SONOMA RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
SONOMA, Calif. (June 9, 2024) – The NASCAR Cup Series ran its 16th race of the season and saw eight cautions at the newly repaved, 1.99-mile Sonoma Raceway on Sunday. Joey Logano claimed the pole for the Toyota Save Mart 350 on Sunday but for the last 15 laps it was a three race car race as Chris Buescher, Martin Truex Jr. and Kyle Larson battled it out. It was Larson securing the victory at Sonoma Raceway.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 SAVE MART TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 37TH | FINISH: 29TH | POINTS: 28TH
The NASCAR Cup Series practiced for 50 minutes on Friday and Saturday’s qualifying session set the grid for Sunday’s race. During those two sessions, the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB continued to make gains on the balance of their Toyota Camry as the biggest feedback going into Sunday’s race was a lack of grip on their No. 42 Save Mart Toyota Camry XSE. A disappointing qualifying session relegated John Hunter Nemechek and his LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team to start the Toyota / Save Mart 350 from the 37th position.
With their eyes set forward for the Toyota / Save Mart 350 unfortunately the race didn’t start off great for the No. 42 LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team. On Lap 4, the No. 11 suffered a mechanical failure that put fluid down on the track. Nemechek did his best to avoid it but unfortunately, when doing so, he grazed the outside wall near the start finish line. The contact with the wall bent the lower right front control arm, putting the toe on his Toyota Camry XSE out of alignment and would set the team back for the rest of the race.
The No. 42 Save Mart team spent the rest of the first stage keeping their Toyota Camry out of trouble so that they could fix the issues under the hood when able. At one point they fell behind two laps but by the time the first stage came to a close, they had gained their laps back and finished in 36th.
The second stage was marred by yellow flags but John Hunter Nemechek managed to avoid the carnage and got up to 22nd for the lap 42 restart. Crew chief Ben Beshore asked his driver about the balance and Nemechek responded with, “it was hard to tell”. The remaining laps of Stage 2 would stay green and the North Carolina native did the best he could to hold on with what he had while running in traffic. As the middle stage came to a close, the No. 42 finished in the 29th position.
Prior to the end of the Stage pit stops, Nemechek radioed back into his crew that he was loose in the right-hand turns and tight in the left-hand turns. He also mentioned that he was trying to figure out how to drive his Save Mart Camry XSE with the damaged that they sustained earlier in the race to make some speed.
The No. 42 restarted the final stage in the 32nd position with 50 laps remaining in the scheduled 110-lap distance.
The third stage would have a long green flag run and the No. 42 team came back down pit road for their final stop with 26 laps remaining. Nemechek and the No. 42 Save Mart LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team didn’t have the weekend they were hoping for ultimately finishing in the 29th position, one lap down to the leaders.
Quoting John Hunter Nemechek: “Wrong place, wrong time with hitting the oil going into turn one and killing the right front suspension components. I hate it for everyone that puts a lot of effort into this and for Save Mart who had a lot of people in attendance this weekend. I would have loved to have seen what we could have done today. Hopefully, we’ll get this monkey off our backs soon and show what this team is capable of."
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 38TH | FINISH: 19TH | POINTS: 25TH
Erik Jones started the Toyota Save Mart 350 event from the 38th position. Focused forward, Jones picked up three positions on Lap 1 before a caution flew on Lap 4. At that point, Jones radioed to crew chief Dave Elenz the No. 43 Dollar Tree Toyota was better than yesterday and Elenz told Jones he did a great job right out of the gate passing cars.
Jones was 32nd on the Lap 6 restart. By Lap 10, Jones was in the top-30 and moving up. He reported that the car was extremely loose and a caution came out on Lap 16. Jones pitted on Lap 17 for four tires and fuel with a major chassis adjustment to help tighten up the car. Another caution for a multi-car accident happened the same Lap and Jones avoided cars spinning across the track. He moved up to the 28th position. The Jones and Dollar Tree Toyota team finished Stage 1 in 23rd.
Crew chief Dale Elenz rolled the dice and stayed out at the Stage break. Jones said the car was really loose but Elenz wanted to stay out for the track position and will start Stage 2 in 20th.
