John Hunter Nemechek brought home an eighth-place finish at Sonoma Raceway in Saturday’s Door Dash 250. Nemechek ran consistently within the top 12 throughout the 75-lap event and picked up eight stage points in route to an eighth-place finish, his eighth top-10 of the season.
Nemechek will aim to defend his regular season title with just four races remaining in the regular season. The second-generation driver sits fourth in the standings, just 15 points behind Ben Rhodes in first.
Stage One Recap
·        Nemechek lined up for the Door Dash 250 at Sonoma Raceway in seventh after laying down a lap time of 79.973 seconds at 89.580 mph in the final round of Saturday’s two-round qualifying session.
·        Midway through the opening stanza, Nemechek was running in 12th when he communicated that his No. 4 Persil Tundra was “tight in turns 4 and 10.”
·        With differing pit strategies throughout the field, veteran crew chief Eric Phillips elected to keep Nemechek on track as a majority of the field came down pit road early before the end of the first stage.
·        The strategy called ended up earning Nemechek eight stage points as he took the green-and-white checkered flag in third to end Stage One.
Stage Two Recap:
·        Nemechek then brought his Persil Tundra TRD Pro down pit road for four tires and fuel at the stage break and communicated that his No. 4 Tundra was “struggling with some forward drive”.
·        Following the pit stop, the second-generation driver lined up for the start of Stage Two in eighth.
·        Nemechek fell back to 12th on the restart but would work his way back into the top-10 as the stage winded down.
·        Unlike the opening stanza, Phillips called his driver down pit road with three laps remaining in Stage Two for four tires and fuel.
·        With the pit strategy in play, Nemechek was scored in 22nd at the end of Stage Two.
Final Stage Recap:
·        As the field cycled through on pit strategies, Nemechek restarted the Final Stage in ninth.
·        Nemechek was running in sixth with just under 10 laps to go when the fifth caution of the race came out.
·        The No. 4 team elected to pit one final time under caution and restarted what would be the final restart in ninth.
·        As the field went back green with two laps to go, Nemechek gained one spot and took the checkered flag in eighth.
DoorDash 250 Recap
  •  Kyle Busch earned his 62nd career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win. Zane Smith, Ty Majeski, Ross Chastain and Chandler Smith rounded out the top-five finishers.
  • There were six cautions for 17 laps and 10 lead changes among five drivers.
How John Hunter Nemechek’s KBM Teammates Fared:
·        Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 51 Toyota, finished first.
·        Chandler Smith, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished fifth.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Standings
Nemechek remains fourth in the Camping World Truck Series championship standings but gained ground as he sits just 15 tallies behind reigning champion Ben Rhodes.
Next Race
Nemechek and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team look ahead to Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway for the second dirt race on the Camping World Truck Series schedule. Live coverage of the Clean Harbors 150 will be on FS1, Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM at 9pm ET on Saturday, June 18.