Bowman Gray Stadium | Clash RACE RECAP
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (Feb. 2, 2025) – The unofficial NASCAR Cup Series season kicked off at the Cook Out Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston Salem, NC. This marked the first time that the top-tier series of NASCAR returned to the quarter-mile oval since 1971.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared on Sunday in the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) event.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
The No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team worked hard during the off-season to prepare a fast Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE for the Clash. During practice on Saturday, John Hunter Nemechek quickly got the feel of the tight racetrack and found himself 16th on the speed charts.
Bowman Gray Stadium has earned the nickname, “The Madhouse” for the tight racing and tempers that flare as a result. The Madhouse certainly lived up to its name during the heat races. Early on in the 25-lap heat race, Nemechek started working his way up to the fifth qualifying spot. On Lap 7, a gaggle of cars entered Turn 1, and the No. 42 and the No. 60 bumped, with the No. 60 moving up the track, Nemechek slipped by but as he entered Turn 3, the No. 60 got to the rear bumper of the No. 42 sending him to the outside SAFER barrier. The contact with the wall caused damage to the Dollar Tree Toyota Camry. Nemechek continued but limped home to an eighth-place finish.
After the checkered flag, the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team surveyed the damage to the No. 42 machine and found that right-side fenders, suspension parts, and pieces were all severely damaged. With a repair plan in place, the collective No. 42 and No. 43 LEGACY MC teams stayed at Bowman Gray until late Saturday evening working on the car.
The work resumed early Sunday morning at the LEGACY MC shop in Statesville, where they gathered the necessary parts to repair the car. Upon arriving at the track, more than two dozen CLUB members pitched in to help get the Dollar Tree Toyota Camry back on track for Sunday’s Last Chance Qualifying race.
Nemechek was proud of the team's effort. “I think it’s the nature of Bowman Gray [Stadium] they call it the the madhouse for a reason. All in all, we’ve unloaded with a bunch of speed. I am proud of all efforts from the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB for all the work they put in over the off-season and looking forward to what we can accomplish this season,” said Nemechek.
Just after 6:30 p.m., the 75-lap LCQ event got underway, and Nemechek would start 14th.
On Lap 17 at the first of several yellow flags, Nemechek and the No. 42 Dollar Tree entry were up to 10thon the scoring pylon. The next green flag stint went for six laps when more aggression got the best of some. Nemechek was able to move up to ninth but during the ‘restart choose rule’, he restarted in sixth, quickly gaining three spots. The field got strung out with Nemechek holding strong in seventh. At the halfway mark of the event, Nemechek commented that the No. 42 was pretty good from a handling standpoint. He mentioned that the bumps in the track were helping him rotate in the corners, and was a little snug in the corner and free on exit.
With 13 laps to go in the event, a red flag was displayed for a car that put down fluid on the track. After the restart, Nemechek was able to crack the top five for the first time in the event. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammate Erik Jones took the lead with 11 laps to go but some beating and banging at the front of the field then took out teammate Jones, and Nemechek lined up sixth for the final restart. At the end of the 75-lap event, the No. 42 Dollar Tree LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team came up two spots shy of the transfer spot and finished in fourth place.
Quoting crew chief Travis Mack:
“It’s good to have an event like this for a dress rehearsal, it’s not just for the driver and crew chief but also the crew, the engineers. This sets the tone for what we’re going to do this year and a not giving up attitude and do whatever it takes. These two teams are going to work really well together this year. The No. 43 team chipped in and helped a lot and everyone from the shop is really on board for the season.”
Quoting John Hunter Nemechek:
“After getting wrecked last night, all of the men and women at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB rallied and brought a bunch of parts from the shop – all of the team guys, all of the guys on the 42 and the 43, and the shop guys were able to fix everything. Huge thank you to them for getting this Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE looking the way that it did. It drove well in the LCQ race. We still had a little bit to do but had to go to the back because we had to change body parts and everything else. I think we started like second to the last row, and we were able to drive up to fourth there, so solid effort, sucks to come up a little bit short and not transfer, but this group has shown me a lot over the off-season. We brought over a really fast race car for practice off the truck yesterday, and it just didn’t work out as far as being in the race, but looking forward to getting the real points season started and seeing what we can continue to do as far as the 42 team
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 FAMILY Dollar TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
The Ben Beshore-led No. 43 Family Dollar team worked hard over the off-season to prepare for the Clash. Jones, who won the event at Daytona in 2020, was anxious to get back behind the wheel.
On Saturday, Jones finished eighth in his heat race and would have to race in the 75-lap Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) event on Sunday night where only the top two finishers would transfer to the main event.
On Sunday, Jones started the 75-lap event from the sixth place. The No. 43 Family Dollar team made adjustments after what they learned in their heat race and took advantage of NASCAR’s “final adjustments” when the garage opened, choosing to work on freeing up the steering for Jones.
As expected, the beginning of the LCQ showed a lot of bumping to gain spots. After gaining one position on Lap 7, the No. 43 was caught in an exchange with the No. 5 for the position.
In the midst of that battle, the No.10 got in the back of the No. 43, trying to offset his momentum. The No. 43 was able to hang on and within the next lap, the driver of the Family Dollar Toyota repaid the favor and moved the No. 10 out of the way, resulting in a caution.
This move caused minor damage to the left front fender on the No. 43, but not enough to alter race performance. The LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Toyota restarted in the seventh position and Jones quickly made his way up to the third position.
Halfway through the race, the No. 43 was racing steady in third position. As time went on, the top three cars had decent space between them, making it difficult for anyone to overtake.
On Lap 44, there was a caution, and the No. 43 restarted on the outside in the third position. He quickly moved to the inside lane after the restart to hold on for second. The race was green for 13 more laps before the next caution. The No. 43 opted for the inside lane behind the No. 5 for the restart. Jones fell to the third position.
After another restart, Jones was able to slide under traffic, moving into the second position. As “The Madhouse” would have it, a red flag was thrown due to oil on the track from an accident involving the No. 50. After debating on where to restart, the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE chose to restart on the outside, next to the No. 5 in the second position in hopes of finding an opening on the inside during a turn. The No. 43 was not racing for second, he was racing for the lead. After a side-by-side battle with the No. 5, the No. 43 took the lead as a caution flag flew once again.
With 11 laps to go, the No. 43 restarted in the first position on the inside lane. Not long after the restart, cars went three wide and the No. 43 was hit in the rear by the No. 21 - sending Jones spinning. In a whirlwind of events, this incident led to the No. 43 being out of the race a few laps early due to damage. In the end, the No. 43 led four laps during the LCQ finishing 16th.
Quoting Erik Jones:
“We were leading the race, and it looked like the 21 got in there and was going to shove us out of the way. That is frustrating. Unfortunately, we kind of got cleaned out there once we got three wide. It is tough. You want to start the year off good. You want to make the main, and I thought the Family Dollar Camry was pretty good racing for the lead.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series heads west to Daytona International Speedway for the Daytona 500. Practice and qualifying for The Great American Race kicks off on Wednesday, Feb. 12 with Duels to set the grid on Thursday, Feb. 13. The Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET live on FOX, MRN Radio and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
