TC Daily Pit Stop: Nemechek Rallies for Top-10 at New Hampshire; Wet-Weather Tires Jumble Finishing Order; Nashville Entry Lists; New Crew Chief for Boyd; Jr Enters Hampton Heat
TC Daily Pit Stop: Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Never Give Up: John Hunter Nemechek Rallies From Two Laps Down to Finish Eighth at Loudon
With 82 laps remaining in the NASCAR Cup Series event at New Hampshire on Sunday, a race-threatening weather system approached the racetrack. At that time, John Hunter Nemechek was one lap down, in 31st.
NASCAR waited out the rain, and put wet-weather tires on the Cup Series vehicles and let them race, which majorly benefitted John Hunter Nemechek, who somehow managed to secure a top-10 result — the second this season for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.
“I was sitting on the top of the box with [crew chief] Ben [Beshore] praying that we were going to be able to go back racing,” Nemechek admitted.
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Uncharted Waters: Wet-Weather Finish Jumbles New Hampshire Results
Sunday at New Hampshire, the NASCAR Cup Series made a little bit of history — completing the final 82 laps of the USA Today 301 on wet-weather tires. In exploring those uncharted waters, the finishing order got pretty jumbled.
John Hunter Nemechek (+23), Chase Briscoe (+21), Martin Truex, Jr. (+18), Josh Berry (+17), and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (+17) all managed to gain more than 15 positions in the 86-lap span from restarting the race and reaching the checkered flag in NASCAR Overtime.
On the flip side of things, several drivers, like Justin Haley (-24), Ryan Blaney (-23), and Denny Hamlin (-21) lost their footing during the final 86-lap stretch using the wet weather tires, losing out on the fantastic runs that they had built throughout the opening 219 laps of the event, up until the red flag was displayed for a thunderstorm that many thought would be race-ending.
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Entry List: NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 at Nashville
There are 38 drivers on the entry list for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Nashville Superspeedway.
Notables: 15 Riley Herbst, 16 AJ Allmendinger, 50 Corey Heim, and 66 Chad Finchum.
ENTRY LIST
Entry List: NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville
There are 39 drivers [for 38 spots] on the entry list for Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Nashville Superspeedway.
Notables: 4 Dawson Cram, 6 Garrett Smithley, 14 Chad Finchum, 19 Ty Gibbs, 20 John Hunter Nemechek, 26 Tyler Reddick, 35 TBA, 74 TBA, 88 Carson Kvapil, 92 Ross Chastain.
ENTRY LIST
Entry List: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville
There are 39 trucks [for 36 spots] on the preliminary entry list for Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Nashville Superspeedway.
Notables: 1 Brenden Queen, 7 Clint Bowyer, 20 Akinori Ogata, 21 Mason Maggio, 22 Frankie Muniz, 26 Dawson Sutton, 27 Keith McGee, 28 Bryan Dauzat, 45 Kaden Honeycutt, 66 Conner Jones, 90 Justin Carroll, 91 Jack Wood.
ENTRY LIST
Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett Expecting First Son in November
Leah Pruett, a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel National event winner, stepped away from her role as a driver for the Tony Stewart Racing NHRA Top Fuel dragster team heading into this season so that she and Stewart, her husband, could plan to start a family together. On Monday afternoon, Stewart, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and current NHRA Top Fuel racer, announced that the planning went successfully.
The couple is expecting their first child, and the due date will be in November, 2024.
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Mike Hillman Jr. Named Crew Chief for Spencer Boyd, Freedom Racing Enterprises
As the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series exits a four-week break from racing action, Freedom Racing Enterprises, which fields the No. 76 Chevrolet Silverado has announced a change atop the pit box for it’s race team. Mike Hillman Jr. will join the organization as the new crew chief for this weekend’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
Jeff Hammond, FRE’s General Manager who had been serving as the interim crew chief for the organization since the fourth race of the season, issued a statement on Monday morning announcing the acquisition of Hillman.
“Over the past nine races, I have served as the interim crew chief for the No. 76 Chevrolet Silverado while we searched for the ideal candidate for the permanent position,” Hammond said in the statement. “I am thrilled to announce that Mike Hillman Jr. has been chosen as the new crew chief for Spencer Boyd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Mike brings an impressive resume and, more importantly, an immediate chemistry with the team that confirmed he was the perfect fit. We are excited to return to the track after a brief break in the schedule, confident in our ongoing progress as an organization.”
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Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Files Entry for 16th Hampton Heat at Langley Speedway
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. confirmed on social media Monday afternoon that he will compete in the Hampton Heat at Larry King Law’s Langley Speedway on July 20.
The NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee has competed in several Late Model Stock Car events in recent years, whether it be in the zMAX CARS Tour or at other short tracks such as Florence Motor Speedway. Earnhardt, Jr. will now tackle Langley Speedway for his next appearance in one of the discipline’s marquee events.
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