A series of airplane rides changed the trajectory of John Hunter Nemechek’s career.
While driving for Front Row Motorsports during the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series season, Nemechek often flew to races with Kyle Busch. During those flights, Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion, imparted wisdom and career advice upon the second-generation racer.
“I was bumming rides off Kyle on his plane last year, flying to most of the Cup races,” Nemechek said. “We had some heart-to-heart conversations about my future and what I thought it was going to be.”
Nemechek wasn’t content with many of his finishes driving for a team with limited resources. Ultimately, he and Busch made the decision he would move to Kyle Busch Motorsports to pilot the No. 4 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Nemechek had once been part of the Toyota stable and had maintained connections with individuals inside the organization. It seemed like a natural fit where he would be a contender to win.
However, some found the move a head-scratcher in that he was stepping down two classes. Nemechek, however, decided he would rather win races than simply compete in the Cup Series.
“Some people will say it’s a step down, some people will say it’s two steps down, some people will say it’s lateral,” Nemechek said. “I think the competition is tough in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. But when you go and run in Cup it is a whole different world, it’s a whole different mentality. It’s hard to run up front, it’s hard to win races. There’s a reason why 20 or 25 of those guys are the best and they’re at the top of their game every single week. There’s a reason that they’re in the Cup Series.
“I definitely feel like I learned a lot in Cup, experience-wise, knowledge-wise, and was able to apply that to the Truck Series, which has been nice. I don’t know if I would say it’s a step back. Yes, it is a lower series per se, it’s more of a feeder series back up to the top level, but the competition is still very tough.”
Nemechek was immediately seen as a championship favorite when the announcement was made that he would be moving to KBM. The hashtag #Here4Wins began appearing in his social media posts and he soon backed up the lofty expectations on the track. Through the end of September, he had won five races and the regular season championship. He remained a likely candidate to qualify for the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway.
A flat tire eventually derailed his hopes of winning the championship, but it didn’t take away from what was a strong season.
In addition to his fast trucks, Nemechek also relishes the chance to learn from Busch. But “Rowdy” serves as just the latest mentor in the sport for Nemechek. His father, Joe, has a résumé that includes four Cup Series wins and the 1992 Xfinity Series championship.
“He’s pretty much the reason why I’m here,” Nemechek said of his father. “He’s helped me so much along the way. He’s put a lot into me and my career to get me to the point that I’m at. I won’t ever be able to say ‘thank you’ enough.”
Nemechek credits his father for his work ethic, referencing a life-lesson story from a race as a youngster where John Hunter crashed a car and his dad told the crew members not to work on it until the driver showed up. He never did and the team didn’t race that weekend, instead fixing the car when John Hunter appeared ready to go racing.
Nemechek worked in the shop frequently as his family-owned NEMCO Motorsports operation competed for Truck Series race wins weekly on a fraction of the budget of some of its competitors.
“It taught me a lot, I wasn’t just the driver there,” Nemechek said. “I was one of the engineers, I was drawing parts on SolidWorks (software) and making them in our CNC shop. I was setting up trucks, I was running the pulldown rig, I was involved with the team every single day. I was just one of the guys in the shop that got to drive on the weekends, which was really, really neat.
“So, I think the respect side is there. I know how much goes into it, and for me I’m not going to ask someone to do something that I wouldn’t do just based on that.”
Click below to continue reading.