By RaceScene Publisher on Saturday, 26 June 2021
Category: The Checkered Flag

John Hunter Nemechek leads another KBM 1–2 in CRC Brakleen 150

John Hunter Nemechek continues to set himself as the top driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when he held off his boss Kyle Busch to win Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway.

Nemechek started seventh behind pole-sitter Todd Gilliland. The field had barely crossed the line to start the race when Jack Wood was sent into the outside wall after contact with Chandler Smith and bounced him into Johnny Sauter. Zane Smith would lead much of the opening stage to win ahead of Busch, Sheldon Creed, Gilliland, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Christian Eckes, and Matt Crafton. Being a Cup Series driver, Busch did not receive stage points.

Smith continued to lead for Stage #2 before being passed by GMS Racing team-mate Creed. Shortly before the stage end, Creed elected to pit and surrendered the lead to Nemechek, who took the segment victory. Rhodes, Friesen, Hill, Crafton, Josh Berry, Ty Majeski, Chase Purdy, Grant Enfinger, and Kris Wright rounded out the top ten; the top five were all Toyota drivers. For Wright, it was his first career stage point, while Berry received none as he declared for the Xfinity championship.

Busch became the leader to start the final segment. Although Creed gave chase, a caution for Friesen’s wreck on lap 52 led to a restart in which Nemechek won out. Busch and Creed battled for second, which resulted in contact that allowed Nemechek to pull away. While Busch held Creed off to take second, he could not catch his employee as Nemechek scored his fifth win of the year and first at Pocono.

“We weren’t very good in Stage #1,” said Nemechek. “We kept working on it. […]

“We’ve got fast trucks every single week. We struggled at Nashville last week. It was probably one of our worst races and we finished 10th. We just have to continue pushing, continue working. We can’t take these wins for granted. They are hard to get, so hopefully we can get a few more before the year is done, win the regular season championship and have a shot at Phoenix.”

Busch, running his fifth and final allowed Truck race of the year, finished second to complete Kyle Busch Motorsports‘ third 1–2 finish after Las Vegas in March and Richmond in April; both races saw Nemechek beat Busch. KBM has eight wins in thirteen races in 2021.

Race results

FinishStartNumberDriverTeamManufacturerLapsStatus
174John Hunter NemechekKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota60Running
22251Kyle Busch*Kyle Busch MotorsportsToyota60Running
3102Sheldon CreedGMS RacingChevrolet60Running
41826Tyler AnkrumGMS RacingChevrolet60Running
5416Austin HillHattori Racing EnterprisesToyota60Running
6588Matt CraftonThorSport RacingToyota60Running
7138Todd GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord60Running
8221Zane SmithGMS RacingChevrolet60Running
9817Ryan Preece*David Gilliland RacingFord60Running
102419Derek KrausMcAnally-Hilgemann RacingToyota60Running
112025Josh Berry*Rackley WARChevrolet60Running
121698Christian EckesThorSport RacingToyota60Running
131342Carson HocevarNiece MotorsportsChevrolet60Running
141466Ty MajeskiThorSport RacingToyota60Running
151523Chase PurdyGMS RacingChevrolet60Running
161715Tanner GrayDavid Gilliland RacingFord60Running
17399Ben RhodesThorSport RacingToyota60Running
182340Ryan TruexNiece MotorsportsChevrolet60Running
192122Austin Wayne SelfAM RacingChevrolet60Running
202934Lawless AlanReaume Brothers RacingToyota60Running
212512Tate FoglemanYoung’s MotorsportsChevrolet60Running
22333Howie DiSavino IIIJordan Anderson RacingChevrolet60Running
233849Ray CiccarelliCMI MotorsportsToyota60Running
243056Tyler HillHill MotorsportsChevrolet60Running
251118Chandler SmithKyle Busch MotorsportsToyota59Running
26191Hailie DeeganDavid Gilliland RacingFord59Running
273420Spencer BoydYoung’s MotorsportsChevrolet59Running
283533Josh ReaumeReaume Brothers RacingChevrolet59Running
293241Todd PeckCram Racing EnterprisesChevrolet59Running
302602Kris Wright #Young’s MotorsportsChevrolet59Running
313610Jennifer Jo CobbJennifer Jo Cobb RacingFord58Running
32376Norm BenningNorm Benning RacingChevrolet58Running
33652Stewart FriesenHalmar Friesen RacingToyota58Running
343928Bryan DauzatFDNY RacingChevrolet57Running
351213Johnny SauterThorSport RacingToyota55Running
36319Grant EnfingerCR7 MotorsportsChevrolet52Engine
372745Bayley CurreyNiece MotorsportsChevrolet38Engine
382830Danny BohnOn Point MotorsportsToyota17Transmission
39924Jack WoodGMS RacingChevrolet0Accident
Italics – Competing for Rookie of the Year
* – Ineligible for Truck points
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