First Time For Everything … Tyler Ankrum, driver of the No. 18 LIUNA Chevrolet Silverado RST is headed back to the beach this weekend for the inaugural NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) run on the St. Petersburg Street Course. Saturday’s 80-lap event marks the first time in series history that the NCTS have curated an event on a street course. This 1.8-mile course is built with 14 left and right turns across downtown St. Petersburg and Albert Whitted Airport. The last inaugural event Ankrum competed in, he came out on top with a victory at Rockingham Speedway last season (2025). The young driver is looking to dominate once again for a historical moment in the NCTS at St. Petersburg.
Lefts and Rights … The San Bernardino, Calif. native is no stranger to the road courses in his NCTS career. In 14 starts on left and right circuits, Ankrum has tallied three top-five and 11 top-10 finishes with an average total finish of 10.4. His best road course run came in Austin, Texas at Circuit of The Americas (COTA) back in 2021 where he scored a third-place finish. Along with the podium finish, the young driver also snagged the pole position at COTA for that same event in 2021 after a stellar qualifying run. The No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team is in sight of changing pace from speedways to street courses and are ready to solidify a podium day.
Spoiler Highlights … Tyler Ankrum and the No. 18 NCTS team are excited to welcome aboard LIUNA local contractor CORE Construction to adorn the left-side spoiler of the iconic LIUNA Chevrolet for the 80-lap inaugural event in St. Petersburg. Utilizing comprehensive construction knowledge and industry expertise, CORE provides exceptional building services in 13 markets, including the K-12, Higher Education, Civic, Public Safety, and Healthcare sectors. Our Mission is to earn the trust of our employees, building partners, and clients. Achieving this mission begins by building teams with members who have unwavering, comprehensive trust in one another. Integrity, Fairness, Continuous Improvement, and Results are not just our CORE Values; they are the foundational elements of trust itself.
Tune In …Television coverage on the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg will begin Friday afternoon with practice and qualifying starting at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 2, and will resume on Saturday with the wave of the green flag at 12:00 p.m. ET on FOX. Stay connected with the No. 18 LIUNA team by following @BMR_NASCAR on Twitter, @bmrnascar on Instagram, and Bill McAnally Racing on Facebook.
Tyler Ankrum Quote:
“This weekend is going to be super interesting for sure but I am stoked to get down to St. Pete and get some laps in. It is pretty cool to be running the same course as the Indy Car series, let alone the same weekend as the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. 2026 has not gone the way we had hoped so far so I am looking forward to this change of pace to the street course and to see what we can get done here. Mark (Hillman, crew chief) and the guys had been working hard on this road course truck and I feel really confident we have a solid setup. We have a bunch of folks from Local 517 and 630 coming out along with David Rutledge, Southeast Laborers’ District Council so looking forward to putting on a great show for LIUNA.”
MHR PR