No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra Camping World Trucks Nashville Preview

June 22, 2021News,NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event:                               Rackley Roofing 200, Race 12 of 22, 150 Laps – 45/50/55; 199.5 Miles
Location:                       Nashville Superspeedway (1.33-mile concrete oval)
Date/Broadcast:         June 18, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Neme'chek' The Facts:
  • Entering the second half of the season, John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team roll into Nashville Superspeedway riding momentum after capturing the team’s fourth win of the 2021 season at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. So far in 2021, Nemechek leads the series in wins (four), stage wins (eight), top fives (seven), and laps led (473). Nemechek continues to lead Ben Rhodes by 78 points in the driver point standings with four races remaining in the regular season.
  • Friday’s race will mark the first time that the Camping World Truck Series has raced at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete oval since July 2011. Across five starts, KBM has collected two wins (Kyle Busch: 2010 & 2011), two top fives, three top tens, 271 laps led and an average finish of 9.2. Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) earned its first-ever Camping World Truck Series victory at the Tennessee track in April 2010 with owner-driver Kyle Busch behind the wheel and Nemechek’s crew chief Eric Phillips on the pit box. Busch also was victorious there in April 2011 with Phillips.
  • While Nemechek has never made a start at Nashville Superspeedway, he was a fixture in the prestigious All-American 400 weekend held at Nashville (Tenn.) Fairgrounds Speedway, a half-mile oval, from 2013 to 2015. In 2014, Nemechek dominated the All-American 400 by leading 294 out of 300 laps en route to his sole victory.
  • Nemechek is a 10-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports, and returning to victory lane this year with KBM. Across 113 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, the second-generation driver has compiled two poles, 1082 laps led, 35 top-five and 59 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.6. The North Carolina native qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017. He was voted the series most popular driver in 2015.
  • Eric Phillips returns to KBM to lead the No. 4 team this season. Phillips led the No. 18 team at KBM in its debut season in 2010 and helped build the organization into one of the premier teams in all of NASCAR before departing at the end of the 2014 season. Under his guidance, the No. 18 team won eight races in its inaugural campaign and became the first team in Truck Series history to capture an owner’s championship in its first season of competition. In 2014, the Illinois native led the No. 51 team to an owner’s championship and his team’s 10 wins spearheaded KBM to a single-season Truck Series record of 14 wins. His 41 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 31 of those coming while at KBM. Across 10 starts at Nashville, Phillips has collected two wins, two top fives, three top 10s, and an average finish of 15.8. Phillips won with Kyle Busch in 2010 and 2011.
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:
John Hunter Nemechek | Nashville Preview
We’re halfway through the season. How would you evaluate the first half?
“I feel like our season is going pretty good so far. We have four wins at this point. I wish we had more, but at the same time, having four is a great ordeal for our No. 4 team. I’m excited to see what the next 11 races bring. Hopefully we can score quite a few more.”
With a handful of drivers having experience at Nashville and the success of Eric Phillips there, will it help to have someone that knows what’s going on?
“I think having Eric as a crew chief that knows what to expect when going to Nashville having won there twice, I’m very thankful for that. I can pick his brain. He’s been a huge help to me as well as Kyle. I’m just trying to learn as much as I can. He’s always been super successful and super fast there. I’m trying to pick his brain and learn as much as I possibly can and soak it up like a sponge. The more information the better. Sadly, I was too young to race there before they shut it down, but I’m glad to be going back.”
Nashville gives out the Gibson Guitar trophy. Do you have any trophies that stand out?
“I wouldn’t say that there is one that stands out. I feel like everyone is cool. I will say from Nashville and having won the All American 400 and bringing a guitar home from the Nashville Fairgrounds is awesome. Hopefully we can bring another guitar home to hang from Nashville Superspeedway. Hopefully we can get that done.”
Nashville is the home of country music. If you could trade spots with a country music star or band, who would it be?
 “I would say I would have to swap spots with Eric Church, Kenny Chesney or Jason Aldean. I think that those three guys have a lot of fun. Their concerts are packed. Kenny Chesney is always somewhere on a beach so that’d be a lot of fun. It would just be a fun experience. It’s all about just having fun, smiling and enjoying life.”
John Hunter Nemechek Career Highlights:
  • Ten-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports. Across 113 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, has compiled two poles, 1,082 laps led, 35 top-five and 59 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.6.
  • Qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017.
  • Produced three top-10 finishes and an average result of 22.4 while competing for rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020. He recorded a career-best eighth-place finish twice, both coming at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award four times and finished 23rd in the championship standings.
  • Across 52 career XFINITY Series starts, has totaled one win (Kansas Speedway, 10/20/18), one pole, 225 laps led, 12 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.0.
John Hunter Nemechek's No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-068: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team will unload KBM-068 Friday at Nashville for its 2021 debut. Last season, Christian Eckes ran the chassis three times with a best finish of fourth in the season finale at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway.
KBM Notes of Interest:
  • KBM drivers have collected two wins, two poles, 271 laps led, two top-five and three top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.8 across five starts in the Music City.
  • Owner-driver Kyle Busch’s earned his organization its first-ever NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in April of 2010 and also was victorious there in April of 2011.
  • KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (87) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Martin Truex Jr. became the 16th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner's Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
  • The No. 4 has 15 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.