A caution flew early on Lap 27 and Jones said he needs to be way tighter running 22nd.When the race went green again on Lap 35 and Jones was up to 18th. On Lap 38, Josh Berry came across the nose of Jones causing a multi-car accident in Turn 11. Jones said there was nothing he have done as Berry came straight across his nose. At that point in the race Jones was running ninth. On Lap 39 he had moved up to seventh seventh but by Lap 43 Jones was once again fighting a very loose race car and fell back to 14th. Jones then powered back to a seventh-place finish in Stage 2.
Green on Lap 59, Jones was 7th and moved into the top five. As of Lap 65, Jones had gained the most positions of the whole field moving up 33 since the start.
Right before the second pit stop of the day, Jones was running second, and on Lap 69 the team pitted for four tires and fuel, it had been 52 laps since the last stop. With 30 laps to go, Jones lost the handle again and said the car was really tight. He held on until the end and finished 19th.
Quoting Erik Jones: “The car was a big improvement over yesterday’s qualifying and practice. The pit crew and Dave (Elenz) did a great job all day and the spotters helped with some crazy on-track racing. We made strides and 19th isn’t bad, but it’s not where we want to be so we will keep working on it. I am looking forward to Iowa.”
ABOUT OUR PARTNERS
ABOUT SAVE MART: California’s Central Valley covers approximately 18,000 square miles, bounded by the Pacific Coast Ranges to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east. One of the most celebrated agricultural regions in the world, this is California’s single most productive area, providing more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States.
In the heart of this rich and fertile region lies the city of Modesto, where, in 1952, Nick Tocco and Mike Piccinini opened the first Save Mart grocery store. Enjoying deeply rooted relationships with the area’s farmers, ranchers, and producers, Tocco and Piccinini saw the value in offering the bountiful fresh and local products available at farm stands throughout the valley in a convenient, modern grocery store. And equally important to Nick and Mike, at prices that families could afford. Celebrating local growers and providers long before “farm to fork” became an international trend, Save Mart was born.
Mike’s son, Bob Piccinini, took over leadership of the Company in the early 1980s. By then the chain had grown to include multiple locations in the Modesto area plus surrounding communities. When a wave of store closings swept the region, Save Mart bucked the trend with additional acquisitions and the opening of its first FoodMaxx stores. Customers continued to flock to the stores, attracted by the winning formula of fresh, local, quality and value.
In 2007, the Company purchased a 128-store chain in Northern California and rebranded the stores as Lucky supermarkets, “rescuing” the once prominent Lucky name in the San Francisco Bay Area market.
Kingswood Capital Management LP, a California-based privity equity firm, acquired The Save Mart Companies in early 2022.
Today, The Save Mart Companies serves nearly 200 communities across California and Nevada and is headquartered in the heart of California’s Central Valley. The Company has been an essential business for 72 years with Save Mart, Lucky, Lucky California, FoodMaxx, and Maxx Value Food stores, distribution centers and a transportation facility employing more than 13,000 team members.
ABOUT DOLLAR TREE, INC.: Dollar Tree, a Fortune 200 Company, operated 16,622 stores across 48 states and five Canadian provinces as of October 28, 2023. Stores operate under the brands of Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, and Dollar Tree Canada. To learn more about the Company, visit dollartree.com.
ABOUT LEGACY MOTOR CLUB: LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ is a professional auto racing club owned by businessman and entrepreneur Maurice "Maury" J. Gallagher and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. The CLUB competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series fielding the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE of John Hunter Nemechek, the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE of Erik Jones, and the No. 84 limited schedule entry for Johnson. LEGACY M.C. also competes in the Extreme E Series. Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty "The King" serves as Club Ambassador. With a unique title signifying a nod to car clubs of past eras, LEGACY M.C. is an inclusive club for all motorsport enthusiasts to celebrate the past and future legacies of its members, while competing for wins and championships at NASCAR’s elite level. To keep up-to-date with the latest news, information and exclusive content, follow LEGACY MOTOR CLUB™ on Facebook, X, Instagram and at www.LEGACYMOTORCLUB.com.
