John Hunter Nemechek continued his momentum to start the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway with a third-place finish. Nemechek was able to score two playoff points by winning the opening two stages at Atlanta and extended his lead in the championship standings to 47 over Ben Rhodes.
Stage One Recap
Nemechek started from the pole position after a performance matrix based off of finishing position from the previous race, ranking in owner points standings and the fastest lap from the previous race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway. At the competition caution on Lap 15, Nemechek radioed to his crew that he was taking care of his equipment. Crew chief Eric Phillips elected to keep his driver on the racetrack under the caution. Nemechek was able to capture the stage victory by passing team owner Kyle Busch in the closing laps to score 10 championship points and an additional playoff point.
Stage Two Recap:
Under the stage caution, Nemechek radioed to his crew that he needed help running the bottom of the racetrack. Phillips summoned his driver to pit road for four tires, adjustments and fuel. After a speedy pit stop by the Mobil 1 crew, Nemechek would restart the stage from the race lead. With the second stage going green from start to finish, Nemechek radioed to his Mobil 1 crew in the middle of the run that the nose of his Tundra needed to be more off the racetrack to help with tire conservation. Nemechek would once again pass Busch to add another playoff point to his name.
Final Stage Recap:
Under the break, Nemechek radioed to his crew that his Mobil 1 Tundra lost lateral grip near the end of the run. Phillips brought his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel, and adjustments. Nemechek would restart the final stage from second behind Busch. Prior to coming down pit road for green flag pit stops, Nemechek radioed that his Mobil 1 Tundra was free running the top lane and that his Tundra could be a touch tighter. Phillips summoned his driver to pit road on Lap 100. Nemechek would cycle back to the third position and would finish the race in the same position.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra for KBM:
Couldn’t quite out-do the boss today, but how was your run overall? “I felt like we were strong in stage one and stage two. I felt like we could hang with Kyle (Busch), and then we got around in him in lap traffic at the end of the stages. Solid points day overall for our Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra. I can’t thank everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) enough and all of our partners for supporting this deal. Overall, I’m happy with the day, but I’m disappointed. I was hoping to beat Kyle today, but I didn’t have anything for him there at the end. I’ve got to go study some green-flag pit stop stuff and get better there. It’s always a work in progress. We will be back next week at Bristol dirt and hopefully go get us a win there.”