DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY CAMRY XSE
START: 34th | FINISH: 17th | POINTS: 24th
John Hunter Nemechek started 34th Saturday night under the lights at Daytona International Speedway. 11 laps in, Nemechek had climbed up to 21st when the yellow flag flew. Crew chief Travis Mack opted to bring him down pit road to quickly top off fuel, and the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE exited in 32nd and worked up to 24th. On Lap 18, the caution flag was thrown again, and Mack brought Nemechek back down pit road for four tires and fuel. Nemechek restarted 35th but gained a few spots before a large multi-car wreck on Lap 27 brought out a caution, followed by a red flag on Lap 28 for cleanup. After running over debris, the team brought the car back to pit road on Lap 29 to check for potential damage. He returned one lap later to top off fuel, then restarted 26th with two laps remaining in the opening stage. Nemechek made a strong late push to finish the stage in 16th. During the stage break, the No. 42 team made another stop for four fresh tires and to top off fuel.
Nemechek started the second stage from fourth and quickly jumped to second. During a long green flag run, he slipped back to 21st but battled back as the field went three-wide, climbing to 13th with 22 laps remaining in the stage. A caution on Lap 82 brought him back to pit road for four tires and fuel. On the restart with eight to go, Nemechek lined up 19th and charged forward to finish Stage 2 in fifth, collecting valuable stage points.
The No. 42 Toyota pitted during the stage break to top off on fuel, which put Nemechek in the fourth spot to start Stage 3. Nemechek then led the field for multiple laps, and the caution flag flew on Lap 108. Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota back down pit road on Lap 110 to top off fuel. An issue on pit road brought Nemechek to the rear of the field for a penalty, and Nemechek came back through on Lap 113 for four tires and to top off fuel once again. During a long green flag run, Nemechek battled to the 17th spot.
Nemechek worked his way up to 15th with 12 to go when the yellow flag flew once again. Mack opted to stay out during the caution in order to maintain track position, and Nemechek restarted 14th with eight laps to go. The No. 42 Toyota ended the night 17th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“We had a really fast car and led a lot of laps today. I feel like we would’ve competed for the win if we didn’t have issues on pit road, but we’ll learn from it and come back stronger. On to Darlington next week.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE / STP TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 26th | FINISH: 5th | POINTS: 22nd
After rain cancelled Friday night’s qualifying session at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Erik Jones started 26th per the NASCAR rulebook. He immediately dropped to the back per a strategy move to try to avoid the chaos that the 2.5-mile oval is known for. The team’s strategy worked as he avoided a big wreck on Lap 28 while running 26th. After a red flag to clean up the debris, he restarted 22nd on Lap 33. He pitted during that caution to take four tires, fuel, and an air pressure adjustment to help with his loose-handling racecar. Jones finished 21st in Stage 1 but was able to stop for fuel only during the stage break to rejoin in 10th.
When Stage 2 went green, Jones was 10th and ready to hang with the draft. He worked his way as high as seventh on the bottom lane before multiple lanes started to form. When the caution came out on Lap 83, Jones was 20th. Crew Chief Ben Beshore brought him down pit road for four tires and fuel. In the final laps of Stage 2, Jones worked the draft but once again opted to avoid trouble and drop back. He finished 18th in Stage 2 and pitted during the stage break once again to top off on fuel.
Jones restarted the final stage in fifth. He chose the bottom lane for the initial restart to be in the second row behind his teammate John Hunter Nemechek. The LEGACY MOTOR CLUB duo ran first and second during the opening laps of the final stage before the caution came out on Lap 108. He restarted third on Lap 116 before jumping to the top lane on Lap 123 to push forward.
Jones was in an intense battle for second as the race wound down. He took the lead for the first time on Lap 138 and continued to battle with Logano for the top spot. When the caution came out again on Lap 149, Jones was leading. He took the outside lane on the Lap 153 restart and held the position initially. Contact with another car sent him to the outside and pack in the field with just a handful of laps to go. He was relegated to 21st with just three laps remaining.
Jones didn’t give up though as he made a third lane on the outside in an effort to regain spots. In the final two laps, he catapulted from 21st to fifth by the checkered flag. This was his third top-five of the 2025 season and his third at Daytona after leading three times for a total of 10 laps.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“Our No. 43 Dollar Tree / STP Toyota Camry XSE was good tonight. I thought we had a lot of speed and drivability, pushed well and could be pushed well but everybody gets shoving hard and the No. 5 was shoving us super hard probably getting shoved from behind and just got me really out of shape. I’m glad we could hang onto it and at least finish, but just disappointed. Put ourselves in a great spot and executed well all day right to our plan and it just didn’t work out.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Darlington (S.C.) Raceway in the first race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs on Sunday, August 31 in the Cook Out Southern 500. The race begins at 6 p.m. EDT on USA, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
