Christian Ekes aims for title and reflects on career comeback

It was announced on Aug. 31 that Christian Ekes would take over the No. 16 car for Kaulig Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season with little fanfare, but Ekes brings a lot more to the table than meets the eye.

Team owner Matt Kaulig was not present at the press conference attended by Eckes and team principal Chris Rice. The announcement came eight days after a similar announcement confirming Daniel Dye would drive another Xfinity car full-time for the team in 2025.

Eckes and Dye will team up with returning veteran Josh Williams to complete Kaulig’s Xfinity driver lineup next season, with the 23-year-old Eckes set to take on the lead driver role for the team.

Eckes has had a successful season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with McAnally Hilgemann Racing. The Middletown, New York native has finished in the top 10 in every event except the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where other drivers seemed to get more attention, but he went on to win the regular season championship.

When this conversation took place at the Milwaukee Mile, Kaulig’s announcement hadn’t yet been made, but speculation was growing that one was imminent. The Frontstretch met up with Eckes to talk about his season, the ups and downs of his young career, rough driving and more.

Steve Leffew, Frontstretch: This season has been amazing. I looked back at the stat sheet and I had no idea it was such an amazing season with 15 top 10s. I don’t know if you know this, but you’re 10 laps away from leading more laps this season than you have in your entire career combined. What’s the big secret that’s led to this success and what’s the big difference from last year?

Christian Eckes: I think I have another year here to grow. Looking back at my career, I’ve never spent two full seasons in a row with the same team. This is the first time. So I think being with the same crew chief and spotter, the same core guys, and being able to grow year after year has a lot to do with this.

Leffew: Here’s another statistic for you: You’ve been in the lead on 31 percent of the laps you’ve completed this year. Do you feel like you’re riding well?

Eckes: I don’t think so. I’m not trying to spend too much money. I’m just focusing on doing my best and making the team the best every week. But we’ve been working on speed a lot to make the new trucks faster, and even the old trucks are fast now. So, every week we’re just doing a really good job and getting better and better. I think that has a lot to do with our success.

Leffew: Do you feel like you get enough recognition for how good you are at riding? Do you feel like there isn’t enough attention paid to what you’ve achieved?

Eckes: So I feel like I’ve always flown under the radar. But I don’t necessarily think that. But, yeah, in terms of publicity, I probably don’t get as much recognition as I deserve. But it motivates me. When I see people that I feel are better than me, they’re promoted and they’re doing well, it makes me want to do my best. So, I don’t necessarily think that, but at the same time, it’s a self-blame.

Leffew: They say the big three for the playoffs will be yourself, Corey Heim and Ty Majeski. You guys will be racing pretty close together over the next seven races. What is your relationship with those two like? Do you think you’ll be able to race cleanly with them throughout the season?

Eckes: Yeah, I think so. I’m close with Corey and we’re friends. Ty Majeski and I were teammates a few years ago, so I don’t see anything bad happening there. But it’s playoff time, so you never know what’s going to happen. We were kind of a big three in the regular season, but a guy like Ben Rhodes could come out of nowhere like he always does and win a championship without doing that well all year. The playoffs are wild, and a lot of fun, but it’s definitely unpredictable.

Leffew: There’s been a lot of controversy in NASCAR recently looking back at Richmond Raceway and how that race ended. What’s your take on that? What’s fair going into turns three and four in this playoff-style race?

Eckes: I don’t really know where the line is. That’s the thing. It’s been made very clear that there is a line. But what that line is is up for debate. Can’t you wreck one car? Can’t you wreck two? Can’t you just wreck one car? Can’t you wreck two? It certainly seems strange, but I think there is a line to what you can do as a racing driver. You can be aggressive, because that’s kind of the basis of our sport, but you can’t wreck two people at the same time, so there is definitely a line.

Refew: What are you planning to do during your upcoming off week?

Eckes: I don’t really have any plans. To be honest, I’m a boring guy when it comes to that kind of stuff. I’ll probably train to get better for the playoffs. Not that I don’t put in the effort during the regular season, but when it comes to the playoffs, it seems like I step it up a level even more. So, I like to be in the shop. I don’t really take a vacation until the offseason. So, I’ll be in the shop, trying to make the track better and get the team in the right mental state. But yeah, I’m just hanging out. I’m really excited about Bristol (Motor Speedway). We’ve been doing really good there. Really, this whole round. I mean, I’m confident in all the races, but especially this round. I think we can win all three.

Leffew: In 2021, you raced 10 races as part of a truck racing schedule with ThorSport Racing. You won one of those races, but in your post-race interview after the win, you were basically speechless. You said, “It’s been a tough year,” and couldn’t think of anything else to say. Fast forwarding from that year of struggle to your success this year, did you believe you’d reach this level of success in 2021?

Eckes: I’ve always had a lot of confidence in myself. You know, I had a couple of years where it just didn’t work out. For some reason, I just wasn’t able to make it at Kyle Busch Motorsports. There were a few things that just didn’t click. Like you said, I went into a part-time schedule with ThorSports, and that year was tough, and everything had just not worked out up to that point. …I’m very happy that it happened, and I learned a lot from it. I’ve learned a lot since then. …The different things that I had to go through were difficult, but it paid off in the long run. So, I’m very happy about it, and I’m able to move the way I felt I should be. Finally, I’m where I should be.