by jnemechek

Texas

June 22, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,Photography

by jnemechek

No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra Camping World Trucks Texas Post Race Report

June 22, 2021News,NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Race Information:
Date:                       June 12, 2021
Event:                     SpeedyCash.com 220 (Race 11 of 22)
Series:                    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location:               Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Format:                 Three Stages; 35 laps/35 laps/77 laps
Start/Finish:       1st/1st (Running, completed 147 of 147 laps)
Winner:                John Hunter Nemechek of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)
John Hunter Nemechek captured his fourth victory of the 2021 season in the SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas Motor Speedway. Nemechek was running second to 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott as teams began making their final scheduled pit stops. Crew chief Eric Phillips played the strategy card and kept the ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra out longer than Elliott under green flag conditions in the final stage and when stops cycled through the move paid off and Nemechek was at the front of the field. Nemechek led a race-high 64 laps en route to his 10th career Truck Series victory.
Stage One Recap
  • Nemechek started from the pole based on NASCAR’s performance-matrix formula.
  • In the opening stint, Nemechek radioed to his crew that his ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra was a touch free to start. At the first caution on lap 7, Nemechek continued to lead, but he restarted from the second position after NASCAR deemed that he did not maintain caution car speed.
  • Despite restarting second, Nemechek was able to quickly regain the lead. While leading, a piece of debris attached itself to the nose of Nemechek’s ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra. By the second caution on lap 21, the debris was no longer an issue.
  • During the second caution, Nemechek radioed that his ROMCO Tundra was free overall. Phillips elected to keep his driver on the racetrack to restart from the race lead.
  • With a caution flying on lap 33, Nemechek was able to secure his eighth stage win of the 2021 season.
Stage Two Recap:
  • At the stage break, Nemechek radioed that his Tundra was better but that the back was stepping out. Phillips summoned his driver to pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. Nemechek would restart from the 10th position behind those that stayed out.
  • At the fourth cation on lap 52, Nemechek worked his way to the second position.
  • At the fifth caution on lap 62, Nemechek worked his way up to the fourth position and radioed to his crew that he was trying to navigate the dirty air. Phillips summoned Nemechek onto pit road for four tires and fuel. Nemechek restarted from the 10th position.
  • With the second stage ending under caution, Nemechek would be credited with a ninth-place finish but would receive points for an eighth-place finish due to a disqualification of another competitor in post-race technical inspection.
Final Stage Recap:
  • With the strategy call by Phillips, Nemechek stayed out under the stage caution to restart in the fourth position.
  • Prior to pitting under green-flag conditions, Nemechek radioed that the balance of the ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra was good but snug exiting turn 2. With the race leaders making pit stops and Nemechek running second, Phillips kept Nemechek on the racetrack until lap 119 when the over-the-wall crew added fuel and changed four tires. Nemechek cycled back to the lead on lap 126.
  • Nemechek would maintain the lead to score his fourth victory of 2021.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra for KBM:
Are you starting to make a statement with this team right now?
“Yeah, I definitely think so. I feel like we’ve been making a statement all year. I feel like we’re one of the favorites every time that we show up to the racetrack. I can’t say enough about Eric Phillips (crew chief) and all these guys. Everyone, the pit crew, everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), the fab shop, machine shop, chassis shop. Everyone does so good with building our trucks and I’m just lucky enough to be behind the wheel. It’s amazing to get win number four here. I haven’t won with ROMCO Equipment on board yet in my career so finally we were able to get them a win. There’s 250 of their employees here today so huge shoutout to them as well as the fans.”
How would you describe your race today?
“I feel like we had the dominant truck kind of like we do every single week. I’m just proud to be able to be behind the wheel and blessed to be behind the wheel. Huge shoutout to Kyle (Busch, team owner) and Jack (Irving, TRD) and Tyler (Gibbs, TRD) and David Wilson (president, TRD) and everyone at Toyota for giving me this opportunity. Without them, none of this would be possible. ROMCO Equipment on board, their first win with me so it will be cool to be able to go to victory lane with them. These fans are awesome. We have 250 ROMCO employees here as well today. We just want to keep racking them up. We’re #Here4Wins.”
Are you Playoff ready or what does this team need to work on prior to the Playoffs starting?
“I hope this is only the beginning. I hope that we have a lot more to come. I feel like we have a lot more work to do. These guys work their tails off. I know Eric (Phillips, crew chief) is one of the first guys there and last ones to leave every night. It’s awesome. Win number 41 for him. Win number 10 for me. Just have to keep it going. We’re #Here4Wins.”
SpeedyCash.com 220 Recap
  • Nemechek captured his fourth victory of 2021 and 10th of his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career beating Chase Elliott to the stripe by 3.361 seconds. Grant Enfinger, Austin Hill, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five.
  • There were six cautions for 38 laps. There were 14 lead changes among seven different drivers with Nemechek leading a race-high 64 laps.
How John Hunter Nemechek's KBM Teammates Fared:
  • Drew Dollar, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished 33rd.
  • Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished fifth.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
After 11 races, Nemechek and the No. 4 team continue to lead Ben Rhodes in the point standings by 78 points.
Next Race
The No. 4 team returns to the track when the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series resumes action on Friday, June 18 at Nashville Superspeedway. Live coverage will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM at 8 p.m. ET.

