HAMPTON, Ga. — Recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Matt Hazlett/Getty Images for NASCAR photo —
He didn’t have had the strongest truck, or even the second-strongest truck, but John Hunter Nemechek was in the right place at the right time to steal his second-career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory on Saturday evening at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The 18-year-old was able to take advantage after late-race leader Christopher Bell blew a right front tire and socked the outside wall with seven laps to go, assuming the lead ahead of a two-lap dash to the checkered flag with John Wes Townley to his outside.
And like he was shot out of a cannon, Nemechek powered ahead as Townley spun his tires on the restart, never looking back and beating Canadian Cameron Hayley to the line by 0.306 seconds to grab the Great Clips 200 trophy with an unsponsored Chevrolet Silverado.
“The pit crew won us this race,” an enthusiastic Nemechek said in victory lane. “They gained us almost 13 spots today on pit road, and now [this is] two times for us in the winner’s circle with an unsponsored truck. We put a lot of hard work in with just a little bit of funding, and we come out here like this and contend for wins.”
“I can’t thank everyone enough, especially my dad (Joe), he puts his heart and soul into me.”
For the team owner — and father — it was a thrilling end to a roller-coaster afternoon that saw NEMCO Motorsports, once again, make a lot out of a little.
“I tell you what, [that result] is (because of) a lot of hard work,” Joe Nemechek said. “For having an unsponsored truck, we’re working hard. John Hunter drives hit butt off. I was telling him to slow down because he was burning the tires off of it (earlier in the race). There’s a lot of experience on this pitbox, though, and we’re having a lot of fun. For a small team with very limited resources, we get our stuff figured out.”
The day was dominated by a combination of Bell and defending race winner Matt Crafton — the two combined to lead the first 111 laps of the 130-lap event and it appeared all race long that the duo was poised for a duel of Toyotas in the final laps to determine a victor.
However, it was a crash involving both drivers that changed the entire complexion of the race.
On a restart with 19 laps to go, Crafton took off from the lead with Bell in fifth and Bell’s Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez in between them on the bottom lane. Suarez was looking to the outside of Crafton in turns one and two for a shot at the race lead when Bell ducked abruptly inside of Suarez, challenging for second.
Bell then washed up into his teammate’s left-rear quarter-panel, turning Suarez down the track and into the right-rear of Crafton’s truck. The resultant contact hooked Crafton headlong into the outside wall on the backstretch and sent his Menards Toyota spinning in the air before it came to rest, while Suarez went down the track and hit the inside wall with his machine.
Both trucks were too heavily damaged to continue, and Crafton and Suarez finished 30th and 31st, respectfully. They also spoke on their views of the incident after being checked and released from the infield care center.
“That was a long ride down the back straightaway, and to be honest, I didn’t know if we were going to get hit in the driver’s door,” Crafton admitted. “It was a pretty solid shot (into the wall). Hands down (and thanks) to NASCAR for having all the SAFER Barriers around the race track, because that probably would have hurt a lot worse otherwise. It’s a shame, though — our Menards Toyota Tundra was so, so fast. I definitely felt we had a truck to win this race.”
“Well I don’t know what to say,” Suarez added. “[It’s] pretty easy to explain. Our teammate turned us around. I don’t know why. We had a difficult day, with learning about everything and trying to put together the chemistry with our new crew chief. Our truck wasn’t fast, but we made some adjustments and the truck was super fast (after that).”
“It’s simple though. As teammates we have to take care of each other, and he didn’t (do that).”
Bell survived the incident with minimal right side contact, and following a six minute, 20 second red flag period, he used a brilliant crossover move on the restart with 15 laps to go to first push Nemechek past new race leader Hayley and then take the lead himself off turn four.
However, just when it appeared that Bell was cruising home to victory, the tire issue in turn four sent him hard into the outside SAFER Barrier, destroying the right side of his Toyota Tundra and knocking the Oklahoma young gun out of a shot at his first Truck win.
That left the field in the hands of Nemechek and Townley, and as the latter faded backwards, Hayley rose to the occasion — just missing out on his first series victory but notching a career-best second-place effort at the checkered flag.
“This was a great run for our Cabinets By Hayley Tundra,” the Calgary, Alberta native grinned after the race. “It’s my best career finish, so I can’t complain about that at all. I need to run a little bit harder … I think we had a shot at it, but it just wasn’t meant to be this time. This is my hardest track (to come to) all year, and to come out of here (with a) second — I’m pretty proud of the team.”
Timothy Peters, Daniel Hemric and Grant Enfinger finished third through fifth, with Ben Rhodes, Townley, Parker Kligerman, Caleb Holman and Spencer Gallagher rounding out the top 10.
The early stages of the race saw the 20-minute caution clock expire twice, drawing yellow flags at laps 38 and 105. The only other caution prior to 20 laps to go came at lap 60, when William Byron grenaded the engine on his No. 9 Liberty University Tundra for KBM. The high school senior finished 32nd, the first truck out of the event.
Leaving Atlanta, Kligerman leads the points standings by one marker over Hemric, while Nemechek tops the Chase Grid over Daytona winner Johnny Sauter.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action on April 2 at Martinsville Speedway, for the Alpha Energy Solutions 250.
Audio with race winner John Hunter Nemechek:
Audio with runner-up Cameron Hayley:
Audio with sixth-place Ben Rhodes:
Audio with eighth-place and points leader Parker Kligerman:
RESULTS: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; Great Clips 200; Atlanta Motor Speedway; Feb. 27, 2016
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Cameron Hayley
- Timothy Peters
- Daniel Hemric
- Grant Enfinger
- Ben Rhodes
- John Wes Townley
- Parker Kligerman
- Caleb Holman
- Spencer Gallagher
- Rico Abreu
- Austin Hill
- Tyler Young
- Tyler Reddick
- Ben Kennedy
- Austin Wayne Self
- Cole Custer
- Garrett Smithley
- Brandon Brown
- Ryan Truex
- Timmy Hill
- Justin Marks
- Travis Kvapil
- J.J. Yeley
- Tommy Joe Martins
- Christopher Bell
- Carlos Contreras
- Johnny Sauter
- Jennifer Jo Cobb
- Matt Crafton
- Daniel Suarez
- William Byron
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
Email Race Chaser Online: news@racechaseronline.com
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