John Hunter Nemechek wins in rough and wild finish at Atlanta

This time, John Hunter Nemechek got to celebrate his victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Nemechek survived a wild race at Atlanta Motor Speedway that saw Christopher Bell take out two drivers – Matt Crafton and Daniel Suarez – racing for the lead and then wreck himself while he appeared ready to capture the victory.

Instead, Nemechek was left battling Cameron Hayley for the victory in a two-lap dash to the finish.

The win is Nemechek’s second in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. His first came last season at Chicagoland Speedway, an intermediate track much like Atlanta.

Nemechek wasn’t able to properly celebrate his win last season as the fuel-mileage race left him with no gas in his No. 8 Chevrolet after the race.

He had no such issues on Saturday.

“The pit crew won us this race. I can’t thank those guys enough,” Nemechek said in Victory Lane. “They gained me over 13 spots on pit road and I can’t thank them enough.”

The ace up his sleeve

The pit crew of Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson worked as Nemechek’s pit crew in Saturday’s race. They also served in the same capacity for driver Justin Allgaier earlier in the Xfinity Series race in the day.

Just as in his win last season at Chicagoland, Nemechek drove an unsponsored black-colored truck in the race. The underfunded team he drives for is owned by his father, NASCAR veteran Joe Nemechek.

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