KANSAS SPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (May 11, 2025) - The NASCAR Cup Series rolled into Kansas Speedway for the AdventHealth 400, delivering a Mother’s Day special under sunny Midwestern skies. On the 1.5-mile intermediate oval, a 38-car field took the green flag. Erik Jones, driving the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE, led the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries from the 16th starting position. Teammate John Hunter Nemechek followed closely in the No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE, rolling off 17th. Kyle Larson started from the pole, and when the checkered flag flew after 400 miles, it was Larson who found himself in victory lane.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 17TH | FINISH: 10TH | POINTS: 19TH
The opening 80-lap Stage 1 saw only one early caution on Lap 8 for the No. 16 car, with the remaining 70 laps running green. The leader set a blistering pace, putting all but 19 cars a lap down.
John Hunter Nemechek struggled early with a tight-handling race car and repeatedly called for more grip. After falling as far back as 36th, he clawed his way up to 28th. But with four laps remaining in the stage, as he entered Turn 3, Nemechek radioed the Dollar Tree team reporting a possible tire going down.
The crew quickly prepared for a pit stop, but Nemechek chose to nurse the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE around the 1.5-mile oval to the stage break, ultimately finishing Stage 1 in 30th. During the stage break, the crew mounted four fresh tires, packed the car with fuel, and raised the front end to add more downforce and improve handling.
“We’ll take the time now and get some speed in our car and drive back to the front,” said crew chief Travis Mack. At the restart, Nemechek found himself four- and five-wide, which shuffled the No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE back to 30th. Midway through the stage, he reported that the car was still a bit tight but had improved grip compared to Stage 1.
With the car handling better, Nemechek set his sights on racing back into the free pass position. With just 15 laps remaining in Stage 2, leader Kyle Larson closed in to put him another lap down. Nemechek dug in, matched Larson’s pace, and managed to stay in front of the leader to remain just one lap down, finishing Stage 2 in 27th.
During the stage break, Nemechek reported that the car felt slightly loose but overall “pretty good.” The team opted for a routine pit stop: four tires and fuel, with no further adjustments. With a solid car underneath him, Nemechek began working his way forward. Though he started the stage several positions behind the free pass spot, within 20 laps he overtook the No. 99 and moved into the coveted position. All the team needed now was a caution—and they got it just a few laps later, on Lap 195, putting Nemechek back on the lead lap.
Crew chief Travis Mack came over the radio with encouragement: “You were outpacing the top-5 cars there—we’ve got a good car. Let’s be patient.” Nemechek replied confidently: “Let’s see if we can drive back up through here.”
The third stage was much different than the previous two stages, when several cautions for accidents jumbled up the running order. With 50 laps to go, Nemechek lined up 18th by the time he came back to complete that next lap, he was up to 14th and wasn’t stopping there. On lap 254, cracked the top 10. Nemechek would hold onto 10th as the race came to a close. This finish gives Nemechek a back-to-back top-10 finish, his fourth top-10 of the season.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:
“We’ve made a lot of gains for sure. Last week was a really good showing, and we had speed. This week, both cars had speed as well. Luckily, we were able to come home 10th in our Dollar Tree Camry. I like it. I like that we have decent speed. Solid day, solid effort. It wasn’t pretty – that is for sure, but we were able to maximize our finish and come home 10th.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 16TH | FINISH: 32RD | POINTS: 29TH
Erik Jones tackled the hot and slick racetrack of Kansas Speedway in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400. After starting 16th, Jones battles in the opening laps to hold the position but struggled with the handling of his car in traffic, similar to the issues he had in Saturday’s practice session. He fell back to 27th as he fought an extremely tight No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE. He finished the stage in 25th, one lap down.
After having to come to pit road twice during the stage break to tighten a lug nut, Jones restarted at the back of the field in 33rd for the start of Stage 2. He found himself 24th by lap 101 and told the team he could use some more of the last adjustment when they came in for green flag pit stops as it helped his car. The team brought him in on lap 123 for four tires, fuel, and another set adjustment. The No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE took a turn toward the loose side on the final run of the stage, though. Still, Jones was able to hold on for a 24th-place result in Stage 2.
After pitting during the stage break caution, Jones found himself in 24th once again when the field took the green flag. Despite being a lap down and still battling an ill-handling car, Jones held on until the caution came out on lap 195. The No. 43 team took a gamble to not pit with the rest of the cars and wave around to get their lap back. This move ended up working out in their favor as a caution came out before the field made it back around one time on the lap-200 restart. Unfortunately, cautions bred cautions and Jones found himself a product of a three-wide battle gone wrong as he was collected in a wreck with Justin Haley and Corey Heim just a few laps later. The result was a broken left rear toe link on the No. 43 AdventHealth Toyota Camry XSE. The No. 43 team took the car behind the wall and went on the DVP clock to repair the damage. They sent Jones back out with less than 30 laps to go, but he did not meet minimum speed and was forced to retire early. The result was a 32nd-place finish at Kansas.
ERIK JONES QUOTABLE:
“We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I felt like we were making progress in that final stage after fighting a tight Toyota Camry XSE pretty much all day. We caught a break in the final stage when we took the wave around to get our lap back and caught a quick caution. Just got caught in a bad spot on a restart and killed the car. I wish we could’ve gotten a better finish for AdventHeath to thank them for all their support, but things didn’t go our way.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to one of its oldest and most iconic tracks next week — North Wilkesboro Speedway. With no points on the line, one driver will walk away with a one-million-dollar payday in the NASCAR All-Star Race.
Practice and qualifying take place on Friday, May 16, followed by Heat Races on Saturday, May 17. The All-Star Open and All-Star Race will cap off the weekend on Sunday, May 18.
Catch all the action on FS1, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
