John Hunter Nemechek

28-Year-Old Driver

Legacy Motor Club

2024 Xfinity Stats

Points

Starts

Wins

Poles

Top 5

Top 10

2024 Cup Stats

Points

447

Starts

Wins

Poles

Top 5

Top 10

2025 Fantasy Outlook

Nemechek gets a second crack at NASCAR's top division in 2024. He was a rookie driver for Front Row Motorsports in 2020, but washed out after one season of struggles and poor performance. The nine-time Xfinity Series victor and 13-time truck series winner has clear and obvious talent. Nemechek has contended for wins and championships in the lower divisions of NASCAR. His reboot will take place with Legacy Motor Club. He'll pilot the team's No. 42 Toyota and be paired with crew chief, Ben Beshore. The duo was together during last season's seven-win Xfinity Series campaign that saw the team finish fourth in the championship points. Familiarity and chemistry are components these two will possess before the green flag waves at Daytona in February. Nemechek has loads of talent but faces some uncertain performance due to this team's current challenges and transition of manufacturers. Read Past Outlooks

Car No. 42 Toyota

Crew Chief Travis Mack

Rookie Year 2015

Birth Date 6/11/1997

Born Mooresville, North Carolina, United States

Country UNITED STATES

Big Mover at Darlington

NASCAR Cup

September 1, 2025

Nemechek finished fourth in the Cook Out Southern 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway on Sunday night.

ANALYSIS
Nemechek would be the big mover of the night at Darlington Raceway. He'd start 30th on the grid and move quickly through the field to crack the Top 10 by the conclusion of stage 1. Nemechek had a fast Toyota and would lead 15 laps for the evening at the Track Too Tough to Tame. He'd settle into the Top 5 down the stretch and hold off AJ Allmendinger to earn the strong fourth-place. It was just his second Top 5 of the season.

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Racing Stats

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Past Fantasy Outlooks

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2014

Nemechek returns full-time to the Xfinity Series after a couple successful years racing in the Craftsman Truck Series. The young driver nabbed seven victories and 31 Top-10 finishes in the last two seasons of that division of NASCAR and now returns for his first full-time Xfinity effort since 2019. Nemechek made 11 starts last year in the Xfinity Series, split between Joe Gibbs Racing and Sam Hunt Racing. He would have some limited success in those outings collecting three Top-5 and four Top-10 finishes. Now with the departure of Ty Gibbs, JGR is willing to put Nemechek in a full-time ride with tons of corporate sponsorship and Ben Beshore at crew chief. It's a situation set up for success and to make a championship push. We'll finally get to see Nemechek's full potential in the Xfinity Series.

Nemechek may have not won the championship last season, but he was one of the more dominant drivers in the series last year. The KBM youngster won five races and collected 16 Top-10 finishes throughout the season. Nemechek would pull up a bit short in the last couple races of last season and it would cost him the title. Still, the driver of the No. 4 KBM Toyota was the man to beat most weekends. Nemechek returns to this team again in 2022 and will once again be paired with crew chief Eric Phillips. Their mandate will be unfinished business in the upcoming season. This driver and team will be focused on the championship, and they'll be the outfit to beat for that title.

Nemechek transitions from the NASCAR Cup Series to the Camping World Truck Series in 2021. The young driver will take over KBM's No. 4 Toyota Tundra. Nemechek's last two full-time seasons in this division of NASCAR was 2016 and 2017. He averaged two wins and 11 Top 10's across those two campaigns, and is a pretty good gage of his abilities. However, the No. 4 KBM team is likely a better equipped outfit than the team Nemechek competed for four years ago. He has race-winning potential and an outside line at competing for the championship. Nemechek should make a pretty seamless transition into this racing series this season and immediately begin posting career-best marks.

This young driver opened some eyes late last season driving in relief for Matt Tifft in the No. 36 Ford Mustang. Nemechek grabbed a pair of Top-25 finishes in those three starts, with the top finish of 21st-place at Fort Worth. The effort ended up being an audition with Front Row Motorsports, so they have tabbed the 22-year-old prospect to drive the No. 38 Ford of the just-retired David Ragan. Nemechek has spent the last seven seasons grooming his skills between the Gander Truck Series and Xfinity Series. In 150 combined starts he grabbed seven victories and 79 Top-10 finishes between those two racing series. The skill set is obvious and still growing. Nemechek has a lot of seat time for a driver just 22-years-old. This race team presents some opportunities to impress, and experienced crew chief, Seth Barbour, gives a good steady presence for this young driver in his rookie campaign.

Nemechek will continue his development at GMS Racing this season. He was signed to carry the No. 23 team into the future and continue the good work that Spencer Gallagher started here last year. The team collected one win, six Top-5 and 17 Top-10 finishes between Gallagher and multiple other drivers. Nemechek is one of the budding stars of this racing series. The 21-year-old has already been competing part-time in the truck series for the last six seasons, and last year was his first part-time foray into the Xfinity Series. Nemechek grabbed one win and 11 Top-10 finishes in an 18-race slate at Chip Ganassi Racing. He should be the perfect fit to take over for the retired Gallagher. Chad Norris will continue guiding this team from atop the war wagon, so excellence is an expectation.

With Larson being pulled back to just seven starts per the new Xfinity Series rules, the team had to go out and hire a dependable young gun driver to fill most of the void for the remaining schedule. Ganassi called on truck series up-and-comer Nemechek to fill that void. The driver rotation in 2017 yielded five victories, with three of those coming from Larson, so Nemechek will be expected to shoulder most of that burden in the upcoming season. The 20-year-old talent has amassed five victories, 38 Top-10 finishes and a pair of eighth-place points finishes in the last four seasons of racing in the Camping World Truck Series. He will really get to show off in his heavy schedule for this strong race team. Nemechek is no Kyle Larson, but with this team there won't be too much of a falloff behind the wheel.

Nemechek will return to the Camping World Truck Series once again in 2017. He'll pilot the same No. 8 Chevrolet that he has the past two seasons. Nemechek posted great numbers last year with two victories and 11 Top-10 finishes. The performance was good enough to grab eighth-place in the final driver standings. The 19-year-old should have learned a few new tricks now with over 50 starts under his belt, and should be ready to move the bar higher in the coming season. Nemechek will once again be paired with crew chief, Gere Kennon, and the two should continue to surprise the larger teams in the truck series. This young driver and team have a lot of growth left, so don't be surprised to see them win more races and qualify for this division of NASCAR's Chase for the Cup playoff.

Nemechek has done nothing less than rocket upward since joining the truck series in 2013. Now that he’s 18-years-old, he will only get better. Last year he claimed his first victory with the win at Chicago and he nabbed 10 Top-10 finishes in just an 18-race slate. It’s assumed that he’ll return to the No. 8 Chevrolet in 2016, but those plans haven’t been made formal yet. If Nemechek can mount a full season, he could produce some big and impressive numbers. The young driver has made it known that he may have to find a bigger team in the Camping World Truck Series in order to keep growing, so we wouldn’t rule out a move. However, his talent dictates that it matters little where he ends up racing this season.

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Runner-up Finish in Open

NASCAR Cup

May 18, 2025

Carson Hocevar and Nemechek advance to the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway by being the top two finishers in the All-Star Open on Sunday evening.