Circuit Of The Americas (COTA)| Race Recap
AUSTIN, Texas (March 2, 2025) – For the third race of the 2025 NASCAR season, the Cup Series visited Austin, Texas and the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for an action-packed road course event. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s Erik Jones took the green flag from 32nd in the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, while John Hunter Nemechek started 33rd in the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE. Tyler Reddick led the 37-car field to the start, and after 95-laps it was Christopher Bell who was the race winner.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PyE-Barker TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
John Hunter Nemechek behind the wheel of the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE, rolled off from the 33rd starting position with a clear goal in mind: stay smooth, stay patient, and steadily work his way forward. Embracing that theme, Nemechek quickly became one of the biggest movers in the early laps of the race, gaining nine positions before making his scheduled pit stop before Stage 1 ended. Nemechek crossed the line in 27th, laying the groundwork for continued progress in the next two stages.
Despite showing early promise, John Hunter Nemechek faced challenges with the balance of his No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE throughout Stage 2. After breaking into the top 20 at the start of the stage, his momentum was disrupted later in the stage by a pit road penalty for a commitment line violation, forcing him to serve a costly pass-through penalty. The setback dropped Nemechek deep in the field with a 32nd-place finish for the middle stage.
During the stage break, Nemechek brought his No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE to pit road for fresh tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment and to address an issue with the rearview mirror, which had come unmounted. He would start the final stage in 36th.
After an extended pit stop during the stage break, John Hunter Nemechek began the final stage from the 36th position. Sticking to the team’s strategy, he remained patient and worked closely with his LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammate, Erik Jones, to steadily pick up positions. With the final stage being more than twice the length of the first two, Nemechek knew there would be another chance to improve the balance of his No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE. Staying out late in the pit cycle, he briefly claimed the 10th position before heading to pit road for fresh tires, fuel, and an air-pressure adjustment. Rejoining the field in 31st, Nemechek battled his way up to 23rd before a caution on Lap 78 slowed the race once again. As much of the field pitted, Nemechek followed suit, taking fresh tires for the sprint to the finish. Despite the team’s determination and Nemechek’s steady effort throughout the day, the final result fell short of expectations, with the No. 42 Pye-Barker team finishing 22nd at Circuit of The Americas.
Crew chief Travis Mack came over the radio during the cool-down lap, “We’ll learn from this and get better and keep working hard for you”
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE
“We didn’t have great speed today and struggled with grip for most of the race. I had a commitment line violation after locking up my brakes to avoid the pit road barrier—it was either hit the barrier or miss pit road, and I chose to miss it. I felt like we had a top-20 car and made some gains from where we qualified. We’ll keep working and making progress. Big thanks to everyone at Pye-Barker and all the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Now, it’s on to Phoenix to see what kind of speed we have on the short tracks.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOllar Tree TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
Erik Jones and the No. 43 Dollar Tree team started the race from the 32nd position. A melee ensued in the first turn, but Jones made it through unscathed. He steadily moved up through the first stage, reaching 23rd by Lap 10.
Shortly after, he radioed crew chief Ben Beshore to report that the No. 43 machine was making heavy contact with the track and felt tight. One lap later, Jones slipped back while battling to hang on to the 26th position, eventually being overtaken by LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammate John Hunter Nemechek. By Lap 14, he had fallen to 29th and pitted on Lap 18 for four tires, fuel, and adjustments to both rear corners. During the stop, he made contact with a competitor on pit road, damaging the splitter. Jones finished Stage 1 in 35th.
At the stage break, Jones pitted for tires, splitter repair, a shock adjustment, and fuel, rejoining the field in 35th.
During Stage 2, Jones remained in 35th and reported that his car was extremely loose. Beshore assured him they would work on the balance and rear of the car at the next stop, also noting some loose bolts on the rear suspension. Jones finished Stage 2 in 36th.
At the stage break, Beshore and the Dollar Tree team made adjustments to improve handling and complete necessary repairs. Jones started Stage 3 from the 35th position. During a caution on Lap 50, he reported that the Dollar Tree Toyota was handling better since the stage break.
With 30 laps to go, Jones was making progress and had climbed to 26th, with Nemechek close behind in the No. 42.
The final pit stop came on Lap 71, cycling Jones up to 12th for four tires and fuel. With 16 laps remaining, the No. 43 team pitted for their last set of sticker tires. Jones ultimately finished the race in 27th.
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series heads west for the first of two stops at Phoenix Raceway. The Shiners Children’s 500 will take place on Sunday, March 9 at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, MAX, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Channel 90
