“It’s the ‘Big 3 and what about me?'”; John Hunter Nemechek talks on the Cup rookie battle
LAS VEGAS — While much of the talk about the 2020 NASCAR Cup Series rookie class has focused on the 2019 NASCAR Xfinity Series “Big 3” of Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell, fellow rookie of the