Track: Darlington Raceway, 1.36 Mile Oval
Race: 5 of 38
Event: The Real Heroes 400 (400.2 miles, 293 laps)
John Hunter Nemechek
No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang
Started: 34th
Finished: 9th
Stage One: 21st
Stage Two: 20th
Stage Three: 9th
John Hunter Nemechek took the green flag in the 34th position in The Real Heroes 400 Sunday afternoon at Darlington Raceway. The day’s event marked the first time NASCAR has competed in over two months, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nemechek, along with the rest of the field, fired off without having practiced or qualifying at the track “Too Tough To Tame.” His No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang’s balance was all over the place to start the race and the team made various adjustments during early pit stops to improve the car’s handling. Nemechek would finish Stage 1 in the 21st position.
Nemechek’s No. 38 Scag Power Equipment machine was free for much of Stage 2 and lacked front grip. The crew continued to make wedge adjustments and added grill tape during two pit stops. As the race went on, the handling improved and Nemechek finished Stage 2 in 20th place.
In the third and final stage, Nemechek spent much of his time inside the Top-15 on the leaderboard. The car’s balance continued to get better and Nemechek soon found himself battling for the 8th position. In his career-best finish and Front Row Motorsports’ best result to date at Darlington Raceway, Nemechek brought his No. 38 Scag Power Equipment Ford Mustang home in 9th place.
Nemechek on Darlington:
“We had a great day. I’m very excited that we were able to come home P9. My entire No. 38 Scag Power Equipment team and pit crew did an amazing job. Everybody executed all day with no mistakes. We made the right adjustments. Seth and the engineers did a great job getting the car ready for this race. The pit crew was flawless and I couldn’t have asked for a better day. It was great to get kicked off on the right foot for these races coming up. Hopefully, we can continue to build on this and create some momentum and continue to get our cars faster each and every week. It’s great to be back and I’m so excited to be able to race again on Wednesday. Thank you to all the fans that are out there supporting. We miss you at the race track. It’s definitely different without you guys there and I can’t wait until the day that you guys are back with us. Thank you to Scag Power Equipment and all of our partners for getting us to the race track. None of this would be possible without you guys.”