BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY CAMRY XSE
START: 18th | FINISH: 14th | POINTS: 22nd
John Hunter Nemechek started the Bass Pro Shops Night Race from 18th after winning a tie-breaker against Brad Keslowski in Friday night's qualifying session. On Lap 31, he reported a tire going down and on Lap 34, crew chief Travis Mack brought him down pit road for four tires and fuel. He exited pit road 36th and began climbing back through the field as many other cars came in for green flag stops. By Lap 75 he had cracked the top-10. On Lap 78, the caution was thrown and the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE was in the ninth position. Mack brought Nemechek back down pit road under yellow for right side scuffs and left side stickers and fuel. The No. 42 Toyota restarted ninth with 31 laps remaining in the first stage. With 25 laps left in the stage, the caution flag flew again. Nemechek stayed out of pit road under yellow and restarted ninth once again with 18 laps to go. He finished the stage in ninth, earning two stage points.
The No. 42 Toyota came back down pit road for right side tires only and started Stage 2 from third. On Lap 146, the caution flag was thrown for a multi-car incident behind the fifth-place No. 42, and Mack opted to stay off pit road to maintain track position. He restarted fifth with 95 laps remaining in the second stage. Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota pit road for four tires and fuel with 53 laps remaining in the stage, and Nemechek exited pit road 26th. He battled back after a cycle of green flag pit stops and found himself back inside the top-20. A caution flew again with 12 laps remaining in the stage and Nemechek stayed out under Mack’s strategy call to keep track position. The No. 42 Toyota restarted 15th with four laps to go. Nemechek finished the second stage 15th.
The No. 42 Toyota pitted during the stage break for four tires and fuel and started the final stage from the 15th position. He quickly re-entered the top-10, and soon after there was another caution, and Nemechek restarted ninth on Lap 276. The eighth caution of the race was thrown on Lap 282. The No. 42 Toyota stayed off of pit road and restarted fifth with 212 laps to go. The ninth caution was thrown on Lap 294, and Nemechek was sixth when the field went green with 200 laps remaining. He fell to 13th seven laps later and then made contact with the No. 9 of Chase Elliott which drew the 11th caution of the race on Lap 311. Mack brought Nemechek onto pit road under yellow for four tires and fuel. Shortly after, the yellow flag flew again on Lap 355, and in a strategy call to save tires for later in the race, the No. 42 Toyota back down pit road for right side tires. Nemechek battled his way back through the field, and a stretch of cautions had Nemechek off strategy. Mack brought the No. 42 back in for right side tires under green. Nemechek cycled back to the top-15, but left-side tire wear and a late-race caution with 12 laps to go brought the No. 42 back down pit road under yellow for four tires and fuel. Nemechek rejoined the field a lap down with four laps remaining, and Nemechek ended the night under the lights in 14th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Solid night for us. We had a really fast No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE. We ran inside the top-15, top-10, top-five most of the night. There was a late race caution that we didn’t need, we needed to cycle through. We were probably going to cycle out fifth or sixth, but we ended up getting trapped a lap down. We were the first car one lap down and came home 14th. Still a top-15 day, still finished pretty well. We just need to continue to push to be better every single week and continue to execute the way that we need to. I’m looking forward to next week in New Hampshire.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 27th | FINISH: 20th | POINTS: 23rd
Erik Jones and the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota team qualified 27th for Saturday night’s showdown under the lights at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. From the drop of the green flag for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race, Jones used his speed and momentum to work his way up through the field. He was 23rd just four laps into the race and 15th by Lap 37. Jones made his way down pit road under green in Lap 52 while running 14th to put on only right side tires to minimize the laps lost. He was one lap down when he re-entered the field. After being one spot shy of the lucky dog during several cautions, Jones finally got his lap back at the end of Stage 1 where he finished 15th.
Jones was a little too tight during the first stage, so Crew Chief Ben Beshore put in a wedge adjustment during the stage break and gave Jones four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted 14th but contact from behind while trying to avoid a spin from the No. 47 car sent Jones for a spin as well. It forced them to pit for four tires and to check the car, but he stayed on the lead lap and restarted 15th on Lap 156. He quickly entered the top-10 on Lap 164. As the stage ran green, Jones pitted in Lap 199 for right side tires only. He cycled through to 12th and stayed on the lead lap.
When the caution came out with just 12 laps to go in the stage, Beshore made a bold call to pit Jones for four fresh tires and fuel, telling him to save his tires in a five-lap shootout at the end of Stage 2. Jones did just so and finished 13th. This call allowed Jones to stay out during the stage break to restart eighth.
Jones fired too a little too loose on the restart for the final stage and fell back to 14th when the caution came out just five laps later. The next restart saw Jones get out three-wide and fall back to 19th by the Lap 281 caution. Beshore called him back down pit road to put on a set of fresh tires and make another wedge adjustment. As cautions ensued, Jones survived and took care of his tires. Beshore opted to save their fresh tires for later in the run.
Unfortunately, the abundance of cautions in the final stage threw off the strategy and a long green flag run near the end put Jones a lap down when the final caution came out on Lap 487. Unable to take a wave around, Jones pitted one final time for scuffs and fuel. In a four-lap battle to the end, Jones was stuck a lap down and ultimately finished 20th.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“We had a good No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE at the end there, but the amount of cautions was tough for us. It was tough to get a lap back when we were down and the cautions never caught us right. We’ll learn and move forward to New Hampshire though.”
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