NEMECHEK BATTLES THROUGH TURN FOUR AT DARLINGTON, BUT CLAIMS FIFTH-PLACE RESULT
Sam Hunt Racing Earns Two Top-10 Finishes
DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 13, 2023) – John Hunter Nemechek claimed a fifth-place result in Saturday afternoon’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race Darlington Raceway. Nemechek was leading when the white flag was displayed, but was battling with eventual race-winner Kyle Larson off of turn four when Nemechek spun to the inside wall and ultimately finished fifth. Sam Hunt Racing GR Supras of Kaz Grala (ninth) and Corey Heim (10th) earned the first pair of top-10 finishes for the organization.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Darlington Raceway
Race 10 of 33 – 200.1 miles, 147 laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Kyle Larson*
2nd, Justin Allgaier*
3rd, Cole Custer*
4th, Austin Hill*
5th, JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
9th, KAZ GRALA
10th, COREY HEIM
11th, SAMMY SMITH
35th, RYAN TRUEX
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 20 Pye Barker Fire & Safety Toyota GR Supra, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 5th
What happened at the end of the race battling with Kyle Larson for the win and how was your car overall?
“We had a really fast GR Supra all day. The pit crew was awesome, executed well on pit road all day. The strategy was great. Had a really fast race car and battling with one of the best in the sport in my opinion, Kyle Larson. It was a really great day. We will continue to work hard and continue to bring fast cars to the race track. Just disappointed a little bit from the standpoint of how that ended up there. Overall, we gave it a shot and still had a shot to win off of turn four. Fast car, top-five to show for it when it probably should have been victory lane or second. Hats off to all the guys at Toyota, TRD, Pye Barker Fire and Safety for what they do and this opportunity at Joe Gibbs Racing. We will win a lot more races, I guarantee you that.”
KAZ GRALA, No. 26 Fire Department Coffee Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 9th
How was your race overall today?
“A bit of a slow start for us today, but we got our Fire Department Coffee Supra sorted out after the first stage and got it pretty good moving forward. I’m sure a little bit of attrition helped us, but we ran right with and ahead of some of the most competitive cars in the series from some of the big teams. We just had a solid day, did what we needed to do, executed well just like we did at Dover all day. We made the most of it. Proud of everybody at Sam Hunt Racing. This was a fun first time at Darlington. This place is wild and I can’t wait to come back to this place later on.”
COREY HEIM, No. 24 GEARWRENCH Toyota GR Supra, Sam Hunt Racing
Finishing Position: 10th
How was your race today?
“I think we had an up and down day. We avoided a lot of carnage there in the early portion of the race. We just kind of played in conservative. I feel like this 24 group just needed kind of a base hit today. I feel like we had the potential to run better than we did, but we kind of jumped the fence early on and got caught up in a couple things. Then we made it back at the end there. Big thanks to Sam Hunt Racing, Toyota Racing, Gearwrench and everyone on this GR Supra for all they do.”
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