TC Daily Pit Stop: Nemechek Sets Fire to Xfinity Field; Mayer Flips Off Ryan Truex; More from Saturday at Martinsville
TC Daily Pit Stop: Nemechek Sets Fire to Xfinity Field; Mayer Flips Off Ryan Truex; More from Saturday at Martinsville
TC Daily Pit Stop: Sunday, April 16th, 2023
John Hunter Nemechek Sets Fire to Xfinity Series Field at Martinsville
Photo Credit: Jonathan McCoy, TobyChristie.com
John Hunter Nemechek was absolutely on fire in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Martinsville Speedway, plus, he was on fire after the race was all said and done, as well.
Starting from the outside of the front row, Nemechek wasted no time getting the lead away from polesitter Cole Custer, making the first pass for the lead on the sixth lap of Saturday’s 250-lap contest.
From that point forward, Nemechek pretty much had a stranglehold on the field, leading an incredible 198 laps en route to his second victory of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing. Throughout the race, there were only three occasions where the driver of the No. 20 lost control of the race.
RACE RECAP
RACE RESULTS
DRIVER POINTS
OWNER POINTS
INSPECTION REPORT
Video: John Hunter Nemechek Sets Fire to Martinsville Speedway with Victory Celebration
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Video: Sam Mayer Flips Off Ryan Truex After Late-Race Crash at Martinsville
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Video: Dawson Cram Has Issue, Multi-Car Pileup Ensues
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Video: Joe Graf, Ryan Ellis Tangle in Turn One Mid-Race at Martinsville
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Ryan Preece Scores First NASCAR Cup Series Pole with Blistering Lap at Martinsville
PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Fisher, TobyChristie.com
The first nine drivers that took time in the final round of Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Martinsville were a tight-knit bunch, running within eight-hundredths of a second.
Of course, that was until Ryan Preece, driving the No. 41 for Stewart-Haas Racing, brought his HaasTooling.com Ford Mustang around the half-mile paperclip in 19.979 seconds, more than a tenth quicker than anybody else.
It’s the first NASCAR Cup Series pole position for Ryan Preece, who recently joined Stewart-Haas Racing for his first full-season driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.
By virtue of a tiebreaker, which was based on NASCAR Cup Series owner points, Daniel Suarez will start on the outside of the front row for Sunday’s 400-lap contest, after posting a time identical to that of Aric Almirola, who will start third.
Chase Briscoe and Martin Truex, Jr. completed the top-five.