John Hunter Nemechek holds off Carson Hocevar for Charlotte victory

May 28, 2021

 By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

With his third victory of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season, John Hunter Nemechek reaffirmed Kyle Busch Motorsports’ mastery of 1.5-mile intermediate tracks on Friday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Nemechek held off Sunoco rookie Carson Hocevar over a closing 10-lap green-flag run after a violent crash at the entrance to the tri-oval stripped the body off Johnny Sauter’s No. 13 Toyota and slowed the race for nine caution laps.

The victory was Nemechek’s first at Charlotte and the ninth of his career. It came after the driver of the No. 4 KBM Toyota clipped the wall early in Friday’s practice and ran just 10 circuits in the session.

“Hats off to all my guys, (crew chief) Eric Phillips , all my guys, everyone who works on this thing—everyone at KBM, the chassis shop, the fab shop… (owner) Kyle (Busch) for this opportunity,” said Nemechek, who beat a fast-closing Hocevar to the finish line by .419 seconds. “I’m so blessed to be in this spot. 

“Hopefully, we can have some fun and celebrate tonight.”

Nemechek can celebrate his organization’s dominance of the intermediate speedways. With his earlier victory at Las Vegas and Busch’s wins at Atlanta and Kansas, Kyle Busch Motorsports has swept all four 1.5-milers so far this season.

Nemechek also collected the last of three $50,000 Triple Truck Challenge bonuses, awarded to the winners of the designated races. He also extended his series lead to 44 points over second-place Ben Rhodes. 

For his part, Hocevar apologized to his Niece Motorsports team for the inexperience that prevented him from running down Nemechek at the end.

“I’ve never been in that position too many times, but I let it slip away,” said Hocevar, who nevertheless posted a career-best finish. “We’re chipping away at it.”

Rhodes ran third, followed by Stewart Friesen and Todd Gilliland, last Saturday’s winner at Circuit of The Americas. Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, Derek Kraus, Austin Hill and Zane Smith completed the top 10. 

Nemechek had a comfortable lead with 19 laps left when the No. 14 truck of Trey Hutchens III slowed to a crawl out of Turn 4 on Lap 115 of 134. Drew Dollar took evasive action, but Sauter, screened from a view of Hutchens’ Chevrolet by Dollar’s truck, plowed into the stalled vehicle and destroyed both trucks.

Debris from the wreck knocked the roof camera on Nemechek’s truck out of commission.

Reigning series champion Sheldon Creed handily won Stage 1 but was eliminated in a three-wide wreck with Gilliland and Chase Purdy in Turn 4 on Lap 55. 

Zane Smith took the green/checkered flag at the end of Stage 2, but a penalty for a crewman over the wall too soon sent him to the back for a Lap 69 restart and ruined his winning chances.

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the SpeedyCash.com 220 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 12, 2021. 

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – 18th Annual North Carolina Education Lottery 200

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, North Carolina

Friday, May 28, 2021

1. (4)  John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 134.
2. (9)  Carson Hocevar #, Chevrolet, 134.
3. (5)  Ben Rhodes, Toyota, 134.
4. (11)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 134.
5. (1)  Todd Gilliland, Ford, 134.
6. (23)  Chandler Smith #, Toyota, 134.
7. (31)  Ty Majeski, Toyota, 134.
8. (15)  Derek Kraus, Toyota, 134.
9. (3)  Austin Hill, Toyota, 134.
10. (6)  Zane Smith, Chevrolet, 134.
11. (22)  Christian Eckes, Toyota, 134.
12. (16)  Ryan Truex, Chevrolet, 134.
13. (12)  Hailie Deegan #, Ford, 133.
14. (8)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 133.
15. (20)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 133.
16. (7)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 133.
17. (13)  Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 133.
18. (18)  Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 133.
19. (19)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 133.
20. (17)  Drew Dollar, Toyota, 133.
21. (36)  Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 133.
22. (25)  Tanner Gray, Ford, 133.
23. (21)  Kris Wright #, Chevrolet, 132.
24. (32)  Danny Bohn, Toyota, 131.
25. (27)  Cory Roper, Ford, 129.
26. (35)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 128.
27. (30)  CJ McLaughlin, Toyota, 127.
28. (34)  Akinori Ogata, Chevrolet, 125.
29. (33)  Keith McGee, Chevrolet, 123.
30. (10)  Matt Crafton, Toyota, Engine, 114.
31. (14)  Johnny Sauter, Toyota, Accident, 111.
32. (38)  Trey Hutchens III, Chevrolet, Accident, 108.
33. (37)  Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ford, Suspension, 71.
34. (26)  Chase Purdy #, Chevrolet, DVP, 59.
35. (2)  Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, Accident, 55.
36. (28)  Bret Holmes, Chevrolet, Accident, 49.
37. (24)  Tate Fogleman, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 38.
38. (29)  Timothy Peters, Chevrolet, Steering, 13.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  114.331 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.419 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  5 for 31 laps.

Lead Changes:  12 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   S. Creed 1-33;T. Gilliland 34-38;J. Nemechek 39-56;Z. Smith 57-63;C. Hocevar # 64-68;S. Friesen 69;J. Nemechek 70-101;C. Eckes 102-104;T. Ankrum 105-106;Z. Smith 107-112;R. Truex 113;J. Nemechek 114-134.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  John Hunter Nemechek 3 times for 71 laps; Sheldon Creed 1 time for 33 laps; Zane Smith 2 times for 13 laps; Carson Hocevar # 1 time for 5 laps; Todd Gilliland 1 time for 5 laps; Christian Eckes 1 time for 3 laps; Tyler Ankrum 1 time for 2 laps; Ryan Truex 1 time for 1 lap; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 2,38,4,16,21,26,19,88,99,1

Stage #2 Top Ten: 21,16,66,19,40,88,42,52,9,4

Photo Credit: NKP