NEWTON, Iowa — John Hunter Nemechek spoiled a potential dream comeback for ThorSport Racing during Coors Light Pole Qualifying for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Saturday at Iowa Speedway.
Nemechek went out early in the final five-minute round of knockout qualifying, but his time of 23.147 seconds (136.087 mph) held up all the way through to the end, handing the son of renowned qualifier ‘Front Row’ Joe Nemechek his first-career NCWTS pole in his 38th start.
“We definitely had a great truck yesterday in practice, both in long run and short run speed, and I think that showed here today,” Nemechek said. “Our mock runs weren’t very good though, so I was kind of surprised that we got this one. Thanks to Front Row Joe; he gave me some tips — Happy Fathers Day to him as well — and hopefully we can get him an early gift here tonight at Iowa.”
Nemechek will be making his third start at Iowa in the Speediatrics 200 (8 p.m., FOX Business and FS1, MRN, SiriusXM), and says that his two starts at Iowa in the past will aid him in having a stronger run under the lights.
“I definitely think our prior experience will help, just with knowing what adjustments to make throughout the race. It’s a lot hotter than it was here last year, and yesterday as well, so we’ll have to take that into account as we go along but we’re excited about our chances.”
While ThorSport did not grab the pole, their second-year driver Cameron Hayley did give the team a lot to smile about, qualifying second and helping to ease the sting of the fire that ravaged the team’s Sandusky, Ohio shop early Monday morning.
“I think we’ve got a winning truck tonight,” Hayley smiled as he held a sign wishing team owner Duke Thorson a happy birthday on pit lane. “I think our Cabinets by Hayley Tundra is really strong. I’m kinda disappointed we didn’t get the pole, actually. I wasn’t coming into qualifying expecting that we would, but we showed a lot of speed and when you do that you always want more.”
“These guys are amazing. To go from what happened on Monday to where we are today is incredible and I’m super excited going into tonight’s race.”
The second row on the grid will be shared by a pair of GMS Racing drivers, with Ben Kennedy qualifying third (23.243/135.525) and 17-year-old Kaz Grala slotting in alongside in fourth (23.259/135.431). Texas winner William Byron rounded out the top five (23.261/135.420) as the highest-placed Kyle Busch Motorsports entry.
Brandon Jones, Johnny Sauter, Nick Drake, two-time series champion Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Cole Custer and Caleb Holman rounded out the 12 drivers who advanced through all three rounds of qualifying.
The list of drivers that missed the cut for the final round was nearly as star-studded as the top 12, led by Christopher Bell’s No. 4 JBL/Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota at 23.315 seconds (135.106 mph).
Bell made two runs in round two and just fell short of the transfer spot on his last lap, slotting in 13th on the grid ahead of rookie Rico Abreu (14th), Tyler Reddick (15th), recent XFINITY winner Daniel Suarez (17th), Daniel Hemric (18th) and Timothy Peters (19th).
