John Hunter Nemechek dominated Saturday night’s Call811.com Before You Dig 250 at Martinsville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
RIDGEWAY, Va. – No matter the era, series, or time, conquering Martinsville Speedway is a big testament to a driver and team such as John Hunter Nemechek and Joe Gibbs Racing.
By and large, the 25-year-old racer was one of the few who left the 0.526-mile short track with a genuine smile. Then again, a driver who leads about 80% of the race and makes good on a dominant performance is bound to elated.
For starters, Nemechek was on the front row, tallying the second starting position during Friday afternoon’s qualifying session. It was evident from the getgo that the No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota Supra was quick.
After polesitter Cole Custer led the opening five laps, Nemechek took the lead on Lap 6, enjoying the number one spot for 60 consecutive laps. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver won Stage 1 over his teammate, Sammy Smith, Custer, Sam Mayer and Riley Herbst.
Once Stage 2 was underway, Austin Hill, Josh Berry and Smith enjoyed their tenures at the front of the field before Nemechek retook the lead. This time, Nemechek led 105 consecutive laps en route to the Stage 2 win, besting Berry, Custer, Smith and Daniel Hemric.
Stage 3 offered more stop and go action than a Pennzoil commercial during the late 1990s. While Justin Allgaier led six laps, Nemechek was not to be denied.
As Nemechek drew closer to winning his first grandfather clock in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, the caution was out in bunches.
Namely, there were five notable cautions including a Lap 136 incident involving Ryan Ellis and Joe Graf Jr. in Turn 1, a backstretch kerfuffle on Lap 145 collecting Alex Labbe, Dawson Cram, Kyle Sieg and Leland Honeyman, Josh Williams’ Turn 2 spin on Lap 163, Justin Allgaier’s Turn 2 crash on Lap 210 and a Turn 2 skirmish that involved Herbst, Mayer, Ryan Truex and Jeb Burton on Lap 223.
Nemchek made like Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” at Martinsville. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
In the race’s final restart with 19 laps remaining, it was truly a battle for second position between Smith and Custer. Despite Smith’s best efforts to pass Nemechek in the early going of the restart, he was focused on staving off a determined Custer for the runner-up spot.
On the final lap, a backstretch accident involving Sheldon Creed resulted in the ultimate caution of the evening. Nemechek bested Smith, Custer, Berry and Brandon Jones, the defending race winner.
Much like Zane Smith at Circuit of the Americas, Nemechek performed a burnout in literal fashion, charring up the track and his No. 20 car with hot wheels and flames.
Following the fiery display, Nemechek clambered out of his winning ride, considering the trials and tribulations of getting his Supra consistent in race trim.
“It was amazing,” Nemechek said. This car wasn’t very good in practice yesterday – I thought we were like a 10th-to-12th place car. I’ll tell you what – everyone went to work on this No. 20 team for qualifying and this race today. So huge shoutout to the guys on this No. 20 team. Thankful for the opportunity from Joe Gibbs Racing and TRD, Coy (Gibbs), wish he was here with us.
“Thank you to Pye Barker Fire & Safety – they actually carry Pye Barker fire extinguishers here in Martinsville. It was fitting – after we caught on fire, they put it out. This car was as fast as Xfinity 10G today – dominant, that’s all I can say.”
More importantly, Nemechek enjoyed the intense but respectful racing between himself and Smith.
“It was good hard short track racing,” he said. “We didn’t wreck each other and we put on a show. I’m thankful for Sammy (Smith). Happy to be racing with him. We race each other hard but we race each other clean. Just happy to get this thing to victory lane today. I’m super pumped.”
Smith gave it everything he had and then some, switching from offensive to defensive mode to retain a respectable runner-up result.
“I think it was really good, “Smith said. “I tried to race John Hunter with a lot of respect to try to make sure one of us got the win, but at the end, I think the 00 (Cole Custer) was kind of beating my bumper off, so I thought it was fair to move him back.
“It was good tonight for us. Just thank you to Pilot Flying J, Toyota, TMC, Allstate Peterbuilt Group, Golden Harvest – everybody that helps. We will get it done next week.”
Next week proves to be one of the most intriguing races of the year with the Ag-Pro 300 at Talladega Superspeedway (Saturday, Apr. 22 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1) awaiting the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Maybe you know where you are, fightin’ fire with fire. (Photo: Trish McCormack | The Podium Finish)
As for Nemechek, who was so focused on winning Saturday night’s race, he was pleasantly reminded about winning the Dash 4 Cash bonus. Not surprisingly, he had a neat idea on how to spend the prize money.
“I think we should get some clocks with that Dash 4 Cash money,” Nemechek said.
Stage 1 Top 10 Finishers
Nemechek-S. Smith-Custer-Mayer-Herbst/Allgaier-Hemric-C. Smith-Retzlaff-B. Jones
Stage 2 Top 10 Finishers
Nemechek-Berry-Custer-S. Smith-Hemric/B. Jones-R. Truex-Herbst-C. Smith-Kraus
Call811.com Before You Dig Top 10 Finishers at Martinsville
Nemechek-S. Smith-Custer-Berry-B. Jones/Allgaier-Hemric-Kraus-Moffitt-C. Smith
