DARLINGTON RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
DARLINGTON, S.C. - (May 12, 2024) -- The NASCAR Cup Series took to the “Lady in Black” of Darlington Raceway on Sunday in ‘throwback style’. The Chamber of Commerce Day in South Carolina paid homage to the sport’s past, as well as Mother’s Day, and the field took the green flag shortly after 3 p.m. ET. Brad Keselowski won the event.
Here is how the race played out for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | No. 42 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 22ND | FINISH: 31ST | POINTS: 24TH
John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB rolled off the grid in the 22nd position at Darlington Raceway for the Goodyear 400.
Stage 1 went caution-free as the 36-field spread out across the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. Nemechek worked his way up to the 20th running position. Lap 37 crew chief Ben Beshore called his 26-year-old driver down to the service of the Family Dollar crew for four Goodyear tires and Sunoco fuel and an adjustment. Throughout the rest of the 91-lap stage, Nemechek would continue to battle through a free Toyota Camry and close out Stage 1 with a 20th-place finish. The Family Dollar LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team serviced the car again on Lap 93 with four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
The field pitted at Lap 93 under caution and the No. 42 team opted for four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment. Nemechek would start Stage 2 from the 23rd position. The North Carolina native started making some quick work on the restart working his way up to 17th within the first 20 laps of Stage 2.
On Lap 121 Nemechek got loose off Turn 4 and spun down the front straight causing for multiple tires to go down and be forced to be towed to pit road. After multiple pit stops to address the damage, the No. 42 team was relegated to run 35th, three laps down as they started to claw their way back from the deficit. On lap 163 the yellow was displayed; the No. 42 Family Dollar team elected to take the wave-around to get one of their three laps back. With 16 laps to go in Stage 2 Nemechek started 34th, two laps down. With all the cars running in front of Nemechek on the lead lap, the No. 42 would need some cautions to regain position. As Stage 2 came to an end, the team finished 34th and got the free pass putting them just one lap down, with no other cars a lap down in front of them.
There were 100 laps to go as Stage 3 started, Beshore talked through the strategy for the rest of race with his driver and to keep him up on his game in case a caution was displayed to get them back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, Stage 3 saw a long green-flag run and the leaders continued the fast pace and lapped more cars putting the No. 42 down two laps. The final pit stop came on lap 241 for four tires, fuel and adjustment. Shortly after, the yellow did finally come out on lap 253 and the Family Dollar team decided to take another wave around to regain one of their laps. Nemechek and the Family Dollar team fought to the end eventually finishing the Goodyear 400 in 31st position, one lap down. As the checkered flag was displayed, Nemechek came over the No. 42 radio and said, “Sorry guys, I hate that for us, you all brought a great car – you deserve better than that.”
Quoting John Hunter Nemechek:
“P31 finish not great end of our end our day, we had a really fast Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE. Thank you to Family Dollar, Dollar Tree for being on board, and everyone for their support. Spun out; plain and simple, I don’t know, I just lost my rear grip and ended up spinning out. Then all the tires were flat, I made it back to the entrance of pit road but I couldn’t drive it with the tires down and it on the blocks so I had to get hooked up [to the tow truck] so we lost three laps and we were just down the rest of the day. Overall, we should have finished top-10 with the speed that we had. Keep building fast race cars here at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and see what we can do. Looking forward to Charlotte as the next points race.”
ERIK JONES | No. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 30TH | FINISH: 19TH | POINTS: 27TH
After two weeks outside the car due to a back injury, Erik Jones climbed aboard his No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry which was a throwback to Richard Petty’s first win. He started in the 30th position and by Lap 10 radioed to crew chief Dave Elenz the car was ‘plowing’.
He pitted under green flag conditions on Lap 37 for four tires and fuel and an air pressure adjustment to help with the tight handling of his racecar. By Lap 60, he had picked up five positions and while riding in 25th, Jones stated the car was tight in turns 1 and 2 and loose in turns 3 and 4.
With 20 to go in Stage 1, Jones was gaining on the 24th position and the field was running single file, making it hard to make passes. Jones took the 24th position away on Lap 72 and even though he felt the right front tire was cording, he moved into the 23rd position by the end of Stage 1.
Jones pitted on Lap 94 for tires, fuel, and a longer pit stop to make adjustments. He would start the second stage from the 26th position.
On Lap 111, Jones reported the car was starting to feel like it did earlier in the race, where it was plowing. On Lap 125 under caution, the No. 43 pitted for four tires, fuel, and an adjustment to help the handling. He moved into the top 20 with 50 laps remaining in Stage 2. Jones said the car was handling badly and finished Stage 2 in the 26th position.
After a four-tire pit stop at the stage break, Jones was sent back out on track to start the final stage from the 24th position.
The No. 43 slowly began to right their balance issues in the final stage as Jones reported to his team that his AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE fired off much better and was not as loose as he had been earlier in the day. The team made one final swing at the necessary adjustments as Jones headed down pit road for four tires and an air pressure adjustment on Lap 242. The No. 43 cycled off pit road 26th and had moved up to 22nd with 34 laps until the checkered flag. Unfortunately, the balance struggles continued for Jones in traffic. The No. 43 crossed the finish line 19th.
Quoting Erik Jones: “Just a long day with our AdventHealth Camry. We didn’t have the balance quite where we needed it. We made the most of it and ended up with a top 20, which I think was a win for today. We’ve got to make it better. We will try to make the All-Star next week in North Wilkesboro and will work on our mile-and-a-half program for the next one.”
NEXT RACE: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to North Wilkesboro Speedway for the All-Star Race next Sunday, May 19. The All-Star Open will begin at 5:30 p.m. ET while the All-Star Race will start at 8:00 p.m. ET. Race coverage will be on FS1, with radio coverage on PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
ABOUT AdventHealth: With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care for every stage of life and health. More than 90,000 team members across hundreds of care sites including physician practices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, home health agencies and hospice centers provide individualized, wholistic care. A shared vision, common values, focus on whole-person health and commitment to making communities healthier unify the system's more than 50 hospital campuses in diverse markets throughout nine states. For more information about AdventHealth, visit AdventHealth.com/news.
ABOUT DOLLAR TREE, INC.: Dollar Tree, a Fortune 200 Company, operated 16,622 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of October 28, 2023. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada. To learn more about the Company, visit www.DollarTree.com.
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice "Maury" J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The CLUB competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series fielding the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE of John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE of Erik Jones, and the No. 84 limited schedule entry for Johnson. LEGACY M.C. also competes in the Extreme E Series. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty "The King" serves as Club Ambassador. With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level. To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ on Facebook, X, Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.
