RELATED: Full results | Playoff standings
TALLADEGA, Ala. – John Hunter Nemechek wasn’t in every wreck that unfolded during Saturday’s fred’s 250 Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
It just felt that way.
The NEMCO Motorsports racer was involved in only one of the day’s four multi-truck incidents, and it nearly knocked him out of the playoffs. But in the end, the 20-year-old skated through most of the bedlam, finished a surprising sixth and avoided elimination.
He’s one of six that move on to stops at Martinsville, Texas and Phoenix, after which two more will be culled from the field, leaving four to head to Homestead and race for the 2017 title.
“I’m pretty sure we were in almost every wreck there was today,” Nemechek said afterward. “I just can’t thank all my guys enough; they never gave up. My pit crew was awesome fixing the truck.
“We got stage points. We accomplished everything we wanted to except for winning stages and winning the race.”
Nemechek entered Saturday’s race eighth among the eight playoff contenders and 14 points behind Austin Cindric (Brad Keselowski Racing) in the sixth-place cutoff spot.
Caught in a five-truck incident on Lap 54, Nemechek was left with a badly damaged, but salvageable No. 8 Chevrolet. Somehow he managed to remain either slightly ahead or just behind Chase Briscoe (BKR) in the battle for the final Round of 6 position, depending on pit stops and the ever-changing running order that occurs at the 2.66-mile track.
RELATED: Nemechek involved in wreck
When Austin Wayne Self spun to bring out a caution and send the race into overtime, Nemechek thought his luck had finally run out. His truck’s fuel pressure was promising and he was running 12th on the final restart.
He was told he had to finish 12th or higher to advance.
“I think we restarted 12th on that last restart and actually coming to take the green, one to go to the restart, going down the backstretch I actually lost all fuel pressure,” Nemechek said. “I was kind of freaking out at that point … luckily it never shut off.”
A crash on the final lap brought out the yellow one more time, brought the race to an end and provided a bit of a points cushion to Nemechek.
Spotter Jason Jarrett, Nemechek said, deserved a shout-out for helping guide him through many of the incidents.
“I’m pretty sure his mouth hurts from talking so much,” Nemechek said of his eyes in the sky.
Briscoe had lost multiple laps early when an oil leak sent the No. 29 Ford to the garage for repairs. But enough drivers had issues to allow him to remain on the cusp of advancing, had Nemechek slipped.
RELATED: Briscoe encounters early trouble
“That would have been a heck of a story,” said Briscoe, who finished 22nd. “We were close all day long; when Kaz (Grala) wrecked I really thought we might have a shot at that thing. And then John Hunter had his issue. We could definitely taste it; we were close all day long.
“It wasn’t meant to be. … Got to think big picture that I’m still in a race car for a living. As much as I wanted to give Brad this championship, we’ve got four races left and we’ll try to go win some.”
The two-truck organization will not return next season.
Grala finished 29th after early contact took the No. 33 Chevrolet out of contention and out of the playoff picture.
Parker Kligerman picked up the victory in the No. 75 Toyota fielded by the Abingdon, Virginia-based Henderson Motorsports.
Joining Nemechek in the Round of 6 will be Christopher Bell (Kyle Busch Motorsports), Cindric (BKR), Matt Crafton (ThorSport Racing), Johnny Sauter (GMS Racing) and Ben Rhodes (ThorSport).