Ryan Gemmell spent the opening part of the blockbuster LiUNA! 150 race weekend joining his competitors in saluting American stock car racing’s legendary history while sweeping the race wins in the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear doubleheader at Lime Rock Park. Then he provided the full paddock and the huge crowd in attendance a possible glimpse of NASCAR’s future.
Rounds 5 and 6 of the 2025 HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear season, Gemmell equaled the season win record of his coach, mentor and team owner Joe Nemechek with flag-to-flag victories in both Friday’s qualifying race and Saturday’s 33-lap feature event in his NEMCO Motorsports his 2009 No. 6 Toyota Camry. Gemmell came into the Lime Rock weekend with one 2025 victory in the feature race at the season-opening event in March at Sebring International Raceway while Nemechek arrived as the series-leading three-race winner.
With the scorecard evened up, Gemmell and Nemechek will battle for the HSR NASCAR Classic Pro division title in the second half of the 2025 HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear season with a trio of doubleheaders at Watkins Glen International (August 8 – 10), VIRginia International Raceway (September 5 – 7) and the ROVAL at Charlotte Motor Speedway (October 3 – 5).
For now, Gemmell immediately called on the momentum of the NASCAR Classic victory at the LiUNA! 150 with another standout performance Saturday with a top-five finish in the weekend-ending ARCA Menards Series Lime Rock 100 in his NEMCO Motorsports-prepared No. 29 TC3 Turf/Multibuilding Inc. Toyota Camry. Gemmell qualified sixth and battled in the top three frequently in the 100-lap race enroute to a competitive fifth-place finish.
The first order of business for Gemmell at Lime Rock, however, was the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear doubleheader. Topping every official on-track session of the weekend, Gemmell started from the pole in both the Friday and Saturday races and led every circuit in each 33-lap race for a pair of commanding victories. Friday’s comfortable 13.468 second win over the competition was bettered by Saturday’s 22.646 second margin of victory.
Nemechek finished second in both races in his NEMCO Motorsports 2007 No. 47 Made in The USA Chevrolet Silverado but could never get close enough to challenge Gemmell.
Instead, Nemechek had his hands full in Saturday’s feature with the always quick Patrick Womack in his ex-FedEx Joe Gibbs Racing NEMCO-prepared 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry. Womack passed Nemechek at the start and held the position for several laps before “Front Row Joe” retook second place and held it to the finish.
Gemmell, Nemechek and series-debuting Buz McCall completed the NASCAR Classic Pro podium, with the impressive 78-year-old McCall finishing sixth overall in his own American Equipment Racing (AER) 1998 No. 96 Caterpillar Chevrolet Monte Carlo. A successful stock car and sports car racing team owner, McCall is the principal of AER and campaigned the road-race specification Monte Carlo in its prime with Ron Fellows and Robby Gordon. McCall bought the No. 96 back at auction early last year and proved neither he nor the Chevy – the oldest driver and car competing in NASCAR Classic at Lime Rock – have fallen off the pace.
Meanwhile, Womack took the checkered flag Saturday a solid third overall and secured the NASCAR Classic division win. He shared that podium with Scott Dolfi, who finished fourth overall while taking class runner-up honors in his 2016 No. 4 Chevrolet Silverado. John Ciferno Sr. completed the overall top five and captured third-place NASCAR Classic honors in his 2021 No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro.
Launched in response to the surging popularity of the former HSR Group 8 historic stock car class, the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear is open to retired stock cars from active competition. Eligible entries include vehicles built to previous NASCAR rule book specifications for Cup, Xfinity, Truck, and ARCA series. However, current-generation cars — such as the Cup Series Generation 7 chassis — are not permitted in NASCAR Classic competition.
Next up for the HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear is the Go Bowling at The Glen full weekend of NASCAR competition at Watkins Glen International, Aug. 8-10. This year’s race marks the third-straight appearance for HSR historic stock cars on the New York track’s NASCAR weekend following last year’s NASCAR Classic debut and a demonstration race in 2023. At this event last year, Gemmell made his ARCA Menard’s debut with an eighth place finish in addition to competing in NASCAR Classic competition.
Ryan Gemmell, Driver – 2009 No. 6 Toyota Camry: “It was great, and really why we go to races is to get the fans involved. So, whenever you can go to an event like this where there’s a huge fan presence, it just makes it that much better. It was also good that we were all able to go out and have a good clean race. Nobody had any real issues, nobody broke, we put on a good show for the fans and it was great all around. It was a lot of fun, my first time there, and the track is a blast. The race fans up in Connecticut and that area are really something. I’d love to try and make a career out of driving, and I’m going to try and do as much as I can, but there’s so much that goes into it. A lot of cards have to fall your way for stuff like that to happen, but I’m certainly going to keep trying my hardest and see if I can’t make it work out, that’s for sure.”
Joe Nemechek, Driver – 2007 No. 47 Made in The USA Chevrolet Silverado: “Everybody had fun. The track is incredible. The fans were incredible, and I could not believe how many people were there. The place was packed. Ryan got the best of me this past weekend. He’s really good on the simulator, particularly on his home sim, so he was much more prepared than me. The first time I saw the track was Friday, but Ryan just had that little bit of edge on what to do, and that is really good. He is doing the work, this is all about getting the training, and I am trying to speed up his learning curve. He’s a quick learner, he knows all the parts of the race car, and I am trying to do the same thing I did with him that I did with my son John Hunter Nemechek. We want to see him have some future success. Pat was on it this weekend too. For being at a new race track, I was impressed with how quickly he picked it up, along with all of our drivers really. All of our HSR NASCAR Classic guys picked up the track quickly, found more speed every session, and they loved the race track.”
Pat Womack, Driver – 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry: “It’s an honor to be part of the NASCAR Classic group and to see it growing. For most of us, it was the first time at Lime Rock, and what an incredible experience. The fans are so positive, and we had a lot of people coming to look at the cars, kids sitting in cars and a lot of pictures. And what an incredible track. A lot of elevation changes and a little ‘loopy de loop’ there at the back part of the track, which is a lot of fun in a NASCAR car. It was an honor to be at Lime Rock. The track itself is so much fun. I got Joe at the start on Saturday, which was a nice little surprise, so for about two or three laps I got to play around in second, but he ended up getting by me again. I felt like I had better pace Saturday than Friday, so I think it was just seat time and learning the track, which was really helpful.”
