MARTINSVILLE, Va. – John Hunter Nemechek may not be a full-time driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season, but he gave everyone a reminder on Monday that he still knows his way to victory lane.
Nemechek made a gutsy three-wide pass on a restart with 31 laps left to pass race leader Kyle Benjamin and second-running Todd Gilliland entering turn one. Nemechek muscled his way through to take control of the Alpha Energy Solutions 250, which was postponed by a snowstorm on Saturday.
Despite three cautions in the final laps where he had to hold off a hard-charging Benjamin, Nemechek never trailed again en route to his first victory at Martinsville Speedway.
The frantic run to the finish began with 37 to go when the caution flag waved for debris in turn three. At that point Benjamin was leading Gilliland at the head of the pack after staying out for the start of the third stage.
Multiple lead lap trucks pitted for fresh tires, leaving the top six on older rubber for the ensuing restart that saw Benjamin – in a DGR-CROSLEY truck for team owner David Gilliland – alongside his boss’s son when the green flag waved.
But Nemechek was ready, leaping to Benjamin’s inside before the top two trucks reached turn one and powering his way into the race lead as both Benjamin and Gilliland washed up the track exiting the corner.
Nemechek pulled out to a half-second lead before an incident in turn two slowed the pace with 27 to go after Johnny Sauter lost power and was plowed into by Matt Crafton, causing heavy damage to both trucks.
Racing resumed with 21 laps remaining with Nemechek nailing the restart again, but a spinning Robby Lyons in turn two forced the yellow lights back on and set up another restart with 12 laps to go.
Reid Wilson crashed hard in turn two on that restart attempt, setting up a final seven-lap scramble between Nemechek and Benjamin, while Brett Moffitt was lurking in third after having gotten four fresh tires during the debris caution 30 laps prior.
Despite his fresher tires, Moffitt could do nothing with the top two when racing resumed for the final time, as Nemechek got away and Benjamin tried to chase him down in the waning moments.
However, though Benjamin charged to Nemechek’s bumper in turn three on the final lap, he couldn’t move Nemechek up the track enough to get alongside – leaving the No. 8 Fleetwing Chevrolet out front as the checkered flag waved.
Nemechek’s run was especially impressive, considering that he had planned to pit for tires just before the restart where he took the lead, but a radio issue forced him to stay out on old rubber.
“We had a bit of miscommunication on that last pit stop when everyone came and got tires,” said Nemechek. “(Crew chief) Gere (Kennon) came on the radio and said to pit, but I couldn’t hear exactly what he said because of the static and we had to stay out there.”
“I didn’t know if we were going to be able to do it, honestly. My guys brought me a great truck this weekend. I can’t thank everyone enough … Dad (Joe Nemechek) and everyone who puts their heart and soul into this deal. There are only four guys in our shop this year, so it’s really cool to come back over here into the Truck Series and win one. I’ve finished second here multiple times – tick tock, we finally got a clock! It’s going to be awesome taking that thing home.”
Benjamin was hoping to score the victory in his Truck Series debut, but came up one position shy of accomplishing that goal.
“It was pretty close right there,” Benjamin said. “We had a good truck – mostly on long runs – and unfortunately it came down to a short run. It’s Martinsville, so I figured I had to give him a run for his money in the last corner and I had to make some contact. It just wasn’t quite enough.”
“We had a good day; thank you to all the guys at DGR-CROSLEY for giving me a fast truck. I wish we would have had a few more laps there at the end to do something with him, but hopefully if I get another shot here, we can continue the momentum and go somewhere else to have another shot.”
Moffitt crossed the line in third, followed by Grant Enfinger and Noah Gragson.
Myatt Snider, Timothy Peters, Harrison Burton, Austin Hill and Justin Haley completed the top 10.
After winning the pole, sweeping the first two stages and leading a race-high 134 laps, Ben Rhodes ended up mired back in traffic after a slow pit stop before the kickoff to the final stage. He finished 12th.
