During the final stage of Sunday’s Cook Out Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, there was a moment in time where it looked like the stars may perfectly align for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB to find Victory Lane for the first time in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek both found themselves in contention to win the Southern 500, one of four crown jewel events on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule each season, but fell short when the checkered flag was displayed to Toyota corporate teammates Chase Briscoe and Tyler Reddick.
Both Jones and Nemechek had a superior setup to their competitors on the race’s long runs, and as the cautions fell in the final stage, the run to the checkered flag, and the victory in one of the biggest events of the season would come down to the longest run on tires all night.
Jones, the senior driver at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB and a two-time Southern 500 race-winner, stayed with the two leaders throughout the entire final run on Sunday, but struggled to make progress around the No. 45 of Tyler Reddick in the final laps, hindering his chance at the victory.
“Probably to come off in the lead, leaving pit road,” Jones said when asked what he needed to secure the victory. “We were all kind of going the same speed. I felt like we were probably a little bit better than both of them. I couldn’t get the run. I thought I had [Tyler Reddick] there with maybe four or five to go. There was a little hole on the top, he squeezed up and filled it. Racing for the win.”
“Yeah, it’s hard to be that close,” he continued. “Would have liked to have had another one. We were right there all day, good speed with the Dollar Tree Camry. We just need more of that. Hopefully, we keep these cars rolling and get one soon.”
Finishing just behind Jones, teammate John Hunter Nemechek recorded a career-best result in the NASCAR Cup Series, in fourth. The Mooresville, North Carolina-native was just behind Jones during the entirety of the final run, and at times looked like he was going to mount a charge before slipping behind the top three at the end of the race.
Nemechek was at the front for a lot of Sunday’s event, and during the second-to-last run of the event, was drastically closing on race-leader Chase Briscoe and his biggest competition of the evening, Tyler Reddick. Losing the third spot on the restart, to his teammate no less, was likely what cost him a shot at the victory.
“I wish we had more laps. The more that I ran, the better that I was,” said Nemechek. “I hated to see that caution there at the end because I felt like we were in a really good spot, long run speed-wise, with the green flag cycle coming and everything else. Just not a lot of short-run speed, but we made the most out of it.”
With Jones (No. 43) coming home in third, and Nemechek (No. 42) just behind in fourth, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB put a pair of NASCAR Cup Series entries inside the top five for just the second time ever, and the first time on a non-superspeedway.
“Proud of the effort from everyone at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. We continue to get better. It is pretty cool to have the No. 42 and No. 43 to finish in third and fourth at the Southern 500,” Nemechek added. “I know I’m proud of the driver for myself, I’m proud of the effort. I’m proud of Travis Mack and everyone who has been putting a lot into our Pye-Barker Toyota and making it faster. It feels good to come home fourth.”
Darlington Raceway, which has often been recognized as a racetrack where strong drivers thrive, proves once and for all that LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is on the rise, and that their driver roster can win races and compete for top-fives in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Of the team’s nine career top-fives, seven of them have come this year (four from Erik Jones, two from John Hunter Nemechek, and one from Jimmie Johnson in the DAYTONA 500). Next, LEGACY MOTOR CLUB is chasing that elusive first trip to Victory Lane.