by jnemechek

No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Camping World Trucks Texas Preview

June 22, 2021News,NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event:                                 SpeedyCash.com 220, Race 11 of 22, 147 Laps – 35/35/77; 220.5 Miles
Location:                         Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast:           June 12, 2021 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Neme'chek' The Facts:
  • John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co team roll into Texas Motor Speedway riding momentum after capturing the team’s third win of the 2021 season at Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway. The SpeedyCash.com 220 Saturday afternoon at Texas marks the halfway point of the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. So far in 2021, Nemechek leads the series in wins (three), stage wins (eight), top fives (six), and laps led (409). Nemechek continues to lead Ben Rhodes by 44 points in the point standings with five races remaining in the regular season.
  • In NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition at Texas, Nemechek has five starts at the 1.5-mile facility. His best career finish at Texas was seventh in 2021. Across his five starts, he has completed 95.7% (742/775) of the laps, has an average start of 14.6, and an average finish of 15.2. Nemechek finished 21st in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Texas in November of 2019 and finished 22nd in both of his NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas last season. In his three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Nemechek finished in the top-10 in all three including a best finish of fourth in 2018.
  • Nemechek is a nine-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports, and returning to victory lane this year with KBM. Across 112 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, the second-generation driver has compiled two poles, 1018 laps led, 34 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7. The North Carolina native qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017. He was voted the series most popular driver in 2015.
  • KBM has collected the trophy at all four mile-and-a-half races in 2021, with Nemechek winning at Charlotte and Las Vegas while Kyle Busch brought home the trophy at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. KBM drivers have combined to lead 70.1% (379/538) of the total laps in the four races on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
  • Eric Phillips returns to KBM to lead the No. 4 team this season. Phillips led the No. 18 team at KBM in its debut season in 2010 and helped build the organization into one of the premier teams in all of NASCAR before departing at the end of the 2014 season. Under his guidance, the No. 18 team won eight races in its inaugural campaign and became the first team in Truck Series history to capture an owner’s championship in its first season of competition. In 2014, the Illinois native led the No. 51 team to an owner’s championship and his team’s 10 wins spearheaded KBM to a single-season Truck Series record of 14 wins. His 40 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 30 of those coming while at KBM. Across 19 starts at Texas, Phillips has collected three wins, six top fives, 11 top 10s, and an average finish of 11.9. Phillips won in 2006 with Clint Bowyer and with Kyle Busch in 2010 and 2014. He also captured one NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Texas with John Hunter Nemechek’s father, Joe, in March of 2003.
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:
John Hunter Nemechek | Texas Preview
After everything that happened at Charlotte, what did it mean to get the win?
“Starting off the way we did at Charlotte by going P1 on the board to the next lap hitting the fence was not the way we wanted to start off the weekend. I guess we got it out of the way early. We were able to fix that truck and take it to victory lane. It meant a lot to myself and the team. We were in there working, trying to get it back together to not pull a backup truck out, and luckily it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was. We were able to get it going.”
How similar is Texas compared to Charlotte?
“I feel like it used to be similar before the repave. I feel like it’s definitely changed a lot now with the repave. The same aspect applies with the PJ1 being applied like Charlotte did. Hopefully it will make for some great racing and come in fast since we are the first ones on the track this weekend. There are a lot of unknowns going into the weekend. Texas has always been a good place for me. I hope to bring home another win on a mile-and-a-half.”
With five races left in the regular season, is winning the regular season championship on your mind?
“Getting the regular season championship is a goal for us. We are #Here4Wins. We want to win everything we can, from races to championships to anything plus. Winning the regular season championship gives you a big bonus going into the Playoffs. We have five more races to go and try to win to continue our points lead. We have to maximize our days and our potential and can increase that lead by the end of those five races.”
John Hunter Nemechek Career Highlights:
  • Nine-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports. Across 112 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, has compiled two poles, 1,018 laps led, 34 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7.
  • Qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017.
  • Produced three top-10 finishes and an average result of 22.4 while competing for rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020. He recorded a career-best eighth-place finish twice, both coming at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award four times and finished 23rd in the championship standings.
  • Across 52 career XFINITY Series starts, has totaled one win (Kansas Speedway, 10/20/18), one pole, 225 laps led, 12 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.0.
John Hunter Nemechek's No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra:
KBM-038: The No. 4 ROMCO team will unload KBM-038 Saturday at Texas. So far in 2021, KBM-038 has ran once at Kansas Speedway where Nemechek piloted the chassis to a fifth-place finish. Overall, “38 Special” has collected six wins across 21 career starts. Three with Christopher Bell and one each with Kyle Busch, William Byron and Noah Gragson.
KBM Notes of Interest:
  • KBM drivers have collected eight wins, three poles, 18 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 10.9 across 53 starts in the Lone Star State.
  • Owner-driver Kyle Busch’s victory in July 2020 was his fourth for his organization (2010, 2014, 2019 & 2020), Greg Biffle (2020), Christopher Bell (2017), William Byron (2016) and Erik Jones (2015) all have one victory at Texas.
  • KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (86) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Martin Truex Jr. became the 16th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner's Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
  • The No. 4 has 14 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.

