POCONO RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
Long Pond, Pa. (June 22, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series traveled to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway to tackle the track nicknamed “The Tricky Triangle” in the 2.5-mile track’s only race this season. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB teammates John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE, and Erik Jones, driver of the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE, were ready to leave road course racing behind to take on one of their best tracks on the schedule as they started near the front of the pack in fourth and 11th, respectively. It was Denny Hamlin leading the field to the green flag. At the end of the race, it was Chase Briscoe who took the checkered flag first.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 4TH | FINISH: 6TH | POINTS: 22ND
John Hunter Nemechek started the Pocono 400 in the fourth position. He fell to 11th by Lap 10 and said the car was free off the corner in and tight in the middle. Making his way back up to tenth, Nemechek asked for a small adjustment to tighten up the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE on Lap 27 when he pitted for four tires and fuel. Nemechek finished Stage 1 in 33rd.
Because of the short pit before the stage, Nemechek would restart fifth. A caution on Lap 55 allowed the team to pit on Lap 57 for right side tires and fuel. After restarting on Lap 60 from the 15th position and moved up to 12th by the time a caution flag flew for debris on Lap 70. He said the car was ‘a little edgy in Turn 3’ but felt ok. The team opted to put on Lap 73 for right sides and fuel putting Nemechek ninth on the restart. Another strategy call came into play with four laps left in the stage where the Nos. 42 and 43 came down pit road for four tires and no fuel. The No. 42 finished Stage 2 in 31st.
The final stage started with Nemechek in 21st. Strategy came into play around Lap 120 when green flag stops for the field began. Nemechek was in fourth behind his teammate Jones who both pitted on Lap 92. He was running third when crew chief Travis Mack called him into the pits for two right side tires and fuel. While Nemechek was on pit road the caution came out and instead of the extended time on the track paying off, Nemechek would restart 14th. Once teams pitted the No. 42 moved up to eighth.
With 30 to go Nemechek moved from eighth to fifth in one lap. For the final 28 laps Nemechek was quiet on the radio and finished a solid sixth for the second week in a row.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
How does it feels feel to bring home two straight top-10 finishes?
“Both cars had speed this weekend right off the truck and qualified really well. It was my best qualifying effort in the Cup series and we raced well also. I’m proud of everything they’ve put in at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB – all the men and women with all the effort they’ve been putting in. Looking forward to continuing to come to the racetrack when you have the speed. Just a testament to this 42 team. Travis Mack (crew chief), and I have been working really hard and we’ve been communicating well. Sydney, our primary engineer, Dex, Carl, Josh, and everyone who works on this thing. I’m just proud of the effort.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 11TH | FINISH: 13TH | POINTS: 18TH
After rain delayed the start of Sunday’s 160-lap race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Jones rolled off 11th in the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE. He fell back on the initial start but quickly found his pace to hold steady in 12th for the opening laps of the stage. Stage 1 at Pocono ran green from start to finish, and despite his car building tight, Jones was able to fight the handling, stay out until the stage break, and finish fifth in the opening stage. This earned him a valuable six stage points for the playoff battle.
Thanks to the quick work of his No. 43 pit crew during the stage break, Jones was able to gain two spots on pit road and restarted 11th behind the cars who pitted prior to the end of the stage. He struggled with passing his competitors during the first few laps of Stage 2 but found himself in 10th by the lap 55 caution. Throughout the rest of the stage, he ran well inside the top-12. He reported that he was trending two numbers too loose this time around. Crew chief Ben Beshore brought Jones down pit road when he was running sixth with three laps to go in Stage 2 for four tires and fuel. Although he finished the stage in 30th, he was then able to stay out during the stage break to restart in 20th.
When the final stage went green, Jones wasted no time in his pursuit forward. He was running 13th just six laps into the run and raced his way into the top-10 before green flag pit stops began on lap 119. He pitted from third on lap 124 before an untimely caution came out on lap 125 – dividing the field on strategy. Jones cycled through to 17th for the lap-131 restart. His car continued to build tight as the race continued under green though. In the end, Jones finished 13th.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“We had a really good No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota Camry XSE today, but it’s just frustrating how sometimes strategies can go your way and other times it doesn’t. Pocono is a track where strategy plays a big part in your finish more times than not. The team did a good job of bringing a car with a ton of speed, but that last caution caught us at a bad time in the middle of green flag pit stops. I think we were a top-five car, but we needed things to work out better. We’ll learn from it and move on to Atlanta.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will race under the lights in a Saturday night battle at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The Atlanta 400 will take place on Saturday, June 28 at 8 p.m. EDT with coverage on TNT Sports, MAX, MRN and SiriusXM.
