John Hunter Nemechek

John Hunter Nemechek (born June 11, 1997) is an American professional stock car racing driver. Son of NASCAR competitor Joe Nemechek, he was the 2012 champion in the Allison Legacy Series. A member of Drivers Edge Development, Nemechek currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 38 Ford Mustang GT for Front Row Motorsports.

For his namesake, the brother of Joe Nemechek, see John Nemechek.

John Hunter Nemechek
Nemechek at Homestead–Miami Speedway in 2018
Born	(1997-06-11) June 11, 1997 Mooresville, North Carolina
Achievements	2012 Allison Legacy Series Champion 2014 All American 400 winner 2014 Snowball Derby winner
Awards	2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Most Popular Driver
NASCAR Cup Series career
25 races run over 2 years
Car no., team	No. 38 (Front Row Motorsports)
2019 position	49th
Best finish	49th (2019)
First race	2019 AAA Texas 500 (Texas)
Last race	2020 Consumers Energy 400 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
51 races run over 2 years
2019 position	7th
Best finish	7th (2019)
First race	2018 Rinnai 250 (Atlanta)
Last race	2019 Ford EcoBoost 300 (Homestead)
First win	2018 Kansas Lottery 300 (Kansas)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 30 1
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
102 races run over 8 years
Truck no., team	No. 8 (NEMCO Motorsports)
2019 position	99th
Best finish	8th (2016, 2017)
First race	2013 Kroger 200 (Martinsville)
Last race	2020 Henry Ford Health System 200 (Michigan)
First win	2015 American Ethanol E15 225 (Chicago)
Last win	2018 Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (Martinsville)
Wins Top tens Poles 6 50 2
Statistics current as of August 9, 2020.

Early life

A young Nemechek in the pits at Infineon Raceway in 2005

Born 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

Nemechek's 2013 K&N Pro Series car

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 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 15 of the season's 18 races.[11][12]

In 2013, Nemechek moved to competing in the Southern Super Series as well as in 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 late 2013, he made his debut in the Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 22 Toyota for SWM-NEMCO Racing.[14] He competed in two events, with a best finish of 16th.[15]

In January 2014, Nemechek announced he would be competing in ten Camping World Truck Series events during the 2014 season.[15] After the season ended, he won the 300-lap Snowball Derby.[16]

On September 19, 2015, 16 years to the day his father won his first Cup race, Nemechek won his first Truck Series race at Chicagoland. On November 29, Nemechek has voted the Most Popular Driver for the 2015 season in the Truck Series.

Nemechek's truck in 2015

In 2016, Nemechek won at Atlanta. At Canadian Tire Motorsport Park during the 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 250, Nemechek and Cole Custer were battling for the lead when Nemechek bumped Custer which led to Nemechek losing control and intentionally sending both Custer and himself off-road, pinning Custer to the wall. Before the winner was declared, Nemechek was tackled by Custer; Nemechek would be named the winner.[17]

In 2017, Nemechek won back-to-back races at Gateway and Iowa. Nemechek missed the Championship Four after finishing 2nd at Phoenix.

For the 2018 season, Nemechek joined Chip Ganassi Racing to drive the No. 42 NASCAR Xfinity Series car on a part-time basis. He also would continue to run select Camping World Truck Series races for his father's team NEMCO Motorsports. He would win at Martinsville in March. He suffered heartbreaking losses at Chicago and Bristol, after running out of fuel on the final lap in Chicago, handing the win to Brett Moffitt, and suffered fuel pickup issues with 5 laps remaining and a 2-second lead in Bristol, allowing Johnny Sauter to take the lead and eventual win. Nemechek would go on to finish 7th and 3rd in those races, respectively.[18] In his Xfinity Series debut, Nemechek finished an impressive 4th-place finish at Atlanta, though he was involved in an early race wreck involving Elliott Sadler and Cole Custer resulting in Custer's car wrecking. Nemechek followed up the 4th-place run with a 29th-place finish at Auto Club after a tire failure ruined his chances of a good run. His next Xfinity Series races were the four Dash 4 Cash races, where he had one top ten finish at Talladega. On October 20, 2018, after dominating the race and winning stage 2, Nemechek won his first career Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway in the 2018 Kansas Lottery 300.

