NASCAR
John Hunter Nemechek Wins Texas After Leading Last Seven Laps
FORT WORTH, Texas – Unpredictability is one word that can be used to sum up the Xfinity Series Playoffs at Texas. 12 cautions pushed this race to a near three-hour run time in almost triple-digit heat. After Justin Allgaier appeared to have the race in hand, John Hunter Nemechek came in clutch for a seventh win of 2023. Driver 20 now joins Allgaier locked into the Round of 8.
Chaos struck early and often, with a lap one crash taking Sam Mayer out of contention. The JR Motorsports No. 1 now faces a must-win scenario in two weeks on the Charlotte Roval.
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From the pole, Justin Allgaier’s car was on rails up front. The No. 7 Chevrolet swept both Stages, leading 133 laps total. The dominant day was seemingly derailed for Allgaier though on a lap 114 restart, when the 7 was nearly sent around after a big push from Chandler Smith. Allgaier fell back to 16th, having to dig in and rally forward.
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Allgaier opted to go off-strategy by pitting under caution almost alone on lap 120. Once Allgaier retook the lead under green flag pit stops, another caution saved his day. Only eight cars on the lead lap at this time trapped several other front runners a lap down. This allowed Allgaier to remain up front uncontested. The 7 ran out of tires with this strategy though, meaning they were behind the eight ball when another caution flew on lap 178.
The 7 was a sitting duck on old tires, with John Hunter Nemechek, Parker Kligerman and many others on fresh rubber. Going back green with 10 laps left, Allgaier initially drove away. Fresh tires on Kligerman’s No. 48 gave him a shot at the lead though, but he couldn’t complete the pass on Allgaier. This let Nemechek close up his gap, making the winning pass with seven laps left. After stumbling on the last restart, Nemechek won his way into the Round of 8 with a Texas triumph.
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“I messed up that restart, it bounced out of third gear, that one was on me,” Nemechek said. “I knew I had to push hard and try to recover there. Hats off to this team and Joe Gibbs Racing. It is absolutely amazing what we’ve been able to accomplish so far this year. I don’t think we’re done yet, that’s for sure. We set a lot of goals with this No. 20 team coming into this year, and still have yet to achieve all of them.”
“Win number seven is big, with ROMCO back in victory lane here at Texas. Thank you to Toyota, Pye Barker, all of our great sponsors. The best thing is that there’s some great fans here, and thank every single one of you for coming out and supporting us. Penelope (newborn daughter) is here too, it’s the first time that she’s traveled to the racetrack with Taylor, Aspen and myself. First victory lane for her, let’s go!”
“Preparing for the Round of 8, my goal coming into today was to lock ourselves in. Our road courses haven’t been very great with myself this year. JGR as an organization has been really good on road courses, but not having to worry about the Roval is a relief. We’re still going to go there, try and play strategy and try to win the race. Focus then moves onto Vegas, Homestead, Martinsville and onto Phoenix.
Behind Nemechek and Kligerman, the top-10 finishers were: Sammy Smith, Chandler Smith, Justin Allgaier, Cole Custer, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed, Brandon Jones and Brett Moffitt. See the new Playoff standings below, with an off week ahead before the Round of 12 cutoff race.
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Xfinity cars will return to action Saturday, October 7 on the Charlotte Roval. The green flag will fly at 3:30 p.m. ET on USA, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90. The Drive for the Cure 250 will see four driver’s championship hopes end, on one of the wackiest racetracks around. Two drivers below the cut line are also stout road racers. Can either of them cause Playoff chaos in the cut race?
Written by Peter Stratta
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Photo Credit to Johnathan Bachman/Getty Images
