Toyota Drivers Look To Extend Perfect Season In Friday Night’s Truck Series Race

Toyota Drivers Look To Extend Perfect Season In Friday Night’s Truck Series Race

Last September, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Darlington Raceway for the first time since 2011.

Ben Rhodes won last year’s event and—naturally enough, given the hiatus—revisits Darlington as the only former winner in the field this week. Rhodes also won the first two races of the 2021 season and will try to add a third victory in Friday night’s LiftKits4Less.com 200 (7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). (more…)

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How New Englanders Did At Richmond Over the Weekend

How New Englanders Did At Richmond Over the Weekend
In Sunday’s afternoon’s NASCAR Cup race at RIR Alex Bowman’s late race surge brought him into Victory Lane at Richmond International Raceway in VA.  Middletown, CT’s ended his day in third place after being in the hunt all day long.  Corey LaJoie finished his day in 21st and is the son of two-time Xfinity Champion Randy Lajoie a native of Norwalk, CT.  Berlin, CT’s Ryan Preece finished 29th while Anthony Alfredo of Ridgefield, CT wound up 31st.

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John Hunter Nemechek Post Race Report: Charlotte

Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway, 1.5 Mile Oval
Race: 7 of 38
Event: Coca-Cola 600 (600 miles, 400 laps)
John Hunter Nemechek
No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang
Started: 25th
Finished: 17th
  • Stage One: 24th
  • Stage Two: 20th
  • Stage Three: 17th
  • Stage Four: 17th
  • Driving in memory of Staff Sergeant Nicholas Carnes, John Hunter Nemechek started Sunday’s race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in the 25th position. Nemechek reported difficulty finding a comfortable balance in his No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang early on and the crew made a wedge adjustment and added some grille tape during the competition caution on Lap 20. Mother Nature forced the race to come to a pause after almost 50 laps and engines refired a little over an hour later. Nemechek continued to struggle with the car’s handling for the remainder of Stage 1 and would finish P24.
  • Throughout the second stage, Nemechek continued to struggle with the handling of his No. 38 YANMAR machine. He reported his biggest issue being tight in traffic. Nemechek opted not to pit under the Stage 2 caution in order to regain a lap he had lost earlier in the stage. He took the green- and white-checkered flag in 20th position.
  • Optimistic at the start of the third stage, Nemechek said the previous run had been his best of the night thus far. Running low on fuel, Nemechek would pit on Lap 235 under green, putting him two laps behind the leader. He was able to regain a lap once green flag pit stops cycled through and made his way back inside the top 20 towards the end of the stage. The car was still tight in traffic and Nemechek finished the stage in 17th.
  • To start the final stage, Nemechek pitted for tires, fuel, a wedge adjustment and grille tape in hopes of loosening up his YANMAR Ford Mustang. The team called him back to pit road to correct an adjustment, and he would restart in 20th position. Despite the car continuing to be tight in traffic, Nemechek managed to stay inside the top 20 for much of the final stage. He would finish the race in 17th position.
Nemechek on Charlotte:
  • “It was kind of an up and down day, but overall, we had a good run in our No. 38 YANMAR Ford Mustang. We started off the night pretty free. Once we refired after the rain delay, we had a pretty tight racecar for most of the night. Seth [Barbour] and the crew kept trying different adjustments to get our handling better and we managed to run in the top 20 for most of the last stage. We never gave up and got some good notes to come back on Wednesday. Thanks to our partners at YANMAR for coming on board with us this weekend and thank you especially to all the men and women who serve our country. It’s an amazing privilege to have the freedom to race because of their sacrifices.”
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DALE EARNHARDT JR., JEFF BURTON AND STEVE LETARTE DISCUSS NASCAR’S RETURN AT DARLINGTON ON NASCAR AMERICA AT HOME

DALE EARNHARDT JR., JEFF BURTON AND STEVE LETARTE DISCUSS NASCAR’S RETURN AT DARLINGTON ON NASCAR AMERICA AT HOME

“I feel like his leadership was really on display today.” – Earnhardt Jr. on Kevin Harvick’s victory

“When you get a star that’s in a slump, they almost try too hard. That was Jimmie Johnson trying too hard.” – Letarte on Jimmie Johnson’s wreck at end of Stage One

“If he can clean up those mental mistakes, he’ll not only win races, but have a real opportunity to play a role in the Playoffs later in the season.” – Earnhardt Jr. on Jimmie Johnson

“It really makes me question, how much practice do we really need?” – Burton on quality of racing at Darlington

Kevin Harvick Joins Mike Tirico on Lunch Talk Live Today at Noon ET on NBCSN

Weekday Episodes and Post-Race Analysis on NBCSports.com and Motorsports on NBC YouTube Page

STAMFORD, Conn. – May 18, 2020 – NBC Sports NASCAR analysts Dale Earnhardt Jr.Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte discussed the major storylines and takeaways from NASCAR’s return at Darlington Raceway on the latest edition NASCAR America At Home on NBCSports.com and the Motorsports on NBC YouTube page.

