Saturday, February 25th, 2023
Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, CA
After the sun set on Auto Club Speedway, John Hunter Nemechek drove his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory in Sunday's Production Alliance Group 300 in the final race at the 2.0-mile track.
It wasn't supposed to be that way. The NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers were scheduled to race on Saturday, leaving the speedway's swan song to the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday, but rain and snow—yes, snow in Southern California's Inland Empire—forced postponement of the race until Sunday.
And after Kyle Busch won the Cup race, Nemechek, who drove for Busch in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last year, took the checkered flag in his first full-time stint in the JGR Supra.
"Man, this whole 20 team gave me one heck of a race car," said Nemechek, who took the lead for the last time after a restart on Lap 139 of 150. "Just a huge shout-out to all the guys who work on this 20 team.
"I think a lot of guys doubted (crew chief) Ben (Beshore) coming down from the Cup Series, and to have him on the box and to be able to establish the relationship I have with him, it's been awesome. I've worked with a lot of the guys on the team the last couple of years, and the pit crew—they got it done when it counted tonight."
Nemechek, who finished second by a matter of inches in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season opener at Daytona, led a race-high 49 laps and finished .761 seconds ahead of runner-up Sam Mayer. The Xfinity Series win was the third of his career, and it came at the track where his father, Joe Nemechek, won the first Cup pole of his career and the first-ever pole at the venue.
Justin Allgaier ran third, followed by Chandler Smith. Josh Berry was fifth, joining JR Motorsports teammates Mayer and Allgaier in the top five.
Mayer chased Nemechek for the final 12 laps but couldn't get close enough to make a move for the win.
"I'm super proud of my team," Mayer said. "We struggled early on, that's for sure. We had our work cut out for us, but we threw the kitchen sink at it, and we ended up second. All things considered, I'm really happy and really proud of these guys."
Cole Custer may have had the fastest car in the race. The driver of the No. 00 Stewart-Haas Ford, the defending race winner, swept the first two stages and led twice for 46 laps. But after a Lap 91 restart, Custer hit the outside wall on the backstretch, thanks to a flat tire, and sustained further damage when the Chevrolet of Austin Dillon couldn't avoid Custer's wounded car.
Custer finished 27th, one lap down.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | LA Golf | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
2 | 02 | David Starr | Houston, TX | Nov 11, 1967 | 56 | Chevrolet | our motorsports | Our Motorsports | Teddy Brown |
3 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Port Tobacco, MD | Feb 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Klutch Vodka | Motorsports Business Management | Jason Houghtaling |
4 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Riverton, IL | Jun 6, 1986 | 38 | Chevrolet | BRANDT | JR Motorsports | Jim Pohlman |
5 | 48 | Parker Kligerman | Westport, CT | Aug 8, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Big Machine Racing Spiked | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
6 | 25 | Brett Moffitt | Grimes, IA | Aug 7, 1992 | 32 | Ford | AM Technical Solutions | AM Racing | Joe Williams |
7 | 35 | Joey Gase | Cedar Rapids, IA | Feb 8, 1993 | 31 | Ford | OneLegacy/ CA Highway Patrol | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Paul Clapprood |
8 | 27 | Jeb Burton | Halifax, VA | Aug 6, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Contractor Rewards / State Water Heaters | Jordan Anderson Racing | Shane Whitbeck |
9 | 44 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Mooresville, NC | Jun 22, 1989 | 35 | Chevrolet | Jesus Revolution - The Movie | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Groves |
10 | 43 | Ryan Ellis | Torrence, CA | Nov 29, 1989 | 34 | Chevrolet | Costa Oil | Alpha Prime Racing | Michael Brandt |
11 | 08 | Gray Gaulding | Colonial Heights, VA | Feb 10, 1998 | 26 | Ford | North South Machinery / Panini | SS-Green Light Racing | Jason Miller |
12 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Tucker, GA | Jun 20, 1987 | 37 | Ford | CMRroofing.com | RSS Racing | Mike Scearce |
13 | 91 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | DGM Racing | DGM Racing | Mario Gosselin |
14 | 11 | Daniel Hemric | Kannapolis, NC | Jan 27, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Poppy Bank | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
15 | 6 | Brennan Poole | Sacramento, CA | Apr 11, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | TeamJDMotorsports.com | JD Motorsports | Kase Kallenbach |
16 | 00 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Production Alliance Group | Stewart-Haas Racing | Jonathan Toney |
17 | 99 | Garrett Smithley | Ligonier, PA | Apr 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | PCARx | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Lee Leslie |
18 | 24 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Toyota | GearWrench | Sam Hunt Racing | Kris Bowen |
19 | 4 | Bayley Currey | Driftwood, TX | Oct 29, 1996 | 27 | Chevrolet | KSDT CPA | JD Motorsports | Wayne Carroll Jr |
20 | 20 | John Hunter Nemechek | Mooresville, NC | Jun 11, 1997 | 27 | Toyota | Vons/Albertsons | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
21 | 26 | Kaz Grala | Boston, MA | Dec 29, 1998 | 25 | Toyota | Fire Department Coffee | Sam Hunt Racing | Allen Hart |
22 | 28 | Alex Labbe | Saint-Albert, Canada | Apr 29, 1993 | 31 | Ford | G Coin/ LARUE | RSS Racing | Steve Addington |
23 | 21 | Austin Hill | Winston, GA | Apr 21, 1994 | 30 | Chevrolet | Bennett Transportation | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
24 | 9 | Brandon Jones | Atlanta, GA | Feb 18, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Menards/Patriot Lighting | JR Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
25 | 53 | CJ McLaughlin | Framingham, MA | Jul 1, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Sci Aps | Emerling Gase Motorsports | Rick Bourgeois |
26 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Spartanburg, SC | Jan 16, 1985 | 39 | Chevrolet | PacWest First Pacific Funding | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
27 | 19 | Joe Graf Jr | Mahwah, NJ | Jul 12, 1998 | 26 | Toyota | CoverSeal | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
28 | 92 | Josh Williams | Port Charlotte, FL | Aug 3, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Call 811 / Alloy Employer | DGM Racing | Bryan Berry |
29 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Las Vegas, NV | Feb 24, 1999 | 25 | Ford | Monster Energy | Stewart-Haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
30 | 78 | Anthony Alfredo | Ridgefield, CT | Mar 1, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | DUDE WIPES | BJ McLeod Motorsports | Pat Tryson |
31 | 74 | Ryan Vargas | La Miranda, CA | Sep 23, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | CHK Racing | CHK Racing | Ryan Bell |
32 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | Alpine, CA | Sep 30, 1997 | 27 | Chevrolet | Whelen | Richard Childress Racing | Jeff Stankiewicz |
33 | 8 | Josh Berry | Hendersonville, TN | Oct 22, 1990 | 33 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats | JR Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
34 | 07 | Blaine Perkins | Bakersfield, CA | Feb 28, 2000 | 24 | Chevrolet | AUTOPARKit.com | SS-Green Light Racing | Mark Hillman |
35 | 38 | Kyle Sieg | Tucker, GA | Apr 16, 2001 | 23 | Ford | TopPools.com | RSS Racing | Brad Parrott |
36 | 1 | Sam Mayer | Franklin, WI | Jun 26, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | Accelerate Pros Talent | JR Motorsports | Mardy Lindley |
37 | 16 | Chandler Smith | Talking Rock, GA | Jun 26, 2002 | 22 | Chevrolet | Charge Me | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
38 | 31 | Parker Retzlaff | Rhinelander, WI | May 21, 2003 | 21 | Chevrolet | FUNKAWAY | Jordan Anderson Racing | Joshua Graham |
39 | 45 | Rajah Caruth | Atlanta, GA | Jun 11, 2002 | 22 | Chevrolet | Circle Pay | Alpha Prime Racing | Frank Kerr |
40 | 18 | Sammy Smith | Johnston, IA | Jun 4, 2004 | 20 | Toyota | Pilot Flying J | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |