John Hunter Nemechek | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | John Hunter Nemechek June 11, 1997 Mooresville, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
Achievements | 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Regular Season Champion 2014 Snowball Derby Winner 2014 All American 400 Winner 2015, 2016 Master of the Pros 144 Winner 2014, 2015, 2016 SpeedFest 125 Winner 2015 Snowflake 100 Winner 2012 Allison Legacy Series Champion | ||||||
Awards | 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver | ||||||
NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
62 races run over 5 years | |||||||
Car no., team | No. 42 (Legacy Motor Club) | ||||||
2024 position | 34th | ||||||
Best finish | 27th (2020) | ||||||
First race | 2019 AAA Texas 500 (Texas) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race (Phoenix) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
110 races run over 6 years | |||||||
Car no., team | No. 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing) No. 26 (Sam Hunt Racing) | ||||||
2023 position | 4th | ||||||
Best finish | 4th (2023) | ||||||
First race | 2018 Rinnai 250 (Atlanta) | ||||||
Last race | 2024 Tennessee Lottery 250 (Nashville) | ||||||
First win | 2018 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas) | ||||||
Last win | 2024 Tennessee Lottery 250 (Nashville) | ||||||
| |||||||
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career | |||||||
149 races run over 11 years | |||||||
2023 position | 89th | ||||||
Best finish | 3rd (2021) | ||||||
First race | 2013 Kroger 200 (Martinsville) | ||||||
Last race | 2023 Fr8 208 (Atlanta) | ||||||
First win | 2015 American Ethanol E15 225 (Chicagoland) | ||||||
Last win | 2022 Kansas Lottery 200 (Kansas) | ||||||
| |||||||
ARCA Menards Series career | |||||||
1 race run over 1 year | |||||||
Best finish | 72nd (2022) | ||||||
First race | 2022 Dawn 150 (Mid-Ohio) | ||||||
| |||||||
ARCA Menards Series East career | |||||||
3 races run over 2 years | |||||||
Best finish | 48th (2013) | ||||||
First race | 2013 NAPA Auto Parts 150 (Pensacola) | ||||||
Last race | 2014 Bully Hill Vineyards 125 (Watkins Glen) | ||||||
| |||||||
Statistics current as of July 20, 2024. |
John Hunter Nemechek (born June 11, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing and the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He is the son of NASCAR driver Joe Nemechek and was the 2012 champion in the Allison Legacy Series.
Nemechek was born on June 11, 1997, Nemechek is a native of Mooresville, North Carolina; [1] he was named after his uncle, John Nemechek, who had been killed in a racing accident earlier that year in a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway. [2] He was a student at the Davidson Day School in Davidson, North Carolina. [3] Nemechek was born the oldest of three full siblings. Nemechek also has one older half-brother.
Nemechek was the subject of a children's book on racing, Racin' Buddies, written by his father in 2001. [4]
Nemechek began his racing career at the age of 5, competing in go-karts, quarter midget cars and in dirt bike competition. [3] He moved up to stock car competition in 2010, competing in the Allison Legacy Series with sponsorship from England Stove Works. [3] [5]
In 2012, Nemechek moved up to late model and super late model competition, [6] competing in the Champion Racing Association Super Series and American Speed Association Midwest Tour; he also competed in the World Series of Asphalt at New Smyrna Speedway during Speedweeks. [7] Nemechek won praise from Sprint Cup Series driver Kyle Busch following a CRA Super Series race in which both drivers competed. [7]
In June 2012, Nemechek won the pole for the Howie Lettow Memorial 150, an ASA Midwest Tour event, at the Milwaukee Mile; he was scheduled to take a driver's education course the following week as he had just passed his 15th birthday. [8] He finished 23rd in the event. [9]
After competing in the 2012 Snowball Derby, [10] starting second and finishing tenth, Nemechek won the 2012 Allison Legacy Series championship, winning 15 of the season's 18 races. [11] [12]
In 2013, Nemechek moved to competing in the Southern Super Series as well as selected races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, [12] starting with the UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway in February. [13]
In 2014, Nemechek won the 300-lap Snowball Derby. [14]
In late-2013, Nemechek made his debut in the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 22 Toyota for SWM-NEMCO Motorsports, a brief joint venture between Joe Nemechek and Sid Maudlin. He finished 19th at Martinsville and 21st at Phoenix. [15] He competed in two events, with a best finish of 16th. [16]
Nemechek ran 10 races during the 2014 season, finishing a season-best fifth place at New Hampshire. [16]
For the 2015 season, Nemechek ran all but five races in the schedule. On September 19, 16 years to the day his father won his first Cup race, he won his first Truck Series race at Chicagoland. At the end of the season, Nemechek finished 12th in points and received the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award.
For his first full-time season in 2016, Nemechek won at Atlanta. At Canada, Nemechek and Cole Custer battled for the lead when Nemechek bumped Custer, which led to Nemechek losing control and intentionally sending both drivers off-road, pinning Custer to the wall. Before the winner was declared, Nemechek was tackled by Custer; Nemechek would be named the winner. [17] Nemechek finished the season eighth in the points standings.
In 2017, Nemechek won back-to-back races at Gateway and Iowa. He missed the Championship Four after finishing second at Phoenix. His season ended once again with an eighth place in the points standings.
From 2018 to 2020, Nemechek scaled back to a part-time schedule. During those years, he scored a win at Martinsville in 2018.
In November 2020, after parting ways with Front Row Motorsports in the Cup Series, Nemechek signed with Kyle Busch Motorsports for the 2021 Truck Series season. [18] During the 2021 season, he scored wins at Las Vegas, Richmond, Charlotte, Texas, and Pocono. Aside from clinching the regular season championship, Nemechek finished the season with a career-best third in the points standings.
In 2022, Nemechek won at Darlington and Kansas and finished fifth in the points standings.
Nemechek drove two races for Tricon Garage in 2023, finishing 31st at Las Vegas and third at Atlanta.
For the 2018 season, Nemechek joined Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 42 NASCAR Xfinity Series car on a part-time basis. In his debut at Atlanta, he finished fourth, despite being in an early wreck involving Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer. Nemechek won at Kansas and finished 13th in the points standings. [19]
In 2019, Nemechek signed with GMS Racing for the full Xfinity schedule in the No. 23 Chevrolet. [20] On November 9, Nemechek and his father Joe made motorsports history at Phoenix by being the first father-son duo to race in all three main series in one weekend. [21] Despite not winning a race, Nemechek finished the season seventh in points after finishing sixth at Homestead. [22]
For 2021 and 2022, Nemechek ran part-time in the Xfinity Series with Sam Hunt Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. [23] During those years, he won at Texas in 2021.
