By Christian Eckes’ high standards, the result at the Milwaukee Mile was disappointing. The 23-year-old driver led 71 of 175 laps, the most of the race, and won the second stage, earning him a playoff point. However, he lost the lead on the restart of the third stage and had to settle for third place. The McAnally-Hilgemann Racing driver had hoped to enter the Round of 10 of the Truck Series playoffs with his fourth win of the season, but it was not to be.

Not many drivers will be disappointed after scoring their sixth consecutive podium finish, but expectations for Christian Eckes are at an all-time high. With two races to go before the Truck Series Round of 8 playoffs begin at Talladega, it’s no surprise that the New Yorker views the result at LiUNA! 175 as a missed opportunity.

Confident top-3 result for Christian Eckes

Before racing at the Milwaukee Mile, Christian Eckes qualified third behind ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski and Tricon Garage’s Tanner Gray. Eckes held onto his position despite the two drivers who finished ahead of him in qualifying falling out of the leaderboard after 55 laps. The driver of the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado picked up the pace in the second stage and finished first ahead of Ty Majeski and eventual race winner Layne Riggs. Things took a worse turn in the third stage, however, as Eckes lost his lead to Majeski on the restart while Riggs showed lightning-quick speed and eventually took the lead.

Speaking to FOX Sports after the race, Christian Eckes was asked if he had any difficulties with his Chevy, which might have contributed to his third place. The 23-year-old replied: “Yeah, I mean, the Chevy was really good all day. I was leading down low and then it flopped for the first time of the day. I was racing up the track and just couldn’t recover. I was way too tight. It felt like it was going to be tight and it was. We just weren’t aggressive enough with the adjustments. I’m proud of everybody, but definitely a pretty big missed opportunity. This truck is going to Phoenix because it’s our Phoenix truck and it felt like it had a lot of potential, so we’ll see what happens. But yeah, I’m disappointed about it.”

The word “dominant” would be an understatement when describing Eckes’ Truck Series season so far. He recently finished the season at Richmond as the regular series champion after earning three wins in 17 races. However, that doesn’t paint an accurate picture of his consistency, as Eckes has only finished outside the top 10 once this season, 32nd in the second race of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In his last six races, he has never finished worse than third, which is his “disappointment“ about the result in Wisconsin.

Christian Eckes’ best finish in the competition so far was 5th in 2023, but the 23-year-old has a chance to not only win the elusive championship, but dominate it in a way not seen in a long time. Of course, his performances this season have drawn significant attention, and Xfinity Series teams are vying for his signature. If he does indeed win some trophy at the end of the season, could a Cup Series team bet on Christian Eckes for 2025?

How is Eckes on the verge of making NASCAR history?

When you think of dominant drivers in the Truck Series, Ron Hornday Jr., Mike Skinner and Jack Sprague probably come to mind. After all, the three are true icons of the competition. Skinner led 35.01% of the laps in the 1995 season, which remains a record to this day. The following year, he almost matched that figure, leading 33.80% of the laps in 1996. Christian Eckes has been so consistent so far that McAnally-Hilgemann Racing could also be in the running.

As of now, he has led over 30% of the laps completed so far, putting him in sixth place in the most dominant Truck Series season ever.

Between Skinner’s second-best season and Christian Eckes are Ron Hornaday Jr., who dominated the 1995 and 2008 seasons, and Jack Sprague, who won 32.38% of the races in the 2001 season. However, with six races left until the end of the Truck Series season, there’s a good chance Eckes will climb even higher up the rankings if his performance at the Milwaukee Mile is any indication.

There are two races left until the Round of Eight, and Eckes hopes he won’t rest on his laurels. He was eliminated from the Truck Series at this point last season, and hopes to do better this time around. His meteoric rise through the competition has surprised everyone, and anything less than a championship title at the end of the season would be a disappointing result for Christian Eckes.

What do you think about Eckes’ third place finish at the Milwaukee Mile? Let us know in the comments!