Christian Eckes

25-Year-Old Driver

McAnally-Hilgermann Racing

2026 Stats

Points

119

Starts

Wins

Poles

Top 5

Top 10

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

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 Darlington Raceway

Craftsman Truck Series

March 20, 2026

Eckes finished third in the Buckle Up South Carolina 200 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Darlington Raceway on Friday evening.

ANALYSIS
Eckes started 16th on the grid and quickly moved his way through the field. He'd get to lead late in stage 1 and pick up the stage 1 victory. That would be the limit of Eckes' time in the lead, just 7 laps total. He'd make good use of that track position and battle among the Top 5 the rest of the way. Eckes would hold off a fast Kaden Honeycutt in overtime to grab the strong third-place finish. It was his second Top 5 of the season.

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Racing Stats

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Track Stats

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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 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.