Topics from Sunday night’s NASCAR America At Home included:

  • Kevin Harvick’s performance en route to his 50th Cup Series win
  • Dale Jr. and Letarte on Jimmie Johnson’s performance and prospects for this season
  • Letarte and Burton on future of practices
  • Top 10 finishes by rookies Tyler Reddick and John Hunter Nemecheck

The trio also interviewed Tyler Reddick to discuss his Top 10 performance. Click here to watch the interview.

Harvick will join Mike Tirico on Lunch Talk Live today at noon discuss his win at Darlington and NASCAR’s return. Following are excerpts from Sunday night’s edition of NASCAR America at Home:

Earnhardt Jr. on NASCAR’s return and Harvick’s win: “Rodney Childers and the no. 4 team prepared an incredible car…I feel like his leadership was really on display today…no way to lean on the driver to give him feedback on what direction to go with the car. It was an opportunity for him or any crew chief to step up, and that’s what (the No. 4 team) did.”

Burton on Jimmie Johnson: “This was a big race in the history of NASCAR … Jimmie Johnson ran really well. I know he’s heartbroken tonight. He had the lead with one to go at the end of the stage and just made a mistake in my eyes…it was good at the very least to see the no. 48 out front.”

Letarte on Johnson: “When you get a star that’s in a slump, they almost try too hard…that was Jimmie Johnson, trying too hard with one lap to go in a stage. He’s only won a handful of stages since stage racing has begun…Jimmie was the guy when we chased him that never made mistakes. You had to beat him. He didn’t beat himself. What Jimmie Johnson did was eliminate his chances in the first stage. That’s not very Jimmie Johnson-esque. What I saw up until that mistake is a team and a driver that can win a race. The question has been, can he win a race in this final year? From what I saw, it would be yes.”

Earnhardt Jr. on Johnson: “If he can clean up those mental mistakes, dial it back a little bit, have faith in his car for the duration for the race and put races together, he’ll not only win races but have a real opportunity to play a role in the Playoffs later in the season.”

Letarte on impact of less practice: “I’m always on team ‘no practice’ or ‘less practice.’ I realize we’re going to have some practice at some point this season…but can we all agree we don’t need two or three hours (of practice)? This was zero practice in 71 days and other than Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s mistake on the first lap, not only was the racing great, but there were some different names, different moves, different guys throughout the race.”

Burton on impact of less practice: “Even though there were so many things done differently to make this race happen, it didn’t show up…it really makes me question, how much practice do we really need? This has given NASCAR and the teams and opportunity to look at different ways to do different things and how can the sport be better for it…John Hunter Nemecheck is a great example. He got a Top 10 finish and that’s like a win for that team. If every team out there would have practice, could they have made that happen? I don’t know.”

Earnhardt Jr. on John Hunter Nemecheck and impact of iRacing: “I feel like what we did during the break where we were racing online with iRacing may have given some guys a little bit of confidence to be able to go out there and compete and run up front. I know that’s a crazy idea, but someone like John Hunter Nemecheck that has been honing his skills, doing well in the iRacing in the last couple of months…I think that carried over.”

Earnhardt Jr. on Tyler Reddick: “He continues to amaze me…he’s not making these rookie mistakes that are taking him out of the running, especially at a place like Darlington where it’s easy…he’s got the confidence. He doesn’t know any better. He’s just driving that thing as hard as he can go.”

Letarte on William Byron: “One flat tire – William Byron was going to show the world that he was going to go to victory lane…I think William Byron will be one to watch. Bad luck got him at Darlington, not a mistake.”

New post-race episodes of NASCAR America At Home will be posted following the checkered flag of each NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series as NASCAR makes its return, and new weekday editions of NASCAR America At Home will be posted during the week.

DALE EARNHARDT JR., JEFF BURTON AND STEVE LETARTE DISCUSS NASCAR’S RETURN AT DARLINGTON ON NASCAR AMERICA AT HOME Read More