John Hunter Nemechek remains in first place of the Camping World Truck Series championship standings after scoring a third-place finish in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. The talented wheelman has now recorded a career best seven straight top-10 finishes.
After qualifying 15th in Friday’s one lap qualifying session, Nemechek steadily progressed through the field during the 143-lap event, eventually making his way into the top-five during the Final Stage.
Nemechek was scored in third for the second attempt at NASCAR Overtime and as the field took the white flag, he made a dive to the inside to make a three-wide pass for the lead on the exit of Turn 2 but was unable to hold off a late run from eventual race winner Ross Chastain, taking the checkered flag in third.
Stage One Recap
·        Nemechek lined up for Friday’s scheduled 134-lap event at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 15th after putting down a lap time of 30.995 seconds at 174.222 mph in the qualifying session earlier in the afternoon.
·        On the initial start of the race, Nemechek was unable to gain ground on the field and ran within the top 15 for the majority of the opening stanza.
·        As the green-and-white checkered flag came out to end Stage One, Nemechek was scored in the 13th position.
Stage Two Recap:
·        Nemechek brought his Pye-Barker Tundra TRD Pro down pit road at the stage break for four tires, fuel, and a wedge adjustment. The No. 4 team executed a clean pit stop and sent their driver back out on track to restart the second stage in 10th.
·        When the second caution of the night came out on lap 54 for a single-truck spin, Nemechek had made his way up to sixth and communicated that he was “trying to continue to get the front to turn” on his Pye-Barker Tundra.
·        As the field went back green, Nemechek maintained his sixth position as Stage Two ended under yellow, earning five stage points.
Final Stage Recap:
·        After another well-executed pit stop by the No. 4 team at the stage break, the second-generation driver lined up for the Final Stage in the second row on the outside lane.
·        Nemechek worked his way up to second and was just a second-and-a-half back of the No. 42 of Carson Hocevar in the lead with 60 laps remaining.
·        As green flag pit stops started to cycle through in the Final Stage, Nemechek brought his Pye-Barker Tundra down pit road with 34 laps to go while scored in third.
·        Once the field sorted itself back out from the green flag pit stops, the 24-year-old driver was scored in fourth with just 25 laps remaining.
·        Nemechek made his way back into third before the fourth caution of the night came out on lap 132, setting up a NASCAR Overtime.
·        When the first overtime of the night was unsuccessful, Nemechek lined up for the second overtime in third on the outside lane.
·        As the field took the white flag, Nemechek made three-wide pass to the inside of the No. 41 and No. 98 to take the lead on the exit of Turn 2.
·        Nemechek was unable to hold off a late run down the backstretch from the No. 41 of Ross Chastain as he came to the checkered flag in third.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Pye-Barker Tundra TRD Pro for KBM:
Can you take us through those last couple of laps and what else did you need?
“We weren’t very good all night. I’m just thankful for all of my guys on this No. 4 Pye-Barker, Fire Alarm Services Toyota Tundra TRD Pro. We never stopped working on it. We put ourselves in the ballpark and we were able to have a shot there at the end. We struggled all day, from the time that we unloaded. We have a little bit of work to do. I feel like we struggled the last couple of weeks, but proud of all of my guys. Proud of the effort they put in and excited to see where it goes. Just racking up top fives.”
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Recap
  • Cup Series regular Ross Chastain picked up his first win of the season and fourth of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career. Grant Enfinger, Nemechek, Christian Eckes and Zane Smith rounded out the top-five finishers.
  • There were five cautions for 25 laps and 15 lead changes among nine drivers.
How John Hunter Nemechek’s KBM Teammates Fared:
·        Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished seventh.
·        Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finish eighth.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
Nemechek maintains his spot in first in the Camping World Truck Series championship standings and has extended his lead to seven points over reigning champion Ben Rhodes.
Next Race
Nemechek and the No. 4 team will turn their focus to World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois June 4. Live coverage of the Toyota 200 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM at 1:30pm ET.