RICHMOND RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY CAMRY XSE
START: 34th | FINISH: 36th | POINTS: 26th
John Hunter Nemechek started the Cook Out 400 from the 34th position under the lights at Richmond Raceway. He quickly worked his way into the top 30 and worked his way up to 27th. On Lap 35, crew chief Travis Mack brought the No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Camry XSE down pit road for four tires and fuel. After a series of green flag pit stops, Nemechek was up to 22nd. Nemechek ended the stage in the 26th position.
The No. 42 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota came back down pit road during the stage break for minor adjustments, four tires, and fuel. Nemechek restarted the second stage in 23rd. After minimal contact quickly after the restart, the No. 42 Toyota fell to 31st. On Lap 119, Nemechek came down pit road once again for four tires and fuel. He exited 37th. More cars came down pit road for a series of green flag stops, and Nemechek jumped to the 29th position. On Lap 176, Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota back down pit road for four tires and fuel. On Lap 180, the yellow was thrown, and Nemechek restarted 36th with 42 laps remaining in the stage. The yellow flag was thrown again quickly on Lap 190, and Nemechek came back down pit road during the caution for four scuffs on Lap 194. The No. 42 Toyota restarted 35th after the yellow. A large incident on Lap 198 brought out the caution flag again, and Mack opted to stay out to put the No. 42 Toyota in a position to race for the lucky dog. Nemechek restarted 32nd and ended the stage in the same position.
Mack opted to stay out of pit road during the stage break in order to take the wave around, and Nemechek started the third stage from the 30th spot. On Lap 278, Nemechek came down pit road, and had to serve a pass through penalty after the stop for coming in over the box and fell back to 35th. Nemechek fought to get his lap back and worked into the 32nd spot. Nemechek pitted on Lap 340 and stalled in his pit box. The No. 42 team pushed the car back on track, served another pass through penalty, and Nemechek rejoined the field 35th, 11 laps down. Nemechek ended the night in Richmond in 36th.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“We looked really good in the first stage. We were able to drive up to 22nd from where we started and i thought we were executing well and had good speed. At the start of the second stage, I got run into a couple of times, almost wrecked but didn’t and slipped tires and kind of killed ourselves on tire game. It really hurt it, and it pretty much ruined our day. I got behind there, and couldn’t touch the gas pedal, and then just a bunch of small compounding mistakes after that. Tried to play strategy, being short on tires, and we were trying to get back on the lead lap when we lost our lap and then just couldn’t do it. Ultimately, ended up not in a great spot, and in the third stage we had a clutch issue that put us 11 laps behind. It is what it is, we’ll move on to Daytona.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 18th | FINISH: 26th | POINTS: 23rd
After starting 18th in Saturday night’s Cook Out 400, Jones stayed inside the top-20 until he pitted on Lap 34 for four fresh tires and fuel. He rejoined the field in 30th but cycled through to 20th as green flag pit stops finished. Jones worked his way up to 19th by the end of Stage 1 when he reported to the team that his No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE built tighter on long green flag runs. Crew chief Ben Beshore called him down pit road for another fresh set of tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment.
He restarted 17th in Stage 2 after making his pit stop. Jones found himself in 15th by Lap 111 before reporting he needed more lateral grip. He pitted from 17th on Lap 177 for four tires and fuel. Just several laps after his green flag stop, the caution flag flew while Jones was running 21st. He reported that his car fired off three numbers too tight but opted to stay out during the caution. Jones restarted 14th on the next restart. The team pitted on the next caution on Lap 193 for scuffs.
Trouble found the field on Lap 199 though as a collision involved a majority of the field. Jones, who was running 24th, had no where to go in the high line but was able to slow down enough to only have minor damage on the hood of his Toyota Camry XSE. The team kept Jones out during the caution to restart 23rd on Lap 224. Jones went to work and moved his way up to 16th by the end of Stage 2 on Lap 230.
Jones reported during the stage break that his car was on the tighter side, so the No, 43 Dollar Tree team pitted for another four tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. He restarted the final stage in 23rd. As the race continued, Jones worked his way up through the field. He was 18th by Lap 265. Jones pitted from 17th on Lap 287 before rejoining the field in 29th as green flag pit stops ensued. He cycled through to 19th.
Jones came down pit road for his last stop of the race on Lap 342 while running 20th. He got four tires, fuel and another air pressure adjustment. Jones lost a lap as the race went green. Leaders continued to pass cars, and Jones was unable to get a caution or a lucky dog, Jones was forced to settle for a 26th-place result at Richmond.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“Cautions just didn’t play out in our favor tonight. We predicted long green-flag runs but that final stage going caution-free really didn’t help our situation with the amount of green flag stops we had to make. We’ll look ahead and try to go get a win at Daytona.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will head back to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in a series of back-to-back nights races next Saturday, August 23 in the Coke Zero Sugar 400. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT on NBC, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
