By Justin Driggers
Florence Morning News
DARLINGTON, S.C. — So, which is harder to put on? A NASCAR driver’s fire suit or the one worn by actual firefighters?
“That fire suit, for sure,” Cup Series driver John Hunter Nemechek said Monday outside the Darlington Fire Department. “Lot of pieces, parts to the puzzle…making sure you get everything on correctly. Obviously, you want to be safe.
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“Having to do it in under two minutes – having everything on and be ready to go? I think it would be a difficult task. …Hats off to these guys that have to do that.”
Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club, spent much of Monday visiting first responders in Darlington before meeting fans and throwing out the first pitch that evening at the Florence Flamingos game at Carolina Bank Field.
“It’s been really fun,” Nemechek said. “Being able to suit up with the fire department was really neat. Seeing the fire suit that what they wear compared to what we wear on a weekly basis is definitely different. Theirs is way heavier than ours is.
“But it’s been really neat to be able to come down here to be on the police simulator, to tour the police station and really just get to know more about the city of Darlington and being able to come and hang out with some of the first responders.”
Nemechek, whose father Joe had a long and illustrious NASCAR career, has been to Darlington several times over the years as a kid watching his dad and more recently as a driver himself.
“I’ve eaten downtown a couple times, and we did the parade here when we were here in the spring, so got a little bit of a tour,” Nemechek said. “I remember coming down here as a kid and going downtown quite a bit.”
As far as Darlington Raceway itself, count Nemechek as a big fan of the track and of the Southern 500, he added.
“Too tough to tame,” he said smiling. “I think coming down to Darlington is a lot of fun. It’s a driver’s racetrack. You have to have a car that performs well, but being able to run the fence, run the bottom, the tire degradation, tire fall off, being able to slide around quite a bit. …it’s a long race.
“…Iconic crown jewel race. Everyone wants to win it, right? It’s probably one of the hardest races to win in my opinion on the schedule. I’m just glad we still have an opportunity to race the Southern 500.”
Nemechek is also still alive in NASCAR’s new In-Season Challenge tournament. He defeated Josh Berry last weekend in Atlanta and heads into the Chicago street race pitted against last week’s race winner, Chase Elliott .
“He got his win last week, so hopefully we do it this week,” Nemechek said. “Looking forward going to Chicago. It’s been really neat to have the in-season tournament – the bracket challenge. Bring in a different perspective for the fans (and) having them fill out brackets. I think a lot were busted last weekend in Atlanta, that’s for sure.”
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