The Texas Motor Speedway hosted a chaotic Cup Series race on Sunday that saw a silent stage one which was followed by crash and caution filled back-to-back stages. HMS’s Chase Elliott broke his 42-race winless streak among the chaos. While his teammate Alex Bowman just like in Martinsville last week fell victim to someone else’s mess and ended the day as the worst HMS Chevy.
Legacy Motor Club’s John Hunter Nemechek and Alex Bowman were involved in a crash on stage two of the race that ended their race early, as the cars had significant damage, forcing Bowman to retire. JHM was able to return to the track only to DNF later in the race. The No:42 Toyota Camry was awarded a P34 finish while the No:48 Chevy Camero ZL1 was awarded a P37 finish. Only Austin Hill finished worse than him.
Both drivers were the culprit in the situation, as it was Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell that started the chain reaction. The No:20 car spun out in the corner, forcing the drivers behind him to slow down and take evasive action to avoid wrecking. Bowman who was racing a car behind Bell got checked up due to this.
He made a sudden right turn, only for the Camry of JHM to slam into the nose of his Chevy and causing damage to both of their cars. They both spun out and drifted for some time on the infield grass before coming to a stop. What is most disappointing for the duo is the fact that Bell, who caused the incident got control back of his car and went on to finish at P17.
John Hunter Nemechek explains what went wrong
The incident was a result of both driver hitting the breaks hard and getting into a situation where they had nothing to do other than collide. Nemechek pointed out that just like Bowman he hit the break hard when he saw the No:48 spin, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a clash.
And then I did the same thing. I hit the brakes pretty hard and spun and I had nowhere to go. It's part of it, I guess. John Hunter Nemechek said.
He then went on to explain the second incident that involved the No:2 Ford Mustang of Austin Cindric that ended his day. He pointed out that the fixed tow link of his Toyota snapped when he tried to overtake the 2022 Daytona 500 winner and made him retire.
We fixed the tow, had it really fast. Toyota Camry XSE there and then the second one there I just drove in on the outside of the two and it snapped. I guess it's part of this car. I guess I learned a lesson the hard way. John Hunter Nemechek added.
JHM has no beef with Bowman and Cindric as none of them had anything to do with the incident that led to the DNF as they were in the wrong place in the wrong time. They will be hoping to clean up their execution next-week and get back to racing at the top.
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