By Aaron Bearden, Motorsports Editor
JOLIET, Ill. — John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 8 Chevrolet stood out from the rest of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series field when he climbed out of it after the race.
Not because it was in victory lane, but because he was facing the wrong way on pit road.
Nemechek was the dominant driver in Friday’s Overton’s 225 at Chicagoland Speedway, leading a race-high 64 laps and positioning himself to claim his second win of 2018. A fierce challenge from Brett Moffitt kept Nemechek from sitting comfortable as he took the white flag, but the third-generation driver knew he needed only an issue-free final lap to make his way to victory lane for a final time.
But going into Turn 1 an issue appeared. Nemechek slowed.
Moffitt surged past the six-time Truck winner to claim his third victory of 2018. Nemechek limped across the line 17.355 seconds later in seventh. The Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) prospect then swung his NEMCO Motorsports machine around the pit exit and drove backwards onto the pit lane and parked facing the opposite direction of the field.
While Moffitt participated in a celebratory burnout behind him, Nemechek pounded his hood once and laid his head in his hands on top of his machine for a brief moment, attempting to come to terms with a win that got away.
“It’s very frustrating,” Nemechek said afterward. “Half a lap, not even three-quarters of a lap away from winning the race and blew up or something getting into Turn 1.”
In the initial aftermath of the race it appeared that Nemechek had fallen victim to a blown motor on the final lap. But FOX Sports later confirmed with team owner Joe Nemechek that the younger Nemechek ran out of fuel on the final lap – a mistake attributable to a fueling issue on his final pit stop.
John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 8 team simply ran out of gas. pic.twitter.com/WAILQHRWN0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 30, 2018
NEMCO’s fueling issue spoiled what had been the latest in a string of strong runs for the third-generation driver. While Nemechek made the move up to the Xfinity Series with a part-time schedule for CGR, he entered Chicagoland with one win and two top 10s on the year.
The consistency of years past had been largely missing – Nemechek arrived in Joliet with more finished outside of the top 20 (four) than inside of the top 10 (three) – but the North Carolinian had proven a constant threat to claim wins.
Friday provided another chance at victory, so Nemechek’s seventh-place result was a frustrating one. But he took solace in both his growth and the speed his team showed – citing one of his teammates at CGR.
“The guys gave me a fast truck,” he said. “(I) moved around all night. I kind of felt like Kyle Larson out there, banging the boards as I like to say. He’s been a huge help to me this year over on the Xfinity side, and the Truck side.
“They knew that we were here. We’ve just gotta keep playing like we’re playing, and hopefully we’ll get a win here soon.”
Man I’m speechless. That one is gonna hurt for a while. So so close. Heart broken. Just keep doing what we’re doing and we’ll win one soon.
— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) June 30, 2018
Just thankful for the opportunity to be able to do what I love. God is good.
— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) June 30, 2018