WORLD WIDE TECHNOLOGY RACEWAY | RACE RECAP
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK | NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY CAMRY XSE
NO. 42 PYE-BARKER FIRE & SAFETY TOYOTA CAMRY XSE RACE RECAP:
START: 20TH | FINISH: 6TH | POINTS: 24TH
John Hunter Nemechek started the Enjoy Illinois 300 from the 20th position. He quickly jumped to 16th and began the hunt for teammate Erik Jones to crack the top-15. The yellow flag was thrown on Lap 26, and crew chief Travis Mack brought Nemechek down pit road for four tires and fuel. Nemechek restarted 18thwith 13 laps remaining in the first stage. With 11 laps left, the caution flag came out again, and the No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota Camry XSE was in the 18th position when the field went green again with five laps remaining in the stage. Nemechek finished the first stage in 19th.
In a strategy call to gain track position, Mack kept the No. 42 Toyota off of pit road during the stage break. Nemechek started Stage 2 from 13th. He fell to 17th, and the caution was thrown on Lap 60. The No. 42 Toyota came down pit road for four tires and fuel under yellow, and Nemechek restarted from 20th with 65 laps left in the second stage. He was hovering around the 17th position, and on Lap 76, the caution flag was thrown again. Nemechek did not pit under yellow which put him in the seventh spot for the restart with 58 laps to go in the stage. The No. 42 Toyota jumped to sixth and hovered there until the No. 20 of Christopher Bell made a pass on Lap 91. A long green flag run carried the field to six laps to go when the caution was thrown. Mack brought the No. 42 Toyota back down pit road under yellow for four tires and fuel. Nemechek restarted ninth with one lap to go in the stage, and he finished ninth.
The No. 42 Toyota was seventh to start Stage 3 and quickly jumped to sixth. Soon after, the caution flag was thrown on Lap 150 due to debris on track. The field restarted on Lap 156, and the caution was thrown again when the No. 88 (Shane van Gisbergen) spun out. The field went green again on Lap 162 and the No. 42 Toyota was in the third position. Nemechek fell to fifth where he battled with Christopher Bell (No. 20), and then to sixth. With 43 laps to go, Mack brought Nemechek down pit road for a green flag stop for four tires and fuel. Nemechek exited pit road in 34th and a lap down but quickly started charging back through the field during a cycle of green flag stops. With 32 laps to go, the 10th caution flag of the race flew and Nemechek stayed out under yellow. He restarted ninth with 25 laps left. He quickly jumped to seventh and battled for the sixth position where he stayed until the end of the race.
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK QUOTE:
“Really solid day. Executed strategy very well. I think we knew coming into this race we knew that it would be a strategy, track position type race. I’m really proud of the effort on this No. 42 Pye-Barker Toyota team, everyone at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. Sixth-place finish, another top-10 to add to the year. We ran inside the top-10 almost all day, got stage points and executed very well, so proud of the effort. Proud of the whole team, excited to continue to build on this momentum from Darlington and Gateway. We should be pretty good next week in the metric standpoint for Bristol, hopefully, group two qualifying. That was an emphasis this week. Looking forward to it.”
ERIK JONES | NO. 43 FAMILY DOLLAR TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 16TH | FINISH: 21ST | POINTS: 23RD
Erik Jones started the Enjoy Illinois 300 from the 16th position. Throughout the first stage he hovered in the 15th position fighting the No. 22 for 14th. The two traded positions multiple times as Jones said the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota was loose. A caution on Lap 27 found Jones in 15th place and the team opted to pit for adjustments on Lap 28 for four tires and fuel. Jones restarted from the 18th position with 13 laps remaining in Stage 1. Another caution flag flew due to an accident on Lap 26 as Jones moved up to 16th. After the final restart to the stage Jones moved up three positions to 13th.
Crew chief Ben Beshore opted not to pit at the stage break and Jones moved up to seventh to begin Stage 2. On Lap 70 Jones said the No. 43 was really hard to drive and felt like there was something ‘bound’ up. Under caution on Lap 77 the team pitted for four tires and fuel, then brought Jones to the pit for a second time to look under the hood. The team checked the power steering and readjusted the pressure. Jones would start 33rd with 58 to go in Stage 2.
Jones chipped away at positions and by Lap 100 he was in 24th place. He hung on to 23rd place until a late stage caution on Lap 134. Jones said he was tight in the middle of the corners and loose off, so the team brought him to pit road on Lap 136 for four tires, fuel and an adjustment. Jones completed Stage 2 in 23rd.
Stage 3 started on Lap 144 with Jones in 18th position. Multiple cautions prevented longer runs, so Jones pitted on Lap 158 for four tires and fuel. With 45 laps to go the fuel started to pit and Jones moved forward in fuel saving mode. With 35 to go Jones was in 14th position as many cars continued to pit for fuel. The fuel strategy play went out the window when a caution flew on Lap 209. Jones had to pit from 12th for tires and fuel with 30 to go. Jones restarted 22nd with 25 laps remaining and finished the race in 21st.
ERIK JONES QUOTE:
“Tough day for the No. 43 Family Dollar Toyota. The steering issue just wrecked our day, we were a much stronger car than that.”
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