by jnemechek

Charlotte

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,Photography

by jnemechek

No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra Camping World Trucks Charlotte Post Race Report

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Race Information:
Date:                      May 28, 2021
Event:                     N.C. Education Lottery 200 (Race 10 of 22)
Series:                    NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location:              Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Format:                 Three Stages; 30 laps/30 laps/74 laps
Start/Finish:       4th/1st (Running, completed 134 of 134 laps)
Winner:                John Hunter Nemechek of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)
John Hunter Nemechek captured the checkered flag in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway for his third win of 2021. With his win, Nemechek extends his points lead over Ben Rhodes to 44 points. Eric Phillips, the winningest crew chief in series history, scored his 40th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory Friday night.
Stage One Recap
  • Nemechek started in the fourth position after qualifying was canceled due to weather and the field was set according to the rulebook.
  • During the stage, Nemechek radioed to his Mobil 1 team that his Tundra was free firing off and needed more lateral grip.
  • With the stage going caution free to green-checkered, Nemechek would finish the stage in the fourth position.
Stage Two Recap:
  • At the stage break, Nemechek radioed that his Tundra was free overall. Crew chief Eric Phillips brought Nemechek to pit road for four tires, fuel and an adjustment to the Mobil 1 Tundra. Nemechek would start the stage from the second position. On the restart, Nemechek was able to complete a pass for the race lead.
  • During the second caution period of the night on lap 50, Nemechek radioed that his Mobil 1 Tundra was still too free. Phillips elected to not bring Nemechek down pit road. Nemechek would continue as the race leader.
  • During the third caution period of the evening, Nemechek was summoned to pit road from the race lead for four tires, fuel and an adjustment. Nemechek would restart from the 14th position.
  • Nemechek would finish the stage in the 10th position.
Final Stage Recap:
  • With the strategy call by Phillips, Nemechek stayed out under the stage caution to restart in the fourth position when the race restarted on lap 69. By lap 70, Nemechek had regained the race lead.
  • Prior to pitting under green-flag conditions on lap 102, Nemechek radioed that his Mobil 1 Tundra needed to be a tick tighter. Phillips summoned Nemechek onto pit road during the green flag run for four tires, and fuel.
  • The fifth and final caution of the evening caught Nemechek in a precarious position. As he was exiting turn 4, a tire from a three-truck incident hit the windshield of the Mobil 1 Tundra. After running a couple of laps under caution, Nemechek radioed that his Tundra felt fine.
  • Nemechek was able to hold off Carson Hocevar on the restart with 10 laps remaining to score his third victory of 2021.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra for KBM:
What does it mean to overcome the practice incident and make it to victory lane?
“I completed two laps and wrecked on lap three. Huge shoutout to all my guys – Eric Phillips (crew chief) and all our guys here and back at the shop. The pit crew pretty much won the race tonight I feel like on pit road. We were able to jump some guys there after the first stage. It was so hard to pass. It was amazing. Eric did a great job making adjustments all night and I was telling him what we needed. This was our baby truck, this one has won three races for me this year and sadly it’s going to have to get fixed with that crazy crash. Just huge shoutout to everyone that made this possible – Kyle (Busch, team owner), thank you for the opportunity. Jack (Irving, TRD), Tyler (Gibbs, TRD), David Wilson (president, TRD) and everyone at Toyota and TRD for all their help, Mobil 1 as well. My wife’s here so we’re going to celebrate. Sadly, baby is back home sleeping, but she will have a trophy in the morning.”
