Ankrum On the Rise Leading Into Atlanta

On the Rise … As the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competitors head to round three of the 2022 season at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS), Tyler Ankrum is on the rise and heading in the right direction. The San Bernardino, Calif. native’s strong bid for the win at Daytona International Speedway finished in calamity but he bounced back two weeks ago at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (LVMS). The driver of the No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota Tundra TRD Pro gained eight positions in the point standings at LVMS and is within 20 markers of the provisional playoff bubble after two races.

 

Something Complete New … Ankrum faces a completely new challenge this weekend at AMS as the storied 1.5-mile track has undergone a seismic facelift. The beloved aged and abrasive surface has been replaced with a fresh sheet of asphalt along with four additional degrees of banking and a narrower racing surface. Ankrum drove his LIUNA Toyota Tundra TRD Pro to a 16^th-place finish in the first race on a 1.5-mile track this season at LVMS, but AMS is sure to be a completely new task. In his two previous starts in “Hotlanta”, Ankrum tallied his best finish in 2020 with a 15^th-place result.

 

A Special Place for HRE … AMS will always be known as a special venue for team owner Shige Hattori and HRE’s No. 16 team. The organization scored its first win in Atlanta with driver Brett Moffitt on February 24, 2018. That first visit to victory lane ignited a storybook season for HRE as the team went on to win six races and the series title. Ankrum looks to replicate that accomplishment on Saturday afternoon and make history of his own by winning the first NASCAR event on AMS’ third different configuration in the track’s 63-year history.

 

Chassis Selection … For the second-consecutive race, Ankrum will pilot chassis 008 at AMS. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli and the LIUNA team turned this Toyota Tundra TRD Pro around from the race at LVMS to prepare it for AMS. Ankrum finished 16^th in Sin City two weeks ago, and it’s previous outing resulted in a 10^th-place finish at LVMS in September of 2021 with Austin Hill at the controls.  

 

Tune In … FOX Sports 1 will have coverage of the Camping World Trucks’ extended practice session on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. ET. Saturday coverage begins with pole qualifying at 10:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 2, followed by FS1’s coverage of NASCAR Raceday at 2:00 p.m. ET and the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET. Stay connected with the No. 16 LIUNA team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook. 

 

“Saturday is going to be a really tough challenge and I expect there to be quite a bit of attrition. The redesign of Atlanta is going to completely change the race there and we’re going to constantly learning the entire weekend. Based on time in the sim, we’ll probably see a lot of pack racing. We’ll probably be wide open all day with our LIUNA Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, and that’s going to make passing pretty difficult, especially with a much narrower racing surface. If there’s pack racing like a lot of us expect, it’s going to be a challenge to generate runs with shorter straightaways that what we are used to at the superspeedways. Restarts and pit stops are going to be even more important, so hopefully we can keep our LIUNA Toyota clean and have something to race with towards the end on Saturday. 

 

HRE PR