John Hunter Nemechek picked up his fifth win of the season, beating team owner Kyle Busch on Saturday at Pocono Raceway in the No. 4 Power Up Premium Trail Mix Tundra. Nemechek started the 60-lap event from the seventh position, but fell back on the start, finishing the first stage in the 12th position. After pitting during the stage break, Nemechek rallied, winning the second stage and eventually outdueling Busch for the race win.
Stage One Recap
Nemechek began the race from the seventh position. On the initial start, a caution was thrown almost immediately for a wreck.
Nemechek restarted on lap 5 in the eighth position but was quickly shuffled back.
As the stage progressed, Nemechek informed his team that his No. 4 Tundra was too free off the corner.
The 24-year-old driver finished the first stage in 12th position.
Stage Two Recap:
At the stage break, crew chief Eric Phillips called Nemechek onto pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments. A speedy stop allowed him to leave pit road first, but with five trucks electing to remain on track, he would restart in the sixth position on lap 21.
During the 13-lap green flag run in Stage 2, Nemechek worked his way to second, inheriting the lead as several trucks made green-flag pit stops near the end of the stage.
When the green-checkered flag flew for the end of Stage 2, Nemechek scored the stage win and the playoff point.
Final Stage Recap:
During the stage break, Phillips called Nemechek to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. He started the final stage in the 11th position.
While teammate and team owner Busch led the way, Nemechek slowly stalked to the front in the final 25 laps.
Under caution with eight laps to go, the driver of the No. 4 reported that his Tundra was pretty good, with no issues except it was a tiny bit snug entering Turn 1.
On the final restart, Nemechek lined up side-by-side on the front row with Busch and was able to use the inside lane to pull to the front for the remaining laps and earn his fifth win on the season, besting Busch for the third time in 2021.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Power Up Tundra for KBM:
When you got the caution, what was going through your mind?
“We didn’t have enough time there. We were running him down. We definitely had a really fast Power Up Toyota Tundra. Overall, huge shoutout to all of my guys. They never gave up. We weren’t very good in Stage 1. We kept working on it. Just thankful for the opportunity from Toyota, Jack (Irving), Tyler (Gibbs), David Wilson, Kyle (Busch), Samantha (Busch) that put this whole deal together. I’m proud of everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), all of these guys, I feel like I have the best team in the garage and one of the best pit crews as well. How about all of these fans out here. I’ve never seen so many fans and so many campers here at Pocono. It’s really cool to see.”
CRC Brakleen 150 Recap
Nemechek scored the Camping World Truck Series victory, beating Busch to the checkered flag by 1.337 seconds. Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum and Austin Hill rounded out the top-five finishers.
There were four cautions for 13 laps. There were eight lead changes among seven drivers.
How John Hunter Nemechek’s KBM Teammates Fared:
Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 2nd.
Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished 25th.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
With two races remaining in the regular season, Nemechek and the No. 4 team extended their lead over Ben Rhodes in the point standings to 86 points
Next Race
The No. 4 team returns to the track when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumes action on Friday, July 9 at Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway. Live coverage will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM at 9 p.m. ET.
