Jeremy Clements had a great run going in the Pennzoil 150 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on Saturday as he continues to chase down a potential NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff Berth. He seemed poised to be heading toward getting himself closer to that goal with a solid top-10 finish. That is, until a pit stop on lap 54 of the 60 lap race.
During the final pit stop of the day, Clements who was maintaining pit road speed, was nudged and pushed by Joe Gibbs Racing rookie Riley Herbst, which led to Clements’ No. 51 Chevrolet breaking the pit road speed limit. This resulted in a speeding penalty.
As a result, Clements was sent back to 22nd spot on the ensuing restart. After a feverish rally in the final few laps, 35-year old had to settle for a disappointing 13th-place finish.
Instead of gaining ground in his pursuit of a Playoff spot, Clements lost even more ground. He’s now 49 points behind the cutoff in 16th-position in the point standings.
Following the race, Clements took his frustration with Herbst to Twitter.
Thanks for the speeding penalty @rileyherbst you cost me a top 10
— Jeremy Clements (@JClements51) July 4, 2020
Herbst, who currently sits above the Playoff cutoff in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 ride, was several laps down after he had a tire failure late in the race. The fact that it was Herbst who is a Playoff contender, who was well out of contention in the race that foiled the day, is probably what helped boil Clements’ blood a bit more.
However, on Monday, Clements Tweeted that Herbst had actually called him since the race and had apologized for ruining the No. 51 team’s good race.
@rileyherbst did call me today and apologize so I appreciated that.
— Jeremy Clements (@JClements51) July 6, 2020
Herbst made a mistake Saturday at Indianapolis, but at least he did call Clements to clear the air.
