John Hunter Nemechek continues to set himself as the top driver in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when he held off his boss Kyle Busch to win Saturday’s CRC Brakleen 150 at Pocono Raceway.
Nemechek started seventh behind pole-sitter Todd Gilliland. The field had barely crossed the line to start the race when Jack Wood was sent into the outside wall after contact with Chandler Smith and bounced him into Johnny Sauter. Zane Smith would lead much of the opening stage to win ahead of Busch, Sheldon Creed, Gilliland, Ben Rhodes, Stewart Friesen, Austin Hill, Christian Eckes, and Matt Crafton. Being a Cup Series driver, Busch did not receive stage points.
Smith continued to lead for Stage #2 before being passed by GMS Racing team-mate Creed. Shortly before the stage end, Creed elected to pit and surrendered the lead to Nemechek, who took the segment victory. Rhodes, Friesen, Hill, Crafton, Josh Berry, Ty Majeski, Chase Purdy, Grant Enfinger, and Kris Wright rounded out the top ten; the top five were all Toyota drivers. For Wright, it was his first career stage point, while Berry received none as he declared for the Xfinity championship.
Busch became the leader to start the final segment. Although Creed gave chase, a caution for Friesen’s wreck on lap 52 led to a restart in which Nemechek won out. Busch and Creed battled for second, which resulted in contact that allowed Nemechek to pull away. While Busch held Creed off to take second, he could not catch his employee as Nemechek scored his fifth win of the year and first at Pocono.
“We weren’t very good in Stage #1,” said Nemechek. “We kept working on it. […]
“We’ve got fast trucks every single week. We struggled at Nashville last week. It was probably one of our worst races and we finished 10th. We just have to continue pushing, continue working. We can’t take these wins for granted. They are hard to get, so hopefully we can get a few more before the year is done, win the regular season championship and have a shot at Phoenix.”
Busch, running his fifth and final allowed Truck race of the year, finished second to complete Kyle Busch Motorsports‘ third 1–2 finish after Las Vegas in March and Richmond in April; both races saw Nemechek beat Busch. KBM has eight wins in thirteen races in 2021.
Race results
| Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 7 | 4 | John Hunter Nemechek | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 2 | 22 | 51 | Kyle Busch* | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 3 | 10 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 4 | 18 | 26 | Tyler Ankrum | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 5 | 4 | 16 | Austin Hill | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 6 | 5 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 7 | 1 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 60 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | 21 | Zane Smith | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 9 | 8 | 17 | Ryan Preece* | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 60 | Running |
| 10 | 24 | 19 | Derek Kraus | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 11 | 20 | 25 | Josh Berry* | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 12 | 16 | 98 | Christian Eckes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 13 | 13 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 14 | 14 | 66 | Ty Majeski | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 15 | 15 | 23 | Chase Purdy | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | 15 | Tanner Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 60 | Running |
| 17 | 3 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 18 | 23 | 40 | Ryan Truex | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 19 | 21 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | AM Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 20 | 29 | 34 | Lawless Alan | Reaume Brothers Racing | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 21 | 25 | 12 | Tate Fogleman | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 22 | 33 | 3 | Howie DiSavino III | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 23 | 38 | 49 | Ray Ciccarelli | CMI Motorsports | Toyota | 60 | Running |
| 24 | 30 | 56 | Tyler Hill | Hill Motorsports | Chevrolet | 60 | Running |
| 25 | 11 | 18 | Chandler Smith | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 59 | Running |
| 26 | 19 | 1 | Hailie Deegan | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 59 | Running |
| 27 | 34 | 20 | Spencer Boyd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 59 | Running |
| 28 | 35 | 33 | Josh Reaume | Reaume Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | 59 | Running |
| 29 | 32 | 41 | Todd Peck | Cram Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 59 | Running |
| 30 | 26 | 02 | Kris Wright # | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 59 | Running |
| 31 | 36 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Ford | 58 | Running |
| 32 | 37 | 6 | Norm Benning | Norm Benning Racing | Chevrolet | 58 | Running |
| 33 | 6 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 58 | Running |
| 34 | 39 | 28 | Bryan Dauzat | FDNY Racing | Chevrolet | 57 | Running |
| 35 | 12 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 55 | Running |
| 36 | 31 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 52 | Engine |
| 37 | 27 | 45 | Bayley Currey | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 38 | Engine |
| 38 | 28 | 30 | Danny Bohn | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 17 | Transmission |
| 39 | 9 | 24 | Jack Wood | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 0 | Accident |
* – Ineligible for Truck points