On the eve of Father’s day, John Hunter Nemechek gave his father (Joe Nemechek) an early present for the weekend by winning the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park. It was Nemechek’s first win of the season and his fourth career win in the truck series.
Nemechek, who started the race in second position took the lead at the very beginning and led the first 35 laps en route to becoming the winner of the first stage. However, during their pit stop the team had some issues which caused Nemechek to fall back to fifth. He would recover to finish third in the second stage.
When the final stage rolled around, he consistently stayed around the top 10 area. On lap 131, he made his final pit stop of the night. The crew had an issue with releasing the jack which caused another slow stop. He came out the pit stop in the fifth position once again. However, slow stops were not going to stop him
He slowly but surely climbed his way back up. With 15 laps left, Nemechek was running third until a caution came out for Josh Reaume. When the race restarted on lap 155, he took the lead over Matt Crafton and only had to worry about seeing the Checkered Flag.
According to Fox News, Nemechek said he had a run on Crafton and could get by him. He also mentioned the team has had fast trucks all year but not the greatest luck with it.
He hoped the luck would change after the win. Finally, he mentioned the win was a great early Father’s Day present for his dad.
Gateway Motorsports Park would like to congratulate @JHNemechek on winning the 2017 @NASCAR_Trucks Drivin’ for Linemen 200! #D4L200 pic.twitter.com/86xQLCv9om
— Gateway Motorsports (@GatewayMSP) June 18, 2017
Briscoe Rallies late for top 5 finish
Two weeks ago, Chase Briscoe found out his crew chief was suspended for four weeks after a tire incident at Dover.
In Texas, he was only a few inches away from grabbing his first career win in the truck series finishing second to Christopher Bell. This week he finished second once again
Briscoe started on pole for the race but finished second to Nemechek in the first stage. Once Nemechek had his issues with pit stops, it was all Briscoe as he won the second stage of the race.
He would lead 88 of 160 laps of the race which were the most by any driver and continued to be a factor for the win. When the caution came out on lap 150, Briscoe and the team took a gamble and pitted for four tires and fuel while everyone else stayed out. Briscoe would lineup in the 13th position with only eight laps to gain any position. With the fresher tires, Briscoe was able to put on a late run charge to finish second for the second straight week.
Briscoe noted he had too much front brake which resulted in his wheels locking up going into turn one. He doesn’t think he would have caught Nemechek but he does believe he should have been closer to him when it all was said and done.
Another close one, had an awesome truck all day long. Hate it for my guys that we couldn't pull it off. Off to Iowa.
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe5) June 18, 2017
The next stop for the truck series is Iowa Speedway for the M&M’s 200.