NASCAR at Charlotte results: John Hunter Nemechek wins Trucks race

The NASCAR Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway is tonight. The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 starts at 8:30 p.m. on FS1.

The race is 134 laps (201 miles) on the 1.5-mile quad oval with stages ending on laps 30, 60 and 134. All times are Eastern.

Check back here for live updates throughout the race and follow NASCAR reporter Alex Andrejev on Twitter at @AndrejevAlex.

NASCAR at Charlotte Truck Series results

Final Stage

10:26 p.m., Lap 134: John Hunter Nemechek held off Carson Hocevar in the final 10 laps of the race after the caution flag for the violent wreck between Johnny Sauter and Trey Hutchens. Nemechek’s truck also took some damage driving behind the wreck when debris flew into his roof.

“It was nuts,” Nemechek said. “I honestly didn’t see the truck up against the outside wall...All of the sudden, I knew I was running down the guys in front of me and it was pretty much like a fireball and stuff flying everywhere and I kind of just shot for the middle.”

Nemechek’s truck survived through the final laps, and he was able to put about half a second between his No. 4 Toyota and Hocevar in his mirror to win a $50,000 Triple Truck Challenge bonus at Charlotte. Hocevar finished second, followed by Ben Rhodes. Nemechek stood in the winner’s circle next to his trophy holding three fingers up, symbolizing his three wins in the series. He called the win at his hometown track special.

“I had friends and family here,” said Nemechek, a Mooresville native. “(My wife) Taylor was able to be here this weekend and able to come to Victory Lane.”

Nemechek also noted that this marks the 40th win for his crew chief Eric Phillips, adding, “Next one’s 50. Gotta get there.”

After an already successful year in the series since moving to a full-time Trucks ride with Kyle Busch Motorsports from the Cup Series last year, Nemechek said he feels like he’s been able to prove he’s capable of winning and has embraced the hashtag #here4wins this year. But does the success he’s had in Trucks mean he’ll look to return to Cup?

“Who knows,” Nemechek said. “I’m smiling. I’m winning races. What could be better?”

10:14 p.m., Lap 119: A caution comes out for a violent wreck between Johnny Sauter, Trey Hutchens and Drew Dollar. Hutchens’ team reported that a tire went down to send him into the wall, and before the spotters were able to communicate the slowed car, Dollar followed by Sauter slammed hard into the back of Hutchens. The contact ripped off the side of Sauter’s truck, and left Hutchens’ ride badly damaged. Sauter eventually responded to team members on his radio, but it took a few moments. Update: Both Hutchens and Sauter have been released from the infield care center.

9:50 p.m., Lap 83: Green flag pit stops are underway, with Nemecheck in the lead, and likely to cycle back to the front.

9:45 p.m., Lap 71: With just over 60 laps to go, John Hunter Nemechek races to the front. Nemechek is chasing his third win this season.

Stage 2

9:35 p.m., Lap 60: Zane Smith wins the second stage at Charlotte followed by Austin Hill, Ty Majeski, Derek Kraus, Ryan Truex, Matt Crafton, Carson Hocevar, Stewart Friesen, Grant Enfinger and John Hunter Nemechek in the top-10 for points.

9:24 p.m., Lap 55: A caution comes out for a massive spin by Stage 1 winner Sheldon Creed. Creed gets dropped back during the restart and is hit on the side by Todd Gilliland to send him spinning across the track. This will end Creed’s night and force another restart as the stage winds to a close. Chase Purdy also gets caught up in the wreck so this will end his night.

9:15 p.m., Lap 50: Tanner Gray spins to bring out the caution as Sheldon Creed chases John Hunter Nemechek down in first.

Stage 1

9:12 p.m., Lap 40: Johnny Sauter and Chandler Smith make contact running close to the wall to send Sauter to pit road with a flat tire. Smith appears to have minor damage as well, and continues racing, but he badly needs a caution to make repairs.

9:04 p.m., Lap 30: Sheldon Creed wins the first stage of the Trucks race, leading all laps in the stage. This is his first stage win since Martinsville last October. Creed was followed by Todd Gilliland, John Hunter Nemechek, Austin Hill, Zane Smith, Tyler Ankrum, Derek Kraus, Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes and Hailie Deegan in the top-10.

8:41 p.m. Green flag! Todd Gilliland pulls out to take the early lead followed by Sheldon Creed and Austin Hill, but Gilliland drops back after a few laps to battle with John Hunter Nemechek for a third place spot as Creed runs to first.

Trucks pre-race

8:33 p.m.: Engines are fired for the Truck Series race as fans fill into the grandstands. Todd Gilliland is starting on the pole with Sheldon Creed in the front row. The temperature outside has dropped to around 75 degrees, which is much cooler than the 80-85 degrees the trucks practiced on earlier today, meaning the track temperatures have also dropped and will force teams to adjust for the race.

Dillon leading Cup Series practice

7:36 p.m.: In the final minutes of Cup practice, Austin Dillon tops the speed chart at 180.935 miles per hour. The top-10 drivers are Dillon, Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Joey Logano, Daniel Suárez, Tyler Reddick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., William Byron and Kyle Busch. Eight of the top-10 drivers are in Chevrolet equipment. The manufacturer reached its 800th win last Sunday at Circuit of the Americas.

7:26 p.m.: Erik Jones, Joey Logano, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are running in the top-five for practice.

7 p.m.: Erik Jones leads the speed charts early as Cup drivers make laps in preparation for the Coca-Cola 600 this weekend. Teams also had practice ahead of the Daytona 500, the Bristol dirt race and last weekend at Circuit of the Americas. Jones’ best speed sit at 180.319 miles per hour after five laps. All 38 drivers have made at least one lap.

Rain cancels Trucks qualifying

6 p.m.: Rain hit Charlotte Motor Speedway just as today’s Xfinity practice rolled to a close to cancel the qualifying session for the NASCAR Truck Series. That means all 38 trucks will make the final show. The starting lineup is set based on NASCAR’s performance metric that weights a driver’s finishing position from the previous race (25%), owner’s finishing position from the previous race (25%), owner’s points ranking (35%) and the driver’s fastest lap from the previous race (15%).

Based on that formula, last weekend’s winner at Circuit of the Americas Todd Gilliland will start on the pole for tonight’s race with Sheldon Creed in the front row. Two drivers, Timothy Peters and Drew Dollar, will drop to the rear for the start of the race after damaging their trucks during practice and switching to a backup.

Seven Truck Series drivers spun during the practice session for teams earlier in the day. John Hunter Nemechek, a two-time race winner this year, said earlier that the track felt like “ice” on the freshly laid traction compound during the practice session. His truck hit the wall early in practice and the team had to make repairs following the session.

Riley Herbst, who finished with the fastest speed at Xfinity practice, said he wished NASCAR didn’t lay any PJ1 because it’s so inconsistent.

“Last year, we had it and that was the place to be,” Herbst said. “If you weren’t in it, you were in trouble. Now if you touch it, you’re gonna spin out. I think it adds a cool feature to it. I just wish it was more consistent”

HOW TO WATCH NASCAR TRUCKS RACE AT CHARLOTTE

• Race: North Carolina Education Lottery 200
• Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Date: Friday, May 28
• Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1 (8 p.m. ET)
• Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
• Distance: 201 miles (134 Laps) with stages ending on laps 30, 60 and 134

NASCAR TRUCKS RACE AT CHARLOTTE STARTING ORDER

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This story was originally published May 28, 2021 at 6:38 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription