ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — In one of the wildest NASCAR XFINITY Series road races in history, one of the tour’s ultimate underdogs got his moment to celebrate in the sun Sunday afternoon at Road America.
Utilizing an alternate pit strategy during the final stage of the Johnsonville 180, Jeremy Clements found himself on eight-lap fresher tires than the rest of the frontrunners after pitting with 10 laps to go in the 45-lap event.
Those tires made all the difference, as Clements was lapping the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course more than two seconds faster than late-race leader Matt Tifft.
Clements charged his way through the top five, erased a six-second gap between he and Tifft after leaping Brendan Gaughan for second inside of six laps to go and was on Tifft’s back bumper with two to go as the duo duked it out for a victory on the Wisconsin stage.
Coming to the white flag, Clements charged into Turn 14 and got to the inside of Tifft for the lead, but got loose in the center of the corner and drifted across into Tifft.
Both drivers spun, but were able to get refired and come up the hill. However, it was Clements who got away first, driving away to victory lane over the final lap around the course.
Sunday’s emotional breakthrough marked Clements’ first-career XFINITY win in his 256th series start.
But for a driver who has fought and clawed for every inch with his low budget, family-owned team, it was a moment to remember.
“I don’t even know what to say; I’m just shocked right now!” Clements exclaimed in victory lane. “This is a car that was built in 2008. Everything we’ve got is old and used … I just can’t believe it. Is this real?”
“I just have to thank all my guys … my dad; it’s a total team effort and I’m just so happy. It’s pretty neat to win at Road America; it’s one of my favorite road courses. … Man, I’m just so shocked. I’m so out of breath, but I’m shocked and I didn’t know what to do (after taking the checkered flag)!”
Clements was also immensely apologetic to Tifft for the contact between the two as they battled for the win.
“I want to say sorry to Matt Tifft; I didn’t mean to spin him out there,” Clements said. “I got into the corner hot and he just kind of came down and I was there and we collided. I was beating a lot of people in that corner and could get in there a lot deeper, but that deal was definitely my fault. It wasn’t his fault.”
“I got loose under him and just couldn’t stay off him. I’m sorry to him, but I definitely had the better car, in my opinion. (Joe Gibbs Racing) is the best of the best and to be faster than them at the end was pretty damn cool.”
With his win, Clements catapults into the XFINITY Series playoffs, provisionally bumping out Dakoda Armstrong and setting up a four-driver scramble for the final three spots on points, with Blake Koch, Michael Annett, Brendan Gaughan and Armstrong separated by just 26 points.
The final stage kicked off with 22 laps to go, seeing Stage 2 winner Daniel Hemric jump out to the lead from Ben Kennedy, but Hemric’s chances at victory ended five circuits later when he made his final pit stop, speeding coming into the pit lane and effectively taking the Legends car graduate out of contention for his first series win.
That marked the beginning of the final round of green flag pit stops, seeing Austin Cindric take the lead as Hemric pitted and then fade going into Canada Corner, with Tifft assuming the point at Turn 12 and then Clements muscling his way into the top spot off the exit of Turn 14 to lead lap 28.
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