ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 19TH | FINISH: 26TH| POINTS: 23RD
After starting the Atlanta 400 in 19th, it didn't take long for John Hunter Nemechek to find himself racing three wide. Early on in Stage 1 he radioed the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE was handling tight. At Lap 30, halfway through Stage 1, Nemechek was running 20th, still needing the No. 42 tighter.
The yellow flag flew at Lap 37 for rain and Nemechek made his way up to 15th. Crew chief Travis Mack said the car looked better on the long run and would tighten him up on the pit stop. At Lap 42 NASCAR brought the field to pit road as the showers in the area got heavier, and the track dryers were necessary. After a short 14-minute delay the yellow flag flew again and Nemechek came to pit road on Lap 46 where Mack and the team gave Nemechek four tires and fuel. The No. 42 would restart the stage with 12 to go from 20th. A large wreck took place on Lap 57 but Nemechek missed it and finished Stage 1 in 17th.
Crew chief Mack opted not to pit at the stage break, so Nemechek began Stage 2 from 5th. Shortly into Stage 2, there was another large wreck. The 42 suffered minimal right side damage, and after pitting for right side tires on Lap 71, Nemechek came back down pit road to make repairs and check the alignment on Lap 72. Nemechek pitted again on Lap 74 to top off fuel. At Lap 110, Nemechek said he’s looser as he goes and is “feeling edgy” and then pitted at Lap 114 under caution to take four tiles and fuel. The No. 42 restarted 11th with 43 left in the stage. For the remainder of the stage the No. 42 ran in the top 10, even challenging third in the closing laps. Nemechek earned valuable points as he finished Stage 2 in eighth.
During the stage break, Mack and the team took four tiles and fuel, and Nemechek gained two spots in the race off pit road, putting him in 6th for the restart. During a wreck on Lap 176, the No. 42 was involved and came into pit road to change tires and repair the damage. Mack brought the No. 42 back in on Lap 179 for repairs to the right front. Nemechek was then brought to the garage for more extensive repairs where he fell 19 laps down to 27th. The Pye-Barker Toyota went back on track at Lap 198 and ran with caution for the remainder of the race. Nemechek finished the race 26th and clocked the fastest lap of the race.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Fast car, really solid effort by the 42 team. Sadly, we got involved in an incident there and had to fix our right front toe link and ended up going laps down because of it. Proud of the effort, really fast race car. Sadly, nothing to show for it, but if we keep building them like that we will definitely have some more top-five runs and have our shot to win.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 26TH | FINISH: 5TH | POINTS: 16TH
Erik Jones started 26th for Saturday night’s battle under the lights at Atlanta. He struggled on the initial start as he fell back to 34th while telling the team he felt like he had a lack of downforce. When rain brought out the red flag on lap 37, the No. 43 Dollar Tree crew crafted up a plan to help their driver. They pitted when the race went back to yellow for four tires, fuel, and some major chassis and wedge adjustments. He continued to struggle with the handling of his racecar though and finished the first stage under caution in 31st.
He restarted Stage 2 in 31st and got caught up in a big wreck on lap 69 that left Jones with some damage on the right rear. The team pitted after a brief red flag to repair their Toyota Camry XSE and sent Jones back out without losing a lap. He was able to work the draft in the rest of the stage to find himself in the top-10 by lap 80. He continued to avoid wrecks and battle in the top-10 for the remainder of the stage. Jones finished fifth in Stage 2 to earn six valuable stage points for the playoffs.
Jones started the final stage ninth and was fifth by the time the caution came out just nine laps later. Jones continued to battle in the top-10 through cautions and restarts as the laps wound down. His car snapped loose on him on lap 196 though, bringing out the caution once again. Jones was able to pit to check the car and still remain on the lead lap when the field went green with 60 laps to go. Despite restarting 20th, Jones worked his way up to 10th with only 45 laps to go in the race. As the battle intensified, he quietly worked his way up through the field to find himself in fifth by the checkered flag. This was his second top-five of the 2025 season.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“We’ve just good runs since Charlotte, really. After tonight, to come back and run fifth – we wrecked twice, once on my own and the big wreck at the start – I’m happy with that, and happy with the speed with our No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE. It has been a lot of fun to race. It was kind of a weird start – we had to make a lot of changes to the car to fire off, but just really proud of the effort, really proud of what we are doing right now. We’ve made a big climb in points, and we’re still going. If we can keep making it better, we’re right at the cusp. We’re one good step away from really being contenders, and I hope we can take that step.
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will return to the “Windy City” on Sunday, July 6 for the third running of the Chicago Street Race in downtown Chicago, Ill., for the Grant Park 165. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. EST on TNT, MAX, and SiriusXM (Channel 90).
