INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 36th | FINISH: 12th | POINTS: 20th
Starting from the 36th position, John Hunter Nemechek found himself quickly working through the field after jumping three spots to 33rd in the first two laps at the Brickyard. An early incident brought out the caution Lap 17 with the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE in 31st place. During the caution, Crew Chief Travis Mack brought Nemechek down pit road for two tires and fuel, and the No. 42 raced off pit road to 25th place. During the restart on Lap 22, Nemechek jumped to the 22nd position. With nine to go in the stage, Nemechek broke into the top-20, and after a series of green flag pit stops, the No. 42 was in 17th with six laps remaining. Nemechek closed out the first stage in the 16th position.
During the stage break, the No. 42 came back down pit road for four tires and fuel, putting Nemechek in the 21st position for the Stage 2 restart. The No. 42 was 24th after the restart, and worked his way up to the 21st spot during a long green flag run. With 20 laps to go in the second stage, Nemechek was back in the top-20 running in the 17th spot, and then quickly made his way into the top-15 with 18 Laps remaining. After a series of green-flag pit stops, the No. 42 was in the ninth spot with 15 laps to go in the stage. With 10 laps to go, the caution came out. The No. 42 came down pit road with seven to go, and restarted the stage 13th when the green flag waved with four to go. Nemechek rounded out Stage 2 in 12th.
The No. 42 started final stage in the ninth position. With 40 laps to go, Nemechek had climbed to the sixth position. Mack brought the No. 42 back down pit road for right side tires and fuel with 38 laps to go, where Nemechek found himself 17th coming off pit road. Nemechek climbed to the 12th position after a long green flag run. With six to go, the yellow flag was thrown for rain. Nemechek pitted for right side tires under yellow ahead of the overtime restart. After the pit stop, Nemechek restarted 18th. The second lap of the first overtime, the caution came back out, and sent the field back into overtime. Nemechek restarted 15th in the second overtime, and ultimately closed out the Brickyard 400 in 12th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Good points day for the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE. Restarts are an important improvement for me that needs to happen. Overall I’m really proud of the effort and the team for bringing really fast cars for Erik and I this weekend. We need to make this our new standard of having fast race cars. Driver needs to do a better job qualifying and executing to make our day easier and run out front, but I’m glad to come home with 12th.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 3rd | FINISH: 36th | POINTS: 22nd
After rolling off third for the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Erik Jones was ready to chase his shot to kiss the bricks. After falling back initially to fifth, Jones was able to hang with the leaders and thanks to a fast pit stop from the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota team on Lap 18, he emerged from the pits fourth. He restarted seventh as three cars stayed out during the stops, but he continued to work his way all the way up to third by lap 45 as he battled the No. 23 and No. 24 for the spot.
Despite being a tad loose in the rear, Jones stayed in the top-five as the laps wound down in Stage 1. Crew chief Ben Beshore made a unique strategy call on Lap 46 as the pits were about to close for the end of the stage. He called his driver down pit road with the intention to stay out during the stage break and jump the field for the Stage 2 restart. Jones pitted for two tires and fuel before returning to the field just in front of race leader Chase Briscoe. The driver of the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE was able to hold off Briscoe and stay on the lead lap as the stage came to an end. He finished 35th in Stage 1.
This battle at the finish of Stage 1 allowed Jones to stay out during the break and restart seventh behind some cars on different strategies. Unfortunately, a slow start from the lead cars caused a stack up on the restart and Jones was shuffled back to 15th. He rallied though and found himself in eighth by Lap 8. He climbed as high as third as the stage continued under green. On Lap 87, the team called Jones to pit road for a four-tire stop and fuel. He rejoined the field but a loose right front tire caused Jones to make contact with the wall in Turn 3.
The damage sustained from this contact ended Jones’ promising day early. He ended up 36th when the checkered flag waved.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“There was no warning other than just being slow on the right front on the pit stop. I saw them struggling there for a second, but figured we got it on. As soon as I turned into Turn 3, I knew we were going to crash, and I felt it come off. It looked bad but honestly didn’t feel as bad in the car as others I’ve had. I feel good and fortunate, so I’m happy for that. But, sad for the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota team. It was a fast car and things weren’t working out the best today, but I just wanted to have a shot at the end.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Newton, Iowa next weekend to compete at Iowa Speedway on August 3 for the Iowa Corn 350. The race begins at 3:30 p.m. EDT on USA, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
