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John Hunter Nemechek
John Hunter Nemechek
	Nemechek at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024
Born	June 11, 1997 (age 27); 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
	77 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
	111 races run over 6 years
2024 position	77th
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 November 10, 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. He is the son of NASCAR driver Joe Nemechek and was the 2012 champion in the Allison Legacy Series.

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]

Racing career

Early career

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]

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 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.

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 13th 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

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]

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 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]

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]

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]

Personal life

Nemechek is married to Taylor Nemechek and they have two daughters.^{[citation needed]}

Nemechek is a Christian.^[49]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings. * – Most laps led.)

Cup Series

NASCAR Cup 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	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NCSC	Pts	Ref
2019	Front Row Motorsports	36	Ford	DAY	ATL	LVS	PHO	CAL	MAR	TEX	BRI	RCH	TAL	DOV	KAN	CLT	POC	MCH	SON	CHI	DAY	KEN	NHA	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	DAR	IND	LVS	RCH	ROV	DOV	TAL	KAN	MAR	TEX 21	PHO 27	HOM 23	49th	0¹	^[50]
2020	Front Row Motorsports	38	Ford	DAY 11	LVS 24	CAL 25	PHO 25	DAR 9	DAR 35	CLT 16	CLT 13	BRI 13	ATL 23	MAR 25	HOM 19	TAL 8	POC 24	POC 19	IND 15	KEN 36	TEX 22	KAN 19	NHA 36	MCH 36	MCH 23	DAY 35	DOV 24	DOV 20	DAY 11	DAR 36	RCH 30	BRI 20	LVS 20	TAL 8	ROV 36	KAN 17	TEX 22	MAR 26	PHO 26	27th	534	^[51]
2022	23XI Racing	45	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	MAR	BRD	TAL	DOV	DAR	KAN	CLT	GTW	SON	NSH	ROA	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC	MCH	RCH	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM 27	MAR	PHO	56th	0¹	^[52]
2023	Legacy Motor Club	42	Chevy	DAY	CAL	LVS	PHO	ATL	COA	RCH	BRD	MAR	TAL	DOV	KAN	DAR	CLT	GTW	SON	NSH	CSC	ATL	NHA	POC	RCH	MCH	IRC	GLN	DAY	DAR	KAN	BRI	TEX	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM 32	MAR	PHO	61st	0¹	^[53]
2024			Toyota	DAY 7	ATL 21	LVS 22	PHO 25	BRI 6	COA 21	RCH 25	MAR 36	TEX 34	TAL 33	DOV 20	KAN 13	DAR 31	CLT 30	GTW 27	SON 29	IOW 26	NHA 8	NSH 31	CSC 35	POC 28	IND 29	RCH 31	MCH 29	DAY 15	DAR 25	ATL 33	GLN 24	BRI 33	KAN 30	TAL 31	ROV 34	LVS 9	HOM 26	MAR 31	PHO 30	34th	447	^[54]
2025			Toyota	DAY	ATL	COA	PHO	LVS	HOM	MAR	DAR	BRI	TAL	TEX	KAN	CLT	NSH	MCH	MXC	POC	ATL	CSC	SON	DOV	IND	IOW	GLN	RCH	DAY	DAR	GTW	BRI	NHA	KAN	ROV	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	-*	-*

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2020	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	23	11
2024	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota	10	7
2025	Legacy Motor Club	Toyota

