With just a few minutes remaining in Thursday afternoon’s practice session, John Hunter Nemechek suffered a flat right front tire, sending his Tundra TRD Pro into the outside wall. The damage was significant enough to force the No. 4 team to go to a backup truck and start the UNOH 200 from the rear.
Despite starting at the rear of the field, the second-generation driver battled his way back toward the front and found himself within the top 10 midway through the second stage. Between differing pit strategies throughout the field and starting to deal with a tight handling truck towards the end of the race, Nemechek took the checkered flag in 12th.
Stage One Recap
· Nemechek lined up for Thursday’s 200-lap event at Bristol Motor Speedway in 36th after an incident in practice forced the No. 4 team to bring out their backup truck.
· As the first caution of the night came out on lap 38 for a three-truck incident, Nemechek had made his way up to 25th before veteran crew chief Eric Phillips called him down pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires and full load of Sunoco fuel.
· The 25-year-old driver lined up for the ensuing restart in 21st and held his position when the green-and-white checkered flag came out to end the opening stanza.
Stage Two Recap:
· The No. 4 over wall the crew executed another four tire and fuel stop at the stage break, sending Nemechek back out on track to restart in 11th.
· Just under 20 laps into the second stage, Nemechek had cracked into the top-10 for the first time of the night as crew chief Eric Phillips came over the radio and encouraged him to “keep soldiering on”.
· When the third caution of the night came out on lap 86, Nemechek was running in 10th and reported that his No. 4 Tundra was “struggling to wrap the bottom and is tight on exit”.
· As the field went back green for the final 11 laps of the stage, Nemechek was able to grab two more positions and took the green-and-white checkered flag in eighth, earning three stage points.
Final Stage Recap:
· Nemechek once again brought his No. 4 Tundra down pit road at the stage break for four new tires and a top off of fuel before restarting the final stage in 18th.
· As the laps began to click off in the final stage, Nemechek started to deal with the same handling issues he faced in the second stage as his Tundra began to tighten up again.
· When the final caution of the night came out on lap 180, Nemechek was scored in 14th. The second-generation driver was able to gain two more spots over the final 12 laps and took the checkered flag in 12th.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra TRD Pro:
Can you talk about your race after having to go to a back-up truck?
“We had a fast truck in practice. We got behind by blowing a right front tire. All my guys scrambled hard and gave us a fast piece. Racing here sucked tonight, honestly. I don’t want to say that, but you couldn’t pass. It was super hard to pass. Heck, the 38 (Zane Smith) and I started in the back, almost went a lap down early on, running the bottom, couldn’t really make the bottom work. I thought the PJ1 was going to wear out tonight, and it didn’t. We were just one adjustment behind, I feel like, all night. You get that when you get behind from the start of the race.”
UNOH 200 Recap:
Ty Majeski earned his first Camping World Truck Series victory and locked himself in to the Championship 4. Zane Smith, Parker Kligerman, Grant Enfinger, and Matt Crafton rounded out the top-five finishes.
There were six cautions for 49 laps and three lead changes among four drivers.
How John Hunter Nemechek’s KBM Teammates Fared:
· Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finish ninth.
· Corey Heim, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 10th.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
After the first race in the Round of 8, Nemechek finds himself just nine tallies below the cutoff line to advance to the Championship 4 at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
Next Race
John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety team will return to action on Oct. 1 when the Camping World Truck Series playoffs continue at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Live coverage of the Talladega 250 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM at 12:30 p.m. ET.
