Track: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Race: 20 of 36
Event: Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 (318 miles, 301 laps)
John Hunter Nemechek
No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang
Started: 36th
Finished: 36th (out)
Stage One: 11th
Stage Two: 18th
Stage Three: 36th (out)
John Hunter Nemechek took the green flag in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 36th place, following a random draw for starting position. After the first handful of laps, he radioed to the team that his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang “started off on the splitter… getting tight center off.” He pitted at the Competition Caution for 4 tires with an air pressure adjustment, fuel and a track bar adjustment. When a caution came out on Lap 62, Nemechek said the previous adjustment helped, but he still needed “more rotation through the center.” He pitted for 4 tires, fuel and another track bar adjustment under yellow. By the end of Stage 1, Nemechek had made his way into the 11th position and told Crew Chief Seth Barbour that he was “good right there… I like the way that’s going.” He and Barbour opted not to pit during the Stage Break Caution.
Shortly after Stage 2 got underway, the caution flag flew for rain at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. However, the track managed to stay dry enough that a red flag pause was not needed. Nemechek brought his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang to pit road for 4 tires and fuel under caution. Once the race restarted, Nemechek settled into the top 20 for a longer green flag run. When the caution came out on Lap 170, Nemechek told the crew that he had “lost grip in the tires as the run went on.” He pitted for 4 tires with a slight air pressure adjustment and fuel under caution. There were only a few green flag laps remaining in Stage 2, but by the end, Nemechek said the car felt pretty good. He would take the green- and white-checkered flag in the 18th position.
Nemechek would start the Final Stage of Sunday’s race in 16th place. On Lap 197, he noted that his No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang was free to fire off. When a caution came a few laps later, Nemechek said he was still on the free side and that it was hard to predict what the tires would do while running the top line. He pitted for 4 tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. On Lap 212, Nemechek had a tire go down and hit the wall in Turn 3, bringing an unfortunate early end to his day.
Nemechek on New Hampshire:
“That was definitely a hard hit, but I’m okay. An unfortunate end to our day in the No. 38 CITGARD Ford Mustang. We had a fast car and were pretty good on the short run. We struggled a little on the long run, but overall we had a fast race car. I can’t thank my guys enough for how we unloaded. We unloaded with speed and felt good about our situation. We had a top-15 car today, but we pitted for tires towards the end and must have run something over and had a left front tire go down, which ended our day. Really appreciate the support from our partners at CITGARD, coming on board with us today. We’ll have them back with us again a few more times this season, so we’ll still have another chance to get them a great finish.”