Xfinity Series

NASCAR Xfinity 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	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	NXSC	Pts	Ref
2018	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	Chevy	DAY	ATL 4	LVS	PHO	CAL 29	TEX	BRI 13	RCH 13	TAL 7	DOV 14	CLT	POC 7	MCH 13	IOW 15	CHI	DAY	KEN 7	NHA 4	IOW 5	GLN	MOH	BRI	ROA	DAR	IND 25	LVS	RCH	ROV	DOV 9	KAN 1	TEX 4	PHO 9	HOM 3	13th	643	^[55]
2019	GMS Racing	23	Chevy	DAY 8	ATL 20	LVS 2	PHO 9	CAL 28	TEX 9	BRI 5	RCH 7	TAL 6	DOV 8	CLT 12	POC 12	MCH 8	IOW 8	CHI 11	DAY 22	KEN 12	NHA 36	IOW 3	GLN 12	MOH 31	BRI 3	ROA 26	DAR 21	IND 31	LVS 8	RCH 15	ROV 7	DOV 8	KAN 8	TEX 5	PHO 4	HOM 6	7th	2253	^[56]
2021	Sam Hunt Racing	26	Toyota	DAY	DRC	HOM	LVS	PHO	ATL	MAR	TAL	DAR	DOV 32	COA	CLT	MOH	TEX	NSH	POC	ROA	ATL	NHA	GLN	IRC	MCH	DAY	DAR	RCH 3	BRI	LVS							74th	0¹	^[57]
2021	Joe Gibbs Racing	54	Toyota																												TAL 22	ROV	TEX 1*	KAN	MAR	PHO 6	74th	0¹	^[57]
2022	Sam Hunt Racing	26	Toyota	DAY	CAL	LVS 12	PHO 5	ATL	COA					DAR 4	TEX	CLT	PIR	NSH	ROA 18	ATL	NHA	POC	IRC	MCH 19	GLN	DAY 35	DAR 9	KAN	BRI				LVS 16	HOM	MAR	PHO	77th	0¹	^[58]
2022	Joe Gibbs Racing	18	Toyota							RCH 2*	MAR	TAL	DOV 37																	TEX 28	TAL	ROV					77th	0¹	^[58]
2023		20		DAY 2	CAL 1*	LVS 6	PHO 6	ATL 8	COA 27	RCH 2	MAR 1*	TAL 32	DOV 5	DAR 5*	CLT 2	PIR 10	SON 16	NSH 6	CSC 2	ATL 1	NHA 1*	POC 32	ROA 34	MCH 1*	IRC 13	GLN 6	DAY 28	DAR 3*	KAN 1*	BRI 3	TEX 1	ROV 8	LVS 2	HOM 3	MAR 18	PHO 28	4th	4009	^[59]
2024		20		DAY 7	ATL 32	LVS 1*	PHO 32	COA 3	RCH	MAR	TEX	TAL	DOV				SON 8	IOW 27	NHA	NSH 1*	CSC 25	POC	IND	MCH 3	DAY	DAR	ATL	GLN	BRI	KAN	TAL	ROV	LVS	HOM	MAR	PHO	77th	0¹	^[60]
2024	Sam Hunt Racing	26	Toyota											DAR 23	CLT	PIR																					77th	0¹	^[60]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck 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	21	22	23	NCTC	Pts	Ref
2013	SWM-NEMCO Motorsports	22	Toyota	DAY	MAR	CAR	KAN	CLT	DOV	TEX	KEN	IOW	ELD	POC	MCH	BRI	MSP	IOW	CHI	LVS	TAL	MAR 19	TEX	PHO 21	HOM		45th	51	^[61]
2014		8	Toyota	DAY	MAR 12	KAN	CLT	DOV 6	TEX	GTW 15	KEN	IOW 10	ELD 6	POC	MCH	BRI 27	MSP 25	CHI	NHA 5	LVS	TAL	MAR 13	TEX	PHO 7	HOM		23rd	337	^[62]
2015			Chevy	DAY	ATL	MAR 29	KAN	CLT	DOV 22	TEX	GTW 4	IOW 23	KEN 11	ELD 7	POC 13	MCH 12	BRI 3	MSP 9	CHI 1	NHA 5	LVS 4	TAL 11	MAR 2	TEX 11	PHO 2	HOM 2	12th	630	^[63]
2016	NEMCO Motorsports			DAY 17	ATL 1	MAR 2	KAN 28	DOV 15	CLT 12	TEX 7	IOW 12	GTW 6	KEN 2	ELD 24	POC 9	BRI 8	MCH 26	MSP 1	CHI 14	NHA 9	LVS 16	TAL 32	MAR 3	TEX 18	PHO 6	HOM 11	8th	2133	^[64]
2017				DAY 4	ATL 29	MAR 28	KAN 3	CLT 22	DOV 22	TEX 21	GTW 1	IOW 1	KEN 18	ELD 5	POC 4	MCH 29	BRI 3	MSP 20	CHI 7	NHA 20	LVS 8	TAL 6	MAR 30	TEX 19	PHO 2	HOM 15	8th	2206	^[65]
2018				DAY 25	ATL	LVS 21	MAR 1	DOV	KAN 4	CLT 9	TEX	IOW 27	GTW 25	CHI 7*	KEN 5	ELD 7	POC	MCH 3	BRI 3*	MSP 2	LVS 22	TAL 27	MAR 30	TEX	PHO 29	HOM 7	90th	0¹	^[66]
2019				DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR	TEX	DOV	KAN	CLT	TEX	IOW	GTW	CHI	KEN	POC	ELD	MCH	BRI 29	MSP	LVS 32	TAL 30	MAR 7	PHO 29	HOM	99th	0¹	^[67]
2020			Ford	DAY DNQ	LVS	CLT 6	ATL 24	HOM	POC	KEN	TEX	KAN	KAN	MCH 25	DRC	DOV	GTW	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	82nd	0¹	^[68]
2021	Kyle Busch Motorsports	4	Toyota	DAY 7	DRC 3	LVS 1*	ATL 3	BRD 39	RCH 1*	KAN 5	DAR 8*	COA 12	CLT 1*	TEX 1*	NSH 10	POC 1	KNX 11	GLN 2	GTW 22	DAR 2	BRI 3	LVS 33	TAL 4	MAR 39	PHO 7		3rd	4030	^[69]
2022	Kyle Busch Motorsports	4	Toyota	DAY 24*	LVS 25	ATL 24	COA 2	MAR 4	BRD 3	DAR 1*	KAN 6	TEX 6	CLT 3	GTW 35	SON 8	KNX 2	NSH 9	MOH 28	POC 3	IRP 10*	RCH 2	KAN 1*	BRI 12	TAL 24	HOM 35	PHO 4	5th	2285	^[70]
2023	Tricon Garage	17	Toyota	DAY	LVS 31	ATL 3*	COA	TEX	BRD	MAR	KAN	DAR	NWS	CLT	GTW	NSH	MOH	POC	RCH	IRP	MLW	KAN	BRI	TAL	HOM	PHO	89th	0¹	^[71]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

K&N Pro Series East

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]
2013	SWM-NEMCO Motorsports	8	Chevy				RCH 30	BGS	IOW	LGY	COL	IOW	VIR	GRE	NHA	DOV	RAL			48th	46	^[72]
2014	SWM-NEMCO Motorsports	8	Toyota	NSM	DAY	BRI	GRE	RCH	IOW	BGS	FIF	LGY	NHA	COL	IOW	GLN 25	VIR	GRE	DOV	65th	19	^[73]

ARCA Menards Series

(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]

Sports cars