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John Hunter Nemechek
American racing driver (born 1997) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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. He is the son of NASCAR driver Joe Nemechek and was the 2012 champion in the Allison Legacy Series.
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Early life
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]
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Racing career
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Early career
Nemechek began his racing career at the age of five, 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 fifteenth 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 fifteen of the season's eighteen races.[11][12]
In 2013, Nemechek moved to compete 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]
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
2013–2020: NEMCO Motorsports
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 nineteenth at Martinsville and 21st at Phoenix.[15] He competed in two events, with the 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, sixteen 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 twelfth in points and received the NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award.
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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.
2021–2022: Kyle Busch Motorsports
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.
2023: Part-time
Nemechek drove two races for Tricon Garage in 2023, finishing 31st at Las Vegas and third at Atlanta.
NASCAR Xfinity Series
2018: Chip Ganassi Racing
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 thirteenth in the points standings.[19]
2019: GMS Racing
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]
2021–2022: Part-time with Sam Hunt Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing
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.
2023–2024: Joe Gibbs Racing
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]
NASCAR Cup Series
2019–2020: Front Row Motorsports
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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-ten for FRM at a track other than Talladega or Daytona since 2016.[36] Nemechek would not get another top-ten until the Talladega spring race, where he finished eighth.[37] He scored his third top-ten 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]
2022: Part-time with 23XI Racing
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]
2024: Legacy Motor Club
On September 6, 2023, Legacy Motor Club announced that Nemechek would 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-ten 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]
2025
Nemechek started the 2025 Season with a fifth-place finish at 2025 Daytona 500, a career best. He follows that up with a tenth-place finish at Atlanta.
Other racing
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]
On January 11, 2024, it was announced that Nemechek 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]
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Personal life
Nemechek is married to Taylor Nemechek, and they have two daughters.[citation needed]
Motorsports career results
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NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)
Cup Series
Daytona 500
Xfinity Series
Craftsman Truck Series
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
ARCA Menards Series
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
K&N Pro Series East
Sports cars
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge
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References
External links
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