to the checkered flag. He would lose a door-to-door battle with Chandler Smith and Gio Ruggiero but still collect an impressive third-place finish in the season opener.
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Racing Stats
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Track Stats
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2 days ago
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2025
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
Eckes makes the move from full-time truck to the Xfinity Series full-time in 2025. The seasoned young driver piled up nine-career victories and 73 Top-10 finishes in his 114-start truck series career. Now Eckes will look to move up to the next division in NASCAR and continue to carve out his reputation and career. He joins Kaulig Racing for 2025 and takes over the championship contending team of the No. 16 Chevrolet. AJ Allmendinger piloted this car last season to one victory and 18 Top-10 finishes, coming home an impressive third-place in the championship battle. Certainly, those would be lofty goals for Eckes coming into his new team, but we don't expect to see much drop off as he does have extensive experience on his side. Eckes is a former ARCA Menards Series champion and has shown the ability to win races at nearly every level that he has competed in.
Things seemingly fell into place for Eckes last season. The young talent nabbed his first multi-win season (four) and racked up 10 Top-5 finishes. Eckes would fall short of the Craftsman Truck Series title, but would still finish a very encouraging fifth in the final driver standings. Now the No. 19 MHR team will look to reload and re-fire in their quest to win the championship. Eckes now has 91 starts in this division of NASCAR and that growing experience is beginning to pay off. His qualifying was greatly improved last season, and it resulted in much better finishes. Eckes will once again be paired with veteran chief Charles Denike and the two will look to continue winning races and advancing towards a championship.
Eckes was very competitive and consistent in the No. 98 team last season. He would grab eight Top-5 and 15 Top-10 finishes, but somehow miss the luck or ingredients to capture a win in 2022. Eckes moves on from that team in the upcoming season and settles in with the No. 19 Chevrolet of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. This team was fairly competitive last season with Derek Kraus behind the wheel (two pole and seven Top-10 finishes) but Eckes is undeniably an upgrade in the driver's seat. This team has lots of potential and Eckes with the help of crew chief Charles Denike should find that potential in 2023. They should be able to challenge for wins and make a drive into the truck series playoffs.
Eckes shared this ride last season with Grant Enfinger. It was pretty much a 50/50 split of the schedule. The 21-year-old would earn his first-career victory and five Top-10 finishes in just 10 starts. It was a pretty successful campaign and in some ways, Eckes out-shined Enfinger in the driver split. He'll get the No. 98 Toyota all to himself in the upcoming season. It will just be Eckes' second full season of competition in this division of NASCAR. This is a very capable team and Eckes is a proven winner (2019 ARCA Menards Series champion) so they should be a very good combination in the 2022 campaign.
Eckes is a free agent driver in 2021.
The 19-year-old Eckes will be taking on his first full season of truck series competition this year, and he will be one of the top contenders to win Rookie of the Year honors. After two seasons of part-time racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports, Eckes will get his first full season ride in the No. 18 KBM Toyota Tundra. The youngster grabbed three poles, three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes in limited action last season (eight starts), and he's poised to do much more in 2020. Veteran crew chief Rudy Fugle will lead the way and Eckes will be expected to do some big things. The 2019 ARCA Series champion has loads of talent, and this spot in the rankings is really the floor as far as potential to perform this season.
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Third in Nu Way 200
XFINITY Series
September 7, 2025
Eckes finished third in the Nu Way 200 Sauced by Blues Hog NASCAR Xfinity Series race at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday night.
ANALYSIS
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Third in the Pocono Mountains 250
XFINITY Series
June 21, 2025
Eckes finished third in the Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon.
ANALYSIS
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Third in Phoenix Truck Race
Craftsman Truck Series
November 8, 2024
Eckes finished third in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway Friday night.
ANALYSIS
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Wins Martinsville Truck Race
Craftsman Truck Series
November 1, 2024
Eckes won the Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Friday night.
ANALYSIS
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Captures Martinsville Truck Pole
Craftsman Truck Series
November 1, 2024
Eckes won the pole for Zip Buy Now Pay Later 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway on Friday afternoon. He turned a fast lap of 96.830 mph.
ANALYSIS
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