Top Dog: John Hunter Nemechek
Let’s face it, Legacy Motor Club has been horrendous this season.
Most of that has been from rotten fortunes, but the speed sure has not made up for it.
What’s the good thing about a 36-race season, however?
There is time to find a silver lining, and that is something that Legacy has accomplished before. For example, Erik Jones landed in victory lane at Darlington Raceway in 2022 despite missing the playoffs (the team was then branded as Petty GMS Motorsports).
For John Hunter Nemechek, a scenario like Jones’ that year was badly needed, as he had not finished inside the top 10 and only had one top 15 since New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June. But with some gambling, he finally cracked the top 10 in the South Point 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (Oct. 20).
The first stage wasn’t promising for Nemechek, as he finished 27th after starting 26th. However, with some adjustments in stage two and strategy throughout the field thanks to a couple of cautions, the car came alive, and he drove up to 13th by the end of the second frame.
Nemechek flirted with the top 10 during the final stage on pure speed, but strategy was still one of the top cards in the deck in the closing laps. Nemechek stretched his fuel run late into race, cracking the top five at one point before sliding back to ninth at the checkered flag.
The 27-year-old earned his fourth top 10 of the season in just his second start with Brian Campe as crew chief, a move made before the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL that saw Nemechek’s former crew chief, Ben Beshore, move over to Jones’ No. 43.
Whether this blossoms into a late-season surge to cap off the 2024 season remains to be seen, but it’s important for Nemechek to string some momentum together. For a driver who dropped back to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series after having a NASCAR Cup Series ride, worked his way back up the ranks and came into 2024 as a top prospect, the season has definitely not gone according to plan.
But there are three races left, and those can make more of an impact going into next year than anticipated.
Notable Underdog Runs
With disaster striking several top contenders throughout the race, the top 20 was filled with underdogs. Leading the way in that category was Corey LaJoie.
LaJoie returned to Las Vegas with a chip on his shoulder. He displayed loads of speed in the spring race with Spire Motorsports, running in the top…
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