Did you notice any difference in the handling after sustaining the damage from the accident?
“That might be a speed secret, I don’t know.”
How important is it to recover with this win after the 12th-place run last weekend?
“We’re #Here4Wins and we’ve been using that hashtag since I announced I was coming to KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) last year and it’s a dominant team, dominant truck every single week. We’re going to have weeks where we’re off and we’ll struggle, but we’ll keep getting through it. I didn’t lose confidence in Eric (Phillips, crew chief) and he didn’t lose confidence in me. It’s just one bad race. You have to move on from it and look, we’re in victory lane here.”

by jnemechek

COTA

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,Photography

by jnemechek

No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra Camping World Trucks COTA Post Race

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Race Information:
Date:                      May 22, 2021
Event:                   Toyota Tundra 225 (Race 9 of 22)
Series:                  NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location:            Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas (3.426-mile 20-turn road course)
Format:               Three Stages; 12 laps/14 laps/15 laps
Start/Finish:      6th/12th (Running, completed 41 of 41 laps)
Winner:              Todd Gilliland of Front Row Motorsports (Ford)
John Hunter Nemechek ran in the top 10 for most of the Toyota Tundra 225 at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas before an uncontrolled tire penalty on lap 23 sent Nemechek to the rear of the field to start the final stage. Despite the penalty, Nemechek was able to rebound to finish in the 12th position.
Stage One Recap
  • Nemechek qualified his No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra in the sixth position with an average speed of 74.414 mph around the 20-turn circuit in wet conditions. The race would also start in “wet” conditions.
  • In the middle of the stage, Nemechek radioed to his ROMCO Equipment Co. team that his Tundra needed more front turn.
  • With the stage going caution-free to green-checkered, Nemechek would finish the stage in the eighth position.
Stage Two Recap:
  • At the stage break, Nemechek radioed that he had no drive and no turn in his Tundra. Crew chief Eric Phillips brought Nemechek down pit road for four wet weather tires, fuel and adjustments. Nemechek would start the stage from the eighth position.
  • Nemechek radioed that his ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra fired off better during the green-flag run but that it needed long-run speed.
  • On lap 23, Phillips summoned Nemechek onto pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. During the pit stop, NASCAR deemed that the No. 4 team had an uncontrolled tire and would start the team at the tail end of the field.
  • Nemechek would cross the line in the ninth position, but he did not receive any stage points due to his penalty.
Final Stage Recap:
  • Because of the penalty, Phillips elected to bring Nemechek onto pit road during the stage break to top off with fuel and make adjustments to help the turn and drive of the ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra. Nemechek restarted in the 33rd position at the tail end of the field.
  • With the final stage going caution free from green to checkered, Nemechek worked his way through the field to finish 12th.
John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra for KBM:
How did your race go today?
“We never really had the speed we had hoped for in our ROMCO Tundra this weekend in practice, the race or qualifying. We struggled pretty bad during the race and once we had to go to the tail of the field it was tough going to work back forward, but we were able to salvage a 12th-place finish. Always appreciate ROMCO’s support, they have been with me for a long time, and I had hoped to get them to victory lane today. We’ll regroup this week and try to go get us another win at Charlotte.”

