TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY | RACE RECAP
TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 27, 2025) – The NASCAR Cup Series took on Talladega Superspeedway for the Jack Link’s 500 on Sunday afternoon. LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries of John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 Jack Link’s Toyota Camry XSE rolled off in the 29th position while teammate Erik Jones in the No. 43 TriState Vacuum & Rental Toyota Camry XSE started from the 34th spot. Zane Smith led the 39-car field to the start of the 500-mile event. It was Austin Cindric who won the Jack Link’s 500.
Below is a look at how the LEGACY MOTOR CLUB entries fared:
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 JACK LINKS TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 29TH | FINISH: 30TH | POINTS: 26TH
John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 42 Jack Link’s Toyota Camry XSE started from the 29th position. The North Carolina native quickly worked his way forward in the opening stage of the Jack Link’s 500. By halfway through the 60-lap stage, Nemechek had climbed to ninth as the first pit window opened. He managed to avoid two multi-car accidents during the opening stage and was ultimately scored 14th when the green-white checkered flag flew.
Thanks to saving fuel during the first stage, the Jack Link’s crew only needed to add a small amount of fuel during their stop, vaulting the No. 42 up to third for the start of Stage 2. Nemechek ran inside the top 10 for more than a dozen laps, even leading a lap at lap 75. Playing the long game, he later dropped back in the pack to conserve fuel. On lap 112, crew chief Travis Mack called Nemechek to pit road for a fuel-only stop. However, while exiting pit road, Nemechek hit a wet spot on the apron, causing the No. 42 Jack Link’s Toyota Camry to spin. No caution was thrown, and Nemechek spent the remainder of the stage trying to make up lost ground. After the incident, Nemechek radioed, “I don’t know what happened there, I just went spinning.” He finished Stage 2 in 34th, one lap down.
Heading into the final stage, Nemechek’s goal was clear: get back on the lead lap and into contention. The first step was to outrun the No. 88 to earn the free pass position. Under green on lap 165, several cars, including the No. 42 came down pit road for fuel only. With 23 laps to go, Nemechek was staying patient that the opportunity would come to get back on the lead lap. Unfortunately, that opportunity didn’t come due to the lack of yellow flags in the final stage, and the No. 42 team finished in 32nd, one lap down.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTABLE:
“Overall, we just didn’t execute all day. We win and lose as a team. We’ll go back and review what we need to do better, the things that were positive, and try to get our superspeedway packages better.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 TRISTATE VACUUM & RENTAL TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 34TH | FINISH: 18TH | POINTS: 30TH
After starting 34th, Erik Jones and the No. 43 TriState Vacuum & Rental team rode in the 29th position for the first 20 laps, which was unusually calm for Talladega.
On Lap 40, Jones was 25th and said the No. 43 was too free. While Jones was about to make his way to pit road, cars wrecked in front of him, and he stayed on the track. The team pitted on Lap 45 under caution for four tires, fuel, and an air-pressure adjustment. He finished Stage 1 in 24th position.
The team pitted at the stage break for fuel only, and Jones started Stage 2 in 12th. Jones maintained positions in the top 15 throughout the second stage, battling three and sometimes four wide racing. With nine laps remaining in the stage, Jones pitted for three seconds of fuel and a chassis adjustment. He finished Stage 2 16th.
Jones said the car was loose, so at the stage break, the team put on four tires and fuel with an adjustment in the front of the car. He would restart the final stage from the 27th position. Jones topped off with fuel before the stage began.
With 40 laps remaining in the race, Jones and the No. 43 TriState Vacuum & Rental team were in 10thplace. Jones was quiet on the radio as the team strategized how much fuel they would need to get to the end of the race. Jones pitted with 24 to go in the 188-lap race for five seconds of fuel. With ten laps remaining, Jones was 18th, and business started to pick up in the field. Lined up with six Toyotas, Jones led the charge to the front. Ultimately, he would finish 18th in line in the Jack Link’s 500.
ERIK JONES QUOTABLE:
“It's hard to win from 15th or 20th, but we had a plan to organize and couldn't get it going. So from there, I just rode in line. It would have been nice to see if we could have gotten the top going, but we didn't. Not much you can do about it.”
NEXT UP: The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for the Wurth 400 on Sunday, May 4. The race begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, MAX, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Channel 90).