Nemechek's No. 23 in 2019

In 2019, Nemechek signed with GMS Racing for the full Xfinity schedule in the No. 23 Chevrolet.[19] On October 29, 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.[20] Nemecheck and his father Joe made motorsports history at ISM Raceway in early November 2019 by being the first father-son duo to race in all three main series in one weekend.[21] He finished the 2019 season seventh in points after finishing sixth at Homestead.[22]

On December 12, 2019, Front Row Motorsports announced that Nemechek will replace David Ragan as the driver of the No. 38 Ford for the 2020 season. He will also compete for the 2020 NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.[23]

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	CLT	DOV	TAL	KAN	MAR	TEX 21	PHO 27	HOM 23	49th	0^1	[24]
2020		38		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	DOV	DOV	DAY	DAR	RCH	BRI	LVS	TAL	CLT	KAN	TEX	MAR	PHO	-*	-*	[25]

Daytona 500

Year	Team	Manufacturer	Start	Finish
2020	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	23	11

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	CLT	DOV 9	KAN 1	TEX 4	PHO 9	HOM 3	13th	643	[26]
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	CLT 7	DOV 8	KAN 8	TEX 5	PHO 4	HOM 6	7th	2253	[27]

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series

NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors 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	NGTC	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	[28]
2014		8		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	[29]
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	[30]
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	[31]
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	[32]
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	0^1	[33]
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	0^1	[34]
2020			Ford	DAY DNQ	LVS	CLT 6	ATL 24	HOM	POC	KEN	TEX	KAN	KAN	MCH 25	DAY	DOV	GTW	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO					-*	0^1*	[35]

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	PEN 12														48th	46	[36]
	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	FFL	LGY	NHA	COL	IOW	GLN 25	VIR	GRE	DOV	65th	19	[37]

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

1. "Davidson Day School honor roll – 2nd Trimester". Davidson News. Davidson, N.C. April 16, 2012. Archived from the original on May 13, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
2. "Nemecheks face their pain, find pure joy". The Miami Herald. November 10, 1997. p. 9D. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
3. Terrell, Katherine (June 22, 2011). "14-year-old racer looks to follow in dad's steps". Lake Norman News. Charlotte, N.C.: The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
4. Kurz, Hank, Jr. (May 4, 2001). "Rusty Wallace is looking forwards to racing at Richmond International". The Gadsden Times. Gadsden, Alabama. p. B3. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
5. Mills, Jeremy (March 22, 2001). "Amherst Co. Charity Hoping to Fetch $25,000 for 'NASCAR Guitar'". Lynchburg, Va.: WSET-TV. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
6. "Joe Nemechek". NASCAR. Archived from the original on June 9, 2012. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
7. Rodman, Dave (February 3, 2012). "Another Nemechek on the horizon". NASCAR. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
8. Lada, Jen (June 15, 2012). "14-year-old turning heads at the Milwaukee Mile". Milwaukee: WITI. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
9. Madsen, Tamira (June 12, 2012). "John Hunter Nemechek, 15, gets an early start on family business". Wisconsin State Journal. Madison, Wis. Retrieved September 5, 2012.
10. Vilona, Bill (December 1, 2012). "Racing's next generation on display at Five Flags Speedway". Pensacola News Journal. Pensacola, Fla. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
11. "John Hunter Nemecheck-The Allison Legacy Race Series 2012 Champion". Allison Legacy Series. Archived from the original on May 22, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2012.
12. Cunningham, Jason (February 4, 2013). "Nemechek to Make Debut at Daytona". NASCAR. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
13. Albert, Zack (February 28, 2013). "John Hunter Nemechek, 15, carries family tradition". NASCAR. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
14. "Young Nemechek To Try Hand In Trucks". National Speed Sport News. October 18, 2013. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
15. Adamczyk, Jay (January 13, 2014). "John Hunter Nemechek to run 10 Truck Series races in 2014". Jayski's Silly Season Site. ESPN. Archived from the original on October 12, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2014.
16. Bonkowski, Jerry. "John Hunter Nemechek rallies to win 47th Snowball Derby". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
17. "John Hunter Nemechek Battles Custer till End for Win at Canada". NASCAR. September 4, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2016.
18. Ruffin, Jessica (December 12, 2017). "John Hunter Nemechek to drive No. 42 Xfinity Chevrolet part-time in 2018". NASCAR. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
19. "John Hunter Nemechek joins GMS Racing full time in Xfinity Series". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. December 6, 2018. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
20. Albert, Zack (October 29, 2019). "Matt Tifft sidelined for remainder of 2019 season; Nemechek to fill seat". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
21. Waack, Terrin (November 7, 2019). "Nemecheks to make NASCAR history at ISM Raceway". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
22. Spencer, Reid (November 16, 2019). "Reddick wins Xfinity race at Miami, locks up second championship". NASCAR.com. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
23. Page, Scott (December 12, 2019). "Front Row Motorsports fielding two cars in 2020 with Michael McDowell and John Hunter Nemecheck". Jayski's Silly Season Site. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
24. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
25. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2020 NASCAR Cup Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 9, 2020.
26. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2018 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
27. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 16, 2019.
28. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2013 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
29. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
30. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
31. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2016 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
32. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
33. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2018 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
34. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
35. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
36. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2013 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
37. "John Hunter Nemechek – 2014 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 25, 2018.

External links

• Official website
• John Hunter Nemechek driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• John Hunter Nemechek career summary at DriverDB.com

Sporting positions
Preceded by Tyler Hill	Allison Legacy Series Champion 2012	Succeeded by Justin Laduke
Preceded by Erik Jones	Snowball Derby Winner 2014	Succeeded by Chase Elliott