John Hunter Nemechek celebrates in victory lane after winning his second straight SpeedFest 125 Pro Late Model victory at Watermelon Capital Speedway Sunday. Photo by Terry Spackman
No one had a stronger finish to the 2014 racing season than John Hunter Nemechek. The 17-year-old took home trophies in two of late model racing’s crown jewels – the All-American 400 in Nashville, TN and the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, FL.
On Sunday, he showed no signs of rust after the brief offseason, winning yet another big race. Nemechek drove from 10th to the win in the Championship Auto Racing’s (CRA) 125-lap SpeedFest Pro Late Model feature at Watermelon Capital Speedway in Cordele, GA.
The 17-year-old passed Senoia, GA’s Bubba Pollard on a lap 111 restart and led the final 15 laps to take the win. Pollard held on for second, with Harrison Burton, Chris Dilbeck and Korey Ruble rounding out the top five.
“Whoever could get the outside on restarts had the advantage,” Nemechek said in victory lane. “We had to work for this one today.”
Nemechek, who clocked in with the fastest time during Saturday’s qualifying session, started 10th after an inversion but didn’t stay there for long. By lap 20, he had already moved into third and was gaining on Burton and Justin Ashburn when Christopher Tullis spun in turn 4. Jordan McCallum couldn’t miss Tullis’ spinning car and T-boned him. Both drivers were OK, but McCallum’s car was too damaged to continue.
On the restart, Ashburn stacked up the field off of turn 2, slowing everyone but Nemechek, who dove to the inside and grabbed the lead. In just 34 laps, Nemechek had erased his 10-spot handicap.
But Nemechek hardly ran away with the race from there. The duo of Nemechek and Burton swapped the lead back and forth during the few green flag laps were run between 10 caution periods. Nemechek found speed on the restarts, using the high line a few times to take the top spot. But a few laps into the short runs between spins and crashes, Burton found speed on the bottom line and twice drove back by Nemechek for the lead.
All the while, Pollard was lurking. After starting ninth, he methodically moved into the top five by lap 50. He then picked off two more positions during a restart on lap 58 and joined the battle for the lead in earnest.
As the three jostled for the top spot with the race nearing its halfway point, the engine in Joe Ross’s car expired on lap 65. Jay Coen slid in Ross’s oil, and the two both slammed into the outside wall at the end of the frontstretch. Both drivers were OK, but both cars were destroyed.
The hits only hardened as the race dragged on. After CRA officials stopped counting caution laps on lap 100, the race became stuck on lap 110. The caution flag waved for the eighth time on lap 110 after Chris Hacker drove over the back of Fredrick Moore’s car off of turn 4.
On the restart, the caution flag waved again on lap 110 as Marty Wood, Chandler Smith, Justin South and Luke Christian tangled together in turn 4. On the ensuing restart, the field was slowed again – yes, still on lap 110 – as a pileup in turn 2 claimed the cars of Hacker, Riley Thorton, Quinntan Bear, T.W. Fisher and Dalton Grindle.
In the brief bits of racing in between the late caution periods, Pollard used his high line advantage on restarts to take the lead from Nemechek. But on the final restart on lap 111, Nemechek was now second, giving him the faster outside lane.
Nemechek timed the restart perfectly and moved out to a five-car-length lead, holding the advantage over the final 15 laps.
“We had a decent car, we just got kind of tight and we weren’t able to make a run at the end,” Pollard said before praising Nemechek afterward. “I like running with (Nemechek). When we get together, it’s going to be a hardnosed battle, but we race each other with a lot of respect.”
The win was the first for Nemechek in a Chevrolet. And the season is just beginning.
“It’s our first win with Chevy this year,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have many more.”
All results are unofficial until certified by race officials.
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JEGS/CRA All Stars Tour
Watermelon Capital Speedway – Cordele, GA
SpeedFest 125 (Unofficial) – Jan. 25, 2015
1. John Hunter Nemechek
2. Bubba Pollard
3. Harrison Burton
4. Chris Dilbeck
5. Korey Ruble
6. Josh Adkins
7. Bret Holmes
8. Matt Wallace
9. Justin Ashburn
10. Austin Wayne Self
11. Justin South
12. Chandler Smith
13. David Hodges
14. Dalton Grindle
15. Quinnton Bear
16. Riley Thornton
17. T.W. Fisher
18. Marty Wood
19. Luke Christian
20. Chris Hacker
21. Fredrick Moore
22. Kody Evans
23. Derek Scott, Jr.
24. Joe Ross
25. Jay Coen
26. Christopher Tullis
27. Jordan McCallum
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