John Hunter Nemechek takes the checkered flag in second position (Photo: Mitchell Ritchtmyre | The Podium Finish)
CONCORD, N.C – John Hunter Nemecheck finished second in the Alsco Uniforms 300 on Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Nemechek had a fast car all weekend, logging the fastest laps during Friday’s practice session and qualifying in the second position, just 0.0153 seconds behind the polesitter, Justin Allgaier.
Although the Xfinity series race was delayed until Monday due to inclement weather and teams battled more weather delays on Monday, Nemechek continuously had one of the fastest cars throughout the race.
A weather delay during the race at Charlotte Motor Speedway (Photo: Mitchell Richtmyre | The Podium Finish)
Nemechek drove his No. 20 Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra to a second-place finish in Stage 1 followed by a second-place Stage 2 — both behind teammate Ty Gibbs.
Notably, the closing laps came down to a fuel mileage battle between Nemechek and Allgaier. In a post-race interview, Nemechek reflected on how difficult it is to log laps and save fuel while trying to maintain a distance from the leader.
“It was definitely tough to not push as hard as you could there at the end and try to run [Justin] Allgaier back down,” Nemechek said. “We raced each other really hard — really clean, some aero games for sure, but overall Mobil 1 Toyota GR Supra was as fast as Xfinity 10G.”
Additionally, Nemechek made contact with the wall before the weather delay, and said that he “didn’t do us any favors by stuffing it in the fence before we had our whole rain delay earlier.”
Nemechek’s strong race allowed him to maintain the lead in driver’s points. Nearly halfway through the regular season, Nemechek has a 10-point advantage over Austin Hill, who has three victories.
The 25-year-old has maintained a consistent season, securing wins at Auto Club Speedway and Martinsville Speedway with seven top-five finishes. While he’s satisfied with the consistency, Nemechek hopes that will translate to an opportunity at the Xfinity Series title.
“If consistency is key to win the championship, we are pretty consistent,” Nemechek said. “Just keep plugging on and we will go click off some more wins.”
The North Carolina native has shown plenty of speed to collect more wins throughout the middle segment of the season and work towards that championship.
Before any playoff races, though, Nemechek will head west to Portland International Speedway on June 3 for the Pacific Office Automation 147. The race is set for 4:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
