– “Front Row” Joe Nemechek Returns to Top Step of the Podium Saturday in his NEMCO Motorsports 2007 No. 47 Made in The USA Chevrolet Silverado
– Pat Womack Continues Winning Am-Class Roll in his ex-Joe Gibbs Racing NEMCO-prepared 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry
WATKINS GLEN, New York (August 10, 2025) – “Front Row” Joe Nemechek returned to the top step of the podium while Pat Womack continued his recent winning roll Saturday in HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear competition at the Go Bowling at The Glen NASCAR race weekend at Watkins Glen International. A strong field of familiar NASCAR stock cars and trucks now retired from active competition ran a pair of 20 minute sprint races to both begin and end the day Saturday at The Glen as the second-year HSR NASCAR Classic series raced for the first time this season on a NASCAR Cup Series race weekend.
Nemechek drove his NEMCO Motorsports 2007 No. 47 Made in The USA Chevrolet Silverado to the overall and Pro Class victories in Saturday afternoon’s feature race. His main competition came from the ever-improving Womack, who battled with Nemechek all day in his ex-FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry prepared by NEMCO. Womack prevailed for his third and fourth straight NASCAR Classic Am-class victories and actually beat Nemechek to the line for overall honors as well in Saturday morning’s qualifying race.
The win put Womack on the pole for that afternoon’s feature event and he capably held off Nemechek before “Front Row” edged past for his first NASCAR Classic overall race win since April’s HSR The Mitty presented by Hagerty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
Womack stayed close to take the checkered flag second overall while sealing the Am division win as Nemechek’s strongest challenger for the second race weekend in a row. In June’s NASCAR Classic race at Lime Rock Park, Nemechek and Womack battled in that event’s feature race for second place as Ryan Gemmell stepped up to sweep the Pro and overall wins after a dominating performance in his NEMCO Motorsports No. 6 Toyota Camry.
At The Glen, Gemmell was beginning to move into the overall fight for the win Saturday afternoon only to slow with a mechanical issue. Still, he was classified third in class and joined Nemechek and series-debuting Brian Keselowski in the Pro top-three. Keselowski, the older brother of 2012 NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, garnered second-place Pro honors driving a 2000 No. 1 Dodge Ram campaigned in its prime by Dennis Setzer.
It was another quick NASCAR truck that claimed third overall, however, on Saturday as Sam LeComte completed the outright podium and took second in Am in the 2012 No. 69 Chevrolet Silverado.
Third in Am and fourth overall was secured by Mark Mercurio and his Flyin Wrenchz racing team that brought a quick 2012 No. 55 Toyota Camry with Mercurio at the wheel to a “Home Game” at The Glen. Mercurio and his team are headquartered only a couple of hours from Watkins Glen in the Buffalo-area community of East Aurora.
The overall top-five was completed by returning NASCAR Classic driver Chris Evans who showed no rust despite competing in his first race of the year in his Petty’s Garage 2013 No. 43 “Never Forget – 9/11/01” Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
Next up on the 2025 schedule is the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear Celebration at VIRginia International Raceway, which will be among the featured races at the HSR VIR Historics, September 4 – 7, on the 3.27-mile Southern Virginia road course.
Noteworthy
– Gemmell deliberately skipped Friday morning’s NASCAR Classic opening practice to focus on his ARCA Menards series race that afternoon. It paid off as he recorded another solid race finish in just his third ARCA start in his NEMCO Motorsports-prepared No. 29 TC3 Turf/Multibuilding Inc. Toyota Camry. Gemmell, who made his ARCA debut with his team last year at The Glen with a competitive eighth-place finish, improved to his first career ARCA top-five result in the No. 29 in June at Lime Rock. On Friday, he added a sixth-place finish at The Glen to his strong run of no result lower than eighth in his first three ARCA Menards series starts.
Joe Nemechek, Driver – 2007 No. 47 Made in The USA Chevrolet Silverado: “I’m having a lot of fun. This is a great series HSR and NASCAR have put together, and it’s really cool working on these cars. I mean, a lot of these cars are from my heyday, when I was doing so well in my NASCAR career, and some of the trucks are my son’s. We’ve worked hard on a lot of these cars for our competitors to make them drive how they’re supposed to drive. A goal coming into this was trying to help everybody get their cars where they are good to drive and not break, and we’ve accomplished that for the most part. The camaraderie, on and off the track, is great. Everybody is just so close, and we have so much fun coming to these great race tracks. This is all about the fun. Of course, everybody’s competitive, but it’s really about having fun. No drama, all fun, and we have such a good time. The last few years have been incredible. I’ve got a lot of great customers and have met so many good people that love this sport. I am as busy as I’ve ever been in my life. It is even the most work I’ve ever done in my life, but I’m having fun doing it and we’re going to keep building cars. This series is just going to get bigger and bigger, and it is great to be a part of it.”
Pat Womack, Driver – 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry: “This is a lot of fun. Just the power and the way that Joe and the Nemechek team guys can make these cars handle now. And the stopping power, it is almost like driving a sports car. Just so much fun, and we’re getting more and more people starting to join the HSR NASCAR Classic group. We want even more competition and other teams and drivers to get in on the fun. It is just so much fun. Just to be here on a huge NASCAR weekend, and watch our guys compete in Cup and Xfinity too, there is really nothing like it. I’m learning a lot too as I’m spending time here with Joe and Ryan Gemmell, and I can’t have a better coach than Joe. It is fantastic, and I’m honored to get to know him a little bit too.”
Chris Evans, Driver – 2013 No. 43 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1: “I’ve been off since last fall, but I’m back in action now. I really missed all these guys, and missed this great opportunity that HSR provides for us. This is the best fun money can buy, so I am glad to be back. It is great to see the reaction we get, and the fans here are incredible. We have so many repeat fans that were coming up and asking us to sit their kids in the cars, to sign autographs and stuff like that. It’s unbelievable how supportive they have been.”
About Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.: Goodyear is one of the world’s largest tire companies. It employs about 72,000 people and manufactures its products in 57 facilities in 23 countries around the world. Its two Innovation Centers in Akron, Ohio, and Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg, strive to develop state-of-the-art products and services that set the technology and performance standard for the industry. For more information about Goodyear and its products, go to www.goodyear.com/corporate.
About HSR: Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) is the premier vintage and historic racing series in North America. It was formed in the mid-1970s with an inaugural event at Road Atlanta and became a part of International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) in 2022. There was one goal then and it remains true today: to celebrate and enjoy the racing cars from the past. As a “time machine” of sights and sounds, HSR provides a venue for competitors and spectators alike to share in the wonderful history and excitement created by the cars that competed at race tracks around the world. HSR currently sanctions eight vintage and historic racing events at some of the world’s most renowned race tracks, including Daytona International Speedway, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway, Watkins Glen International and more. The complete schedule and full event information can be found on HSR’s website at www.HSRRace.com. Look for the HSR Channel on YouTube and follow HSR on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/HSRrace/, on Twitter X @HSR_race and on Instagram @HistoricSportscarRacing.
