SONOMA RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 MOBIL 1 TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 18th | FINISH: 28th | POINTS: 22nd
John Hunter Nemechek rolled off 18th in the Toyota / Save Mart 350 and settled into an early rhythm in the No. 42 Mobil 1 Toyota Camry XSE. After briefly dropping to 23rd, Nemechek began steadily working his way back through the field, climbing back toward the top-20 by Lap 17. With green-flag conditions dominating the stage, crew chief Travis Mack made the call to bring the No. 42 Toyota to pit road with three laps remaining for four fresh tires and fuel, and Nemechek closed out Stage 1 in 30th. During the stage break, Nemechek radioed in and said the car’s balance was good, but he could have used a bit more rear grip.
After staying out during the stage break, Nemechek found himself back in 18th. After contact with the No. 2, Nemechek was spun around, but only sustained minimal damage and the No. 42 fell back to the 36th spot. Nemechek provided the team with an update at Lap 39 where said he needs more rear grip. Nemechek worked to save his tires A long green flag run made it difficult for the No. 42 Toyota to catch the field, so Mack opted to stay out during a series of green flag pit stops with three to go to earn back track position for the end of the stage, where Nemechek finished 33rd.
Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota in during the stage break for four tires, fuel and minor repairs. Nemechek started the final stage from the 36th spot. He quickly jumped to the 28th position, and the caution came out at Lap 61. After the caution, Nemechek restarted 23rd when the field took the green at Lap 65. The No. 42 Toyota returned to the 18th position at Lap 72. Nemechek told the team on Lap 75 that he could use more rear grip. With 31 to go, Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota back down to pit road, for four tires and fuel. Nemechek attempted his way back through the field during a long green flag run and was 25th with 21 to go. A caution flew with 14 to go and Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota back to pit road, and Nemechek restarted 30th. During the restart Lap 100, there was a large wreck, where Nemechek avoided any damage and climbed to 21st as the caution flag flew. Shortly after the next restart with seven to go, an incident brought out another caution. Nemechek restarted 21st with four to go, and chaos on track had him fall to the 28th position where he finished the race.
Nemechek finished just ahead of teammate Erik Jones (29th) and will move on to the final four stage of the TNT In-Season Challenge Sunday, July 20 at Dover Motor Speedway.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Up and down day. The first stage we had pretty good long run speed. We didn’t fire off that great, but we were able to get some track position back. We jumped the stage and then restarted pretty decent. The No. 21, and then the No. 2 spun us out. We had flat spotted tires for the whole of Stage 2, which really kind of set us behind. And then Stage 3, we were working our way back up through there. I felt like we were in a really good spot to have a good finish. We out-ran the No. 43 all day, and we’re moving on in the In-Season Challenge, and then a bunch of restarts there at the end and some strategy calls made it closer than we wanted to be. I felt like a ping-pong ball the last few restarts and somehow managed to still beat the No. 43 and come home 28th. Not the finish that we wanted, but we’ll go on to Dover.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 31st | FINISH: 29th | POINTS: 18th
Erik Jones rolled into Sunday's Toyota / Save Mart 350 full of hope after showing some good speed at last weekend's race at the Chicago Street Course. As the track trended toward the hot and slick side, many drivers were trying to manage loose racecars in qualifying on Saturday morning. Jones qualified 31st for the main event. As the first stage went green, the track proved to be as tricky as ever. Jones fell back to 35th in the opening laps as he got a trash bag stuck on the car which rode along with him until later in the stage. Temperatures stayed level in the car though, and Jones stayed out as others pitted at the end of the stage to finish 13th in Stage 1.
He restarted Stage 2 on the 26th after pitting during the stage break for four tires, fuel, and several adjustments to combat the handling of the No. 43 Toyota Camry XSE. The car continued to run on the loose side as Stage 2 also went green. Jones once again stayed out at the end of the stage when everyone else pitted to finish 21st. The team had an extended stop during the stage break to make a major adjustment to continue to work on the handling of their Toyota.
The incident-free race took a turn in the final stage when Jones restarted 36th on Lap 60. The caution came out quickly on lap 62 when Jones was running 35th. The team pitted for scuffs and restarted 34th on Lap 66. The bold call came on the Lap-96 caution when Crew Chief Ben Beshore opted to keep his driver on the track while a majority of the field pitted. Jones started fifth on the Lap-99 restart. He got spun on the initial lap and was 24th when the caution came out just moments later. His teammate John Hunter Nemechek and he restarted 21st and 22nd, respectively, on the final restart with four laps to go in the race. The duo battled it out in the final laps to which Nemechek was the victor in LEGACY MC's TNT In-Season tournament showdown. Jones crossed the finish-line 29th, just one spot behind his teammate.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“It just wasn't a strong day for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB at Sonoma. Ben (Beshore, Crew Chief) made a bold call to stay out when everyone else pitted and we looked like we could be in a good spot to steal a good finish if we hadn't spun. Wish we could've pulled out a better finish for Dollar Tree and our partners. We'll move on though and focus on getting back on an oval next week at Dover.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series will head west to Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway next Sunday for the Toyota / Save Mart 350. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT on TNT, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
