Story By: LEIGHTON / SIBILLE / LEGACY MOTOR CLUB – DAYTONA BEACH, FL
JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK
No. 42 DOLLAR TREE TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 19th
FINISH: 4th
POINTS: N/A
How did you miss that wreck?
“I think I closed my eyes and held the wheel straight. No, it was good spotting there at the top. We have a new spotter, Ryan Blanchard, and with myself, I felt like we worked well together. His first superspeedway race ever. A lot to learn, but I feel like we did well. Stayed out of the mess, stayed out of the carnage. Missed it by not very much. Overall, really solid night. I’m proud of the effort from everyone at LEGACY MOTOR CLUB. The whole Toyota, TRD camp – it was awesome to be able to lineup with Denny (Hamlin) and CBell (Christopher Bell) there at the end. I really had a shot to go up there and push and try to get a win. At least a Toyota won. It’s cool for CBell, but our Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE is really fast and it drives well. I’m looking forward to Sunday. I’ve got to make a few adjustments, work on it a little bit tomorrow in practice, a little drafting stuff – but learned a lot tonight – my first experience at a superspeedway in a Next Gen car. A lot to learn in a really short period of time, but I feel like we executed pretty well.”
What does this say about the start for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB – to put Jimmie in the field and top-fives for both full-time drivers?
“It’s awesome. It’s really, really cool to have both us finish that well, and to have Jimmie (Johnson) in the race as well. That was the most stressful part of the night – watching Jimmie race his way in. Overall, solid night by all three LEGACY MOTOR CLUB Camrys. Pretty cool to see Jimmie in a Toyota as well.”
ERIK JONES
No. 43 ADVENTHEALTH TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 12TH
FINISH: 5TH
POINTS: N/A
How much did you learn tonight?
“It was good. We had to kind of race all night. Had that mindset going in just with the new body and new manufacturer just to try to learn and figure out what it was going to do on Sunday. Yeah, it was quick. As soon as the green dropped, I was like, ‘Man, it’s good.’ And we were able to cycle right there to the front. It’s such a short race. Things just didn’t play out good enough for us to try and have a shot between pit road, and then that yellow came out right when we got cycled back to 11th. It just didn’t play out right. The Advent Camry was good, so it makes me look forward to Sunday a lot more than probably last night. We were a little worried about speed and it feels good now.”
JIMMIE JOHNSON
No. 84 CARVANA TOYOTA CAMRY XSE
START: 18th
FINISH: 12th
POINTS: N/A
What was your experience like tonight racing to get into the Daytona 500?
“We had a really competitive car. This Carvana Toyota Camry was very, very capable in the draft. It was pretty easy to get up to the front and kind of maintain. And, while I was enjoying my position on track, I just knew it was too early, I knew stuff was coming and I knew something would happen. A few things happened after the pit stop that were quite exciting. Thankfully, we were in the right spot at the right time at the checkered flag.”