LONG POND Pa — Legacy Motor Club has shown some serious speed in the past month of races, and that continued on Sunday (June 14) afternoon at Pocono Raceway.
John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones contended up front for most of the Great American Getaway 400 as they finished fourth and sixth respectively.
Both drivers qualified in the top 10, combined for 18 stage points, and they each earned 41 points on the day.
For Nemechek, it was redemption after he had a good run going at Michigan last weekend before getting collected in a restart crash, settling for a 14th place finish.
At Pocono, Nemechek flipped the opening stage, pitting in the last few laps ahead of several others on the same strategy, which allowed him to assume the lead at the start of the second stage.
Nemechek was able to stay out front for a good portion of the middle stage after a hard battle for the lead with Tyler Reddick. He finished the stage in third and was able to keep track position over the final stage and come home fourth.
Nemechek’s fourth place run tied his career best finish in the NASCAR Cup Series and he led the most laps of any race in his Cup career at Pocono with 42 laps led. His 42 laps led was also the highest mark of any driver in the field during Sunday’s event.
After the race, Nemechek said that if he got clean air on the final run, he might’ve been able to get the win. However, with his team’s strategy, he was forced to take more fuel than Denny Hamlin and William Byron, putting them behind.
“I felt like we executed the race really well,” Nemechek said on pit road postrace. “Felt like we had the most potential in one of our cars for sure, but overall, I feel really good about the finish today.”
The No. 42 team moved up in points from 28th to 26th with this result, trailing the Chase cutline by 78 points.
“I felt like we probably had a race-winning car before the caution came out,” Nemechek said. “Today was probably one of the best days I’ve had in the Cup Series as a driver.”
As for Jones, this sixth place run continued his hot streak over the past four races. He finished runner-up last weekend at his home track of Michigan, which pulled him within 18 points of a Chase spot.
Unlike his teammate, Jones stayed out in the first stage allowing him to collect three stage points with an eighth place result.
The second stage saw the two teammates battle for the lead alongside fellow Toyota driver Chase Briscoe but all three of them finished behind Todd Gilliland. Gilliland stretched the fuel to win his first career stage followed by Briscoe, Nemechek, and Jones.
In the final stage, Jones held his own in the top 10 but was no match for the top contenders in the race, including eventual winner Hamlin, and brought his No. 43 car across the line in sixth.
“I don’t think we had a race-winning car today,” Jones said on pit road postrace. “We had speed, we just lacked a little balance this week, at Michigan we had it all.”
Since Charlotte, Jones has jumped up from 25th in the standings all the way into 15th after Pocono. He is now in a Chase spot, tied with Austin Cindric, as they sit just ahead of Brad Keselowski in 17th, four points behind them.
“We’re bringing good race cars…they have speed more than anything, more than even just the drivability,” Jones said. “It’s been a long time since I think we’ve really been in the playoff picture.”
The Legacy Motor Club duo will look to continue their improved performance in San Diego next weekend for the street course race at Naval Base Coronado.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
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