AVONDALE, Ariz: For most of the world, John Hunter Nemechek was the favorite to win Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Phoenix (Ariz.) Raceway, but the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver fell short in the Lucas Oil 150.
After a subpar qualifying effort Friday afternoon, Nemechek’s race got off to a rocky start when he hit the wall off the apex of Turns 1 and Turn 2, as he exited Turn 2, Nemechek’s truck made contact with the No. 02 of Kris Wright.
On Lap 7, the left-front tire went down on his No. 4 Pye-Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Tundra which him to pit road for service under green flag conditions. Nemechek would fall two laps off the pace and spend nearly 90 laps off the lead lap.
A caution at Lap 12 allowed Nemechek to gain one of his two lost laps back. However, his return to lead lap status wouldn’t come until the start of Stage 3 when Tate Fogelman had an electrical issue.
Restarting at the back of the field on a Lap 106 restart, Nemechek roared through the field but without the benefit of a caution.
Inside the final 15 laps of the race, Nemechek was able to make the pass on Championship 4 rival Matt Crafton and entered the top-10 a short time later with a pass on Austin Hill.
As the final laps ticked away, Nemechek was able to pass the trucks of Carson Hocevar and Todd Gilliland to move into seventh but without a caution, the five-time Truck Series winner ran out of laps and finished seventh, 9.730 seconds behind race winner and teammate Chandler Smith.
“Yeah, I got run in to the first corner, got into the fence, somebody else ran in to us on the left side and this thing is killed pretty much, but had a left front tire go flat, went down two laps, got both of our laps back, but just needed more laps I guess,” said Nemechek. “After all, felt we had the best truck tonight Playoff wise for sure.
“Drove from pretty much last to seventh there and running down Ben (Rhodes) and Zane (Smith) for the championship, just not enough. That’s what’s frustrating. A huge shout out to all of our partners.”
After the race, Nemechek was subdued and frustrated about the outcome of his first Championship 4 race with Kyle Busch Motorsports but vowed to return with a vengeance next season when he’ll return to the No. 4 Toyota Tundra for a second full-time season.
“I’m disappointed, frustrated,” added Nemechek. “Thank you Pye-Barker Fire Alarm Services, Toyota, Kyle (Busch), everyone. Thankful for the opportunity.
“We came here to win races this year, we succeeded, came up short of the championship. I’ll be #BackForMore next year.”
In 22 starts, Nemechek, 24, won five races, recorded 12 top-five and 16 top-10 finishes. He’ll be credited with third in the championship standings behind champion Ben Rhodes and Zane Smith.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
