John Hunter Nemechek Passes the Boss to Win at Pocono

LONG POND, PA – RIS - John Hunter Nemechek passed his truck owner Kyle Busch off a restart with six laps to go and pulled away to win Saturday's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Pocono Raceway. The victory is Nemechek's third in the last four races and his fifth overall this season.

“The fastest truck definitely won today,” Nemechek said after the win.

Busch may have finally met his match in the series.  Busch, running his final Truck race of the season, finished second. He won twice and finished second in three other races this season. Nemechek and Busch gave Kyle Busch Motorsports a 1-2 finish.

Sheldon Creed placed third. Tyler Ankrum was fourth. Austin Hill finished fifth in the 60-lap race. Creed’s third-place finish snapped a streak of three consecutive finishes of 14th or worse. Todd Gilliland’s seventh place finish kept him the playoff picture, and Matt Crafton finished sixth for the second week in a row.

Saturday’s race at Pocono was the final Camping World Truck Series race of the 2021 season for Busch. In five races this year, Busch earned two victories and finished no worse than second.

The race got off to an eventful start when contact was made between Johnny Sauter and Jack Wood when the green flag flied, sending Sauter into the outside wall. Wood was forced to retire from the race due to heavy damage on the No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet, while Sauter was able to continue for a 35th-place finish, five laps down.

Ryan Preece, who had run his first truck race a week ago, didn’t win, but finished 9th this time in his second truck race.

This race was the appetizer for two days of double headers.  NASCAR Cup competitors race later on today while Xfinity Series driver race Sunday morning.  The weekend is capped by another Cup race on Sunday.

Unofficial Results: 12th Annual CRC Brakleen 150, June 26, 2021, Pocono Raceway: 2.5 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 7, John Hunter Nemechek, No. 4 Power Up Premium Trail Mix Toyota, 60, , 1, 2, 12, 6, 50, Running

2) 22, Kyle Busch(i), No. 51 Cessna Toyota, 60, 2, , 1, 20, , 0, Running

3) 10, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Chaos & Kindness Chevrolet, 60, 3, , 1, 3, , 42, Running

4) 18, Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 LiUNA! Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 33, Running

5) 4, Austin Hill, No. 16 Toyota Tsusho Toyota, 60, 8, 4, , , , 42, Running

6) 5, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Ideal Door/Menards Toyota, 60, 10, 5, , , , 38, Running

7) 1, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Frontline Enterprises Inc Ford, 60, 4, , 1, 4, , 37, Running

8) 2, Zane Smith, No. 21 ARLON SLX+ Chevrolet, 60, 1, , 2, 18, 1, 39, Running

9) 8, Ryan Preece(i), No. 17 Morton Buildings Ford, 60, , , , , , 0, Running

10) 24, Derek Kraus, No. 19 HunterNation Toyota, 60, , , , , , 27, Running

11) 20, Josh Berry(i), No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 60, , 6, , , , 0, Running

12) 16, Christian Eckes, No. 98 Toyota, 60, 9, , , , , 27, Running

13) 13, Carson Hocevar #, No. 42 Sparco/Acurlite Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 24, Running

14) 14, Ty Majeski, No. 66 CR Brakleen Toyota, 60, , 7, , , , 27, Running

15) 15, Chase Purdy #, No. 23 BamaBuggies.com Chevrolet, 60, , 8, , , , 25, Running

16) 17, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Ford Performance Ford, 60, , , , , , 21, Running

17) 3, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Toyota, 60, 6, 2, 1, 2, , 34, Running

18) 23, Ryan Truex, No. 40 Marquis Spas Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 21, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GOTEXAN/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 29, Lawless Alan, No. 34 AUTOParkit Toyota, 60, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 25, Tate Fogleman, No. 12 Sim Seats Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 33, Howie Disavino III, No. 3 KEES Vacations/Bud's Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 38, Ray Ciccarelli, No. 49 Sam's Dock Toyota, 60, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 30, Tyler Hill, No. 56 Hill Motorsports Chevrolet, 60, , , , , , 13, Running

25) 11, Chandler Smith #, No. 18 JBL Toyota, 59, 5, , , , , 18, Running

26) 19, Hailie Deegan #, No. 1 Toter Ford, 59, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 34, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 Rich Mar Florist Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 10, Running

28) 35, Josh Reaume, No. 33 Reaume Brothers Racing Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 32, Todd Peck, No. 41 Holla Vodka Chevrolet, 59, , , 1, 1, , 8, Running

30) 26, Kris Wright #, No. 02 MasterTech Chevrolet, 59, , 10, , , , 8, Running

31) 36, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Fastener Supply Company Ford, 58, , , , , , 6, Running

32) 37, Norm Benning, No. 6 MDS A Sign Co Chevrolet, 58, , , , , , 5, Running

33) 6, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 58, 7, 3, , , , 16, Running

34) 39, Bryan Dauzat, No. 28 FDNY Chevrolet, 57, , , , , , 3, Running

35) 12, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Toyota, 55, , , , , , 2, Running

36) 31, Grant Enfinger, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 52, , 9, , , , 3, Engine

37) 27, Bayley Currey, No. 45 Niece/Circle B Diecast Chevrolet, 38, , , , , , 1, Engine

38) 28, Danny Bohn, No. 30 North American Motor Car Toyota, 17, , , , , , 1, Transmission

39) 9, Jack Wood, No. 24 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 0, , , , , , 1, Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time: 1 Hrs, 13 Mins, 35 Secs.

Race Length: 60 Laps, 150 Miles

Average Speed: 122.31 MPH

Margin of Victory: 1.337 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 21, 51, 2, 38, 18, 99, 52, 16, 98, 88

Stage 2 Top 10: 4, 99, 52, 16, 88, 25, 66, 23, 9, 02

Comments: John Hunter Nemechek has won the CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway, his 11th victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Caution Flags: 4 for 13 laps;

Laps: 2-4 (#13, 18, 24 Incident Frontstretch [None]);

17-19 (Stage 1 Conclusion [6]);

32-35 (Stage 2 Conclusion [18]);

52-54 (#52 Incident Turn 1  [56]).

Lead Changes: 8 among 7 drivers;

T. Gilliland 1-4;

Z. Smith 5;

B. Rhodes 6-7;

Z. Smith 8-24;

S. Creed 25-27;

J. Nemechek 28-32;

T. Peck 33;

K. Busch(i) 34-53;

J. Nemechek 54-60.

Cometic Gasket Pole Award:  Todd Gilliland, #38

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race:  John H. Nemechek, #4

Sunoco Rookie of the Race:  Carson Hocevar, #42