In December 2022, Joe Gibbs Racing announced that Nemechek would pilot the returning No. 20 Toyota Supra full-time for the 2023 season in the Xfinity Series. Nemechek began the 2023 Xfinity season with a second-place finish at Daytona. Throughout the season, he scored wins at Fontana, Martinsville, Atlanta, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Kansas. [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] During the playoffs, Nemechek won at Texas. [30] He finished 28th at Phoenix and fourth in the points standings. [31]
While running full-time with Legacy Motor Club in the Cup Series, Nemechek shared the No. 20 with Aric Almirola for the 2024 Xfinity season. He started the season with a seventh place finish at Daytona. Throughout the season, he scored wins at Las Vegas and Nashville. [32] [33]
On October 29, 2019, Front Row Motorsports announced that Nemechek would fill in for Matt Tifft in the No. 36 Ford for the final three races of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series after medical issues forced Tifft from the ride. [34] On December 12, FRM announced that Nemechek would replace David Ragan as the driver of the No. 38 Ford for the 2020 season, competing for the 2020 NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors. [35]
Nemechek started the 2020 season with an 11th-place finish in the 2020 Daytona 500. After a two-month break, four races into the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Nemechek would get the first top-10 of his Cup career in the first race in the double-header at Darlington. This would also be the first top-10 for FRM at a track other than Talladega or Daytona since 2016. [36] Nemechek would not get another top-10 until the Talladega spring race, where he finished eighth. [37] He scored his third top-10 with another eighth-place finish at the Talladega fall race and finished the season 27th in the points standings. On November 16, Nemechek parted ways with Front Row Motorsports. [38]
On October 18, 2022, it was announced that Nemechek would return to the Cup Series for the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, filling in for Bubba Wallace in the 23XI Racing No. 45 car after Wallace was suspended for the race after he intentionally retaliated against, crashed and fought Kyle Larson in the previous week's race at Las Vegas. [39] Nemechek actually had a chance to drive that car earlier in the season after Kurt Busch's concussion although 23XI decided to instead put Ty Gibbs in the car despite Nemechek being selected as the team's reserve driver at the start of the season. (Wallace, the driver of the team's No. 23 car, would switch cars with Gibbs during the playoffs to compete for the owners' championship.) [40]
On September 6, 2023, Legacy Motor Club announced that Nemechek will drive the No. 42 full-time in the Cup Series in 2024, his first full-time ride since the 2020 season. [41] In October, Nemecheck was tapped to drive the No. 42 Sunseeker Camaro at Homestead. [42] His season contained four top 10 finishes, including a season-best result of sixth at Bristol, though a number of poor finishes led him to 34th in the standings — last of all full-time entrants. [43] [44] [45] On November 19, LMC named Travis Mack as the crew chief of the No. 42 in 2025. [46]
On July 5, 2022, it was announced that Nemechek would run the main ARCA Menards Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the No. 55 car for Venturini Motorsports in preparation for the Truck Series race there on the same weekend. It was his debut in the series. [47]
An announcement was made on January 11, 2024, that John Hunter would make his sportscar debut in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Daytona, piloting the No. 23 Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO with codrivers Bubba Wallace and Corey Heim. [48]
Nemechek is married to Taylor Nemechek and they have two daughters.[ citation needed ]
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)
Year | Team | Manufacturer | Start | Finish |
---|---|---|---|---|
2020 | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 23 | 11 |
2024 | Legacy Motor Club | Toyota | 10 | 7 |
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | NKNPSEC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2013 | Spraker Racing | 37 | Chevy | BRI | GRE | FIF 12 | 48th | 46 | [72] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
SWM-NEMCO Motorsports | 8 | Chevy | RCH 30 | BGS | IOW | LGY | COL | IOW | VIR | GRE | NHA | DOV | RAL | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2014 | Toyota | NSM | DAY | BRI | GRE | RCH | IOW | BGS | FIF | LGY | NHA | COL | IOW | GLN 25 | VIR | GRE | DOV | 65th | 19 | [73] |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
ARCA Menards Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | AMSC | Pts | Ref |
2022 | Venturini Motorsports | 55 | Toyota | DAY | PHO | TAL | KAN | CLT | IOW | BLN | ELK | MOH 4* | POC | IRP | MCH | GLN | ISF | MLW | DSF | KAN | BRI | SLM | TOL | 72nd | 42 | [74] |
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year | Team | No. | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | MPC | Pts | Ref | ||||||||||
2023 | TGR Smooge Racing | 23 | Toyota GR Supra GT4 Evo | DAY 19 | SEB | LGA | MOH | WGL | MOS | ELK | VIR | IMS | ATL | 27th | 40 | [75] |
Joseph Frank Nemechek III is an American professional stock car racing driver who last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. Nemechek has made the second most national series starts in NASCAR history. He claimed the record in 2019 after he passed seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty, but was surpassed by Kevin Harvick in 2021. Nemechek won the 1992 NASCAR Busch Series championship.
Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) is an American professional stock car racing organization founded by Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs. His son, J. D. Gibbs, ran the team with him until his death in 2019. Founded in Huntersville, North Carolina, in 1992. JGR has won five Cup Series championships.
JR Motorsports is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series. The team is based in Mooresville, North Carolina, co-owned by former NASCAR Cup Series driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., his sister Kelley Earnhardt Miller, Kelley's husband and former racer L.W. Miller, and the owner of his former Cup Series team, Rick Hendrick. As of 2023, the team fields four full-time entries in the Xfinity Series: the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro SS full-time for Carson Kvapil, the No. 7 Camaro full-time for Justin Allgaier, the No. 8 Camaro full-time for Sammy Smith, and the No. 88 Camaro full-time for Connor Zilisch.
Austin Reed Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing. He is the grandson of RCR team owner Richard Childress, the older brother of Ty Dillon who competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, and the son of Mike Dillon, a former racing driver who currently works as RCR's general manager.
Parker Kligerman is an American professional stock car racing driver and a pit reporter for NASCAR on NBC. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro for Big Machine Racing. Kligerman is a former development driver for Team Penske. He has worked for NBC since 2015 as a TV Analyst and pit reporter. In 2023, Parker co-founded the motorsports media company "The Money Lap" with Landon Cassill.
Tyler Reed Dillon is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing. He has also competed in what is now the ARCA Menards Series, what are now the ARCA Menards Series East and West, and what is now known as the NASCAR Canada Series in the past.
Ross Lee Chastain is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Trackhouse Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 92 Chevrolet Camaro for DGM Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He is the older brother of fellow NASCAR driver Chad Chastain.
Daniel Brian Hemric is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 31 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Kaulig Racing.
Tyler George Reddick is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry XSE for 23XI Racing, and part-time in the No. 26 Toyota Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He is a two-time champion in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, winning consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019. In 2018, Reddick set a NASCAR record at Daytona for the closest finish in NASCAR Xfinity Series history by 0.0004 seconds.
Cole Matthew Custer is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 41 Ford Mustang for Haas Factory Team. He is the son of Joe Custer, the team president of Stewart–Haas Racing. He is the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion.
Brandon Alexander Phillip Jones is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. He has also competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, ARCA Menards Series, and ARCA Menards Series East in the past.
Christopher David Bell is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra for JGR, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage. He is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion.
Burton Darwin "B. J." McLeod is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He owns B. J. McLeod Motorsports, which fields entries in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and co-owns Live Fast Motorsports, a NASCAR Cup Series team which fields the No. 78 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 which McLeod drives part-time. He also competes part-time in the Cup Series, driving the No. 66 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for MBM Motorsports. McLeod has previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the ARCA Menards Series.
Kaz Grala is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 36 Ford Mustang Dark Horse for Front Row Motorsports and the No. 15 Mustang Dark Horse for Rick Ware Racing. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, NASCAR Pinty's Series as well as what is now the ARCA Menards Series, ARCA Menards Series East and ARCA Menards Series West.
Austin Edward Hill is an American professional stock car racing driver and former team owner. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 21 Chevrolet Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for the same team. Hill previously owned NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and ARCA Menards Series team Austin Hill Racing from 2013 to 2017.
Matthew Robert Mills is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado for Niece Motorsports. He has also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
Anthony Francis Alfredo is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet Camaro for Our Motorsports and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 62 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Beard Motorsports.
Joseph A. Graf Jr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing.
Chandler Michael Smith Sr. is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 81 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was a member of Toyota Racing Development's TD2 driver development system from 2018 until the end of 2022 but rejoined the program starting in 2024.
Michael Gene Shiplett is an American NASCAR crew chief who works for Niece Motorsports as the crew chief of their No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driven by Matt Mills. He previously worked for Richard Childress Racing as their Xfinity Series competition director as a crew chief for Stewart-Haas Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Turner Motorsports and Evernham / Richard Petty Motorsports.