by jnemechek

No. 4 Mobil 1 Camping World Trucks Charlotte Preview

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series

Neme'chek' The Facts:
  • John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team roll into Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200. Nemechek is coming off a 12th-place finish at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Nemechek currently sits at the top of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points standings leading Ben Rhodes by 33 points. The second-generation driver also leads the series in stage wins (seven), laps led (338), fastest laps run (170), average finish (4.0), average running position (5.38), driver rating (117.6), top-five finishes (five), and is tied for the series lead with two wins.
  • In NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition at Charlotte, Nemechek has four starts at the 1.5-mile facility. His best career finish at Charlotte was sixth in 2020. Across his four starts, he has completed 99.6 % (534/536) of the laps, has an average start of 20.3, and an average finish of 12.3. Nemechek finished inside the top 20 in both of his NASCAR Cup Series at Charlotte last season including a 13th-place finish in the second race. He finished 12th in his lone Xfinity Series start at his home state track in 2019.
  • The Triple Truck Challenge presented by Womply in the Camping World Truck Series concludes this weekend. This year’s program consisted of the events at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and concludes at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. An extra $50,000 is on the line Friday night. Sheldon Creed and Todd Gilliland captured the $50,000 bonus at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and Circuit of the Americas.
  • Nemechek is an eight-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports, and returning to victory lane this year with KBM. Across 110 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, the second-generation driver has compiled two poles, 947 laps led, 33 top-five and 57 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.8. The North Carolina native qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017. He was voted the series most popular driver in 2015.
  • Eric Phillips returns to KBM to lead the No. 4 team this season. Phillips led the No. 18 team at KBM in its debut season in 2010 and helped build the organization into one of the premier teams in all of NASCAR before departing at the end of the 2014 season. Under his guidance, the No. 18 team won eight races in its inaugural campaign and became the first team in Truck Series history to capture an owner’s championship in its first season of competition. In 2014, the Illinois native led the No. 51 team to an owner’s championship and his team’s 10 wins spearheaded KBM to a single-season Truck Series record of 14 wins. His 39 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 29 of those coming while at KBM. At Charlotte, Phillips has collected three wins with Kyle Busch (2010, 2011, 2014), four top fives, eight top 10s, and an average finish of 7.4.
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:
John Hunter Nemechek | Charlotte Preview
 How special is it to race in front of a hometown crowd at Charlotte?
“It’s definitely a big ordeal to race in front of friends, families, all the employees here at KBM, and all of our partners that are around this area as well. Being a hometown driver and myself being from Charlotte, North Carolina, it is definitely a place that you want to win and make everybody proud. It’s a special race and racetrack. It’s Memorial Day weekend as well, so thank you to all the men and women who sacrificed your lives. I’m just proud to be an American.”
The past couple of races haven’t been what you or your team have wanted, but your worst finish was 12th. What does it say about the resiliency of your team?
“When things don’t go right and you can still finish 12th and that being your worst finish, I guess is pretty good situation I feel like. I feel like there are some other guys that have worse days than we do. To run like we have and be consistent, we knew there were weekends where we were going to be off. You can’t win every single race, but we definitely wish that we could. We have to continue to put fast trucks on the racetrack and be there at the end when it counts. It says a lot about this team. We have a never give up attitude. We want to continue to push and strive for more and continue to kind of be perfect every single weekend. Hopefully, we can continue that here at Charlotte. We’ve been good at 1.5-mile tracks this year. Hopefully, we can bring back another W.”
How excited are you to get back to racing on a 1.5-mile track?
“It’s very exciting to get back to a mile-and-a-half. I feel like our 1.5-mile and short track programs have been really good. I feel like our whole program in general has been good. We kind of missed it on one of the road courses and the dirt stuff. I feel like we can kind of throw those away now and focus on the future. We have some really good racetracks coming up as well. Some more mile-and-a-halves, short tracks and another dirt and road course race that I really enjoy, but first things first, I have to go take care of business at Charlotte.”

by jnemechek

Darlington

June 3, 2021NASCAR Camping World Truck Series,Photography

by jnemechek