Long: Unforgettable night for Jeremy Clements stretches into morning

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — What Jeremy Clements couldn’t to put into words, Noah Gragson could Saturday morning at Daytona International Speedway.

Gragson had just been cleared from the infield care center after a vicious crash. He had been contending for the lead in the second of three overtime restarts before the incident ended his race.

But Gragson’s disappointment faded when he saw a monitor and the final lap of the rain-delayed race.

“Holy s—-!” Gragson said. “Yeah! Let’s go! Jeremy just won it!”

Gragson admits “I kind of made a little scene in (the infield care center), but everybody was pumped up, all the doctors.”

As Clements circled the track after the caution waved and ended the race at 1:28 a.m. ET, he radioed his crew: “What the hell happened? We won? … What the hell?”

What happened was remarkable — especially since his win occurred five years to the day that he won at Road America for his only other Xfinity Series victory. 

But to win at Daytona? This speedway, so special for so many in the sport, has extra meaning for Clements. His family was with Rex White when White won the 1960 NASCAR title. Jeremy’s grandfather was the crew chief for A.J. Foyt when Foyt won the July 4 race at Daytona in 1964. 

Clements spent his childhood “racing and tearing up my mom and dad’s yard in a yard kart and just dreaming about having an opportunity to race.”

After winning at Daytona, Clements struggled to describe the feeling.

“Frickin’ phenomenal,” he said at about 2:30 a.m. ET. “Maybe I can give you some better words another day after I think about it and really realize it. It’s just incredible and thrilled beyond belief.”

#NASCAR … I asked ⁦@JClements51⁩ what winning at ⁦@DAYTONA⁩ meant. He said: “Frickin’ Phenomenal” … he also