Erik Jones walks to his car before a NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich., on June 7. Paul Sancya / Associated Press
By Holden Mostofsky
Correspondent
LONG POND — Hard work is finally paying off for Legacy Motor Club drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones.
Nemechek had his best race of the season Sunday at Pocono Raceway in The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA with a fourth-place finish in the No. 42 Toyota.
Jones, meanwhile, followed up his second-place finish last week at Michigan with a sixth-place run Sunday in the No. 43 Toyota.
“Feels really good. I feel like we’ve been working toward this,” Nemechek said. “We’ve had really fast cars, but we just haven’t been able to put results on paper the way that we’ve wanted to. So, I’m just thankful for all the men and women at Legacy Motor Club, everyone that continues to work hard. Everyone in Toyota TRD, it’s been a lot of work, a lot of effort for sure, but we’re getting to the point where we’re starting to show that potential every single week.”
Before Sunday, the driver from Mooresville, North Carolina, had only one top-10 finish — a 10th at Watkins Glen in May.
But Sunday, he started eighth and led a race-high 42 laps to earn his first top-five of the season.
Execution, he said, was the reason for the strong finish.
“Everything — strategy, car speed, potential in our car restarts — went well,” Nemechek said. “We were able to execute a really good race and a really great day. I’m just proud of the effort on everyone’s behalf.”
He hasn’t had many like that this season, with three finishes in the teens, 10 in the 20s and one in the 30s. He earned 41 points at Pocono on Sunday, which is 10 more than his previous best.
Now, Nemechek hoped to carry his momentum into the next race, which is the inaugural event in San Diego on Naval Base Coronado. After that is Sonoma. Both are road courses.
“I’m really looking forward to San Diego and Sonoma,” Nemechek said. “I feel like we’ve taken a step in the right direction on our road course program, and then just continuing the progression that we’ve had over the last four or five weeks on our oval cars. It seems like the 42 and the 43 are definitely bringing really fast cars to the racetrack every single weekend, and now it’s just about executing that and getting the results to match what our full potential is.”
Jones was happy to see Nemechek finally have some success Sunday.
“It’s great for the company,” he said. “We’ve been wanting the 42 to obviously get up and have performance, and I think he’s had the pace,” Jones said. “I think he’s just struggled to put the race together and been caught up in a lot of wrecks and a lot of incidents. It’s nice to have him up front and getting some momentum going. Hopefully, it just carries through the whole company.”
After just two 10th-place finishes and everything else 20th or worse in the first 10 races, Jones has six consecutive efforts of 19th or better, including the top-six runs the past two weeks.
At Pocono, he started seventh and had an average running position of 8.34.
“I think what went well is we just executed well, nobody made a mistake,” Jones said. “Pit crew was solid. I think I did what I could do; there was nothing more for me to really gain.”
Still, Jones believes there are places for improvement.
“We just needed a little bit of balance out of our car,” Jones said. “We have pace in it, but we didn’t have it driving quite how we needed to be able to go up and run up front. So, just working on the balance to get a little bit more pace on it.”
Running in the top 10 is a lot easier and more enjoyable, Jones said.
“When you’re in 12th to 22nd on back, it’s just a battle, and everybody’s all over each other and making crazy moves,” he said. “It’s just more laid back in the top 10, so I would love to keep that going and hopefully just build more and more pace out of these fires.”
With their recent performances, Legacy Motor Club is finding success and becoming a threat in the NASCAR Cup Series. Both drivers support each other to become better.
“We’re working really close, we’re working really hard,” Nemechek said. “It’s one team, one dream. We’re all aligned and pushing the ball in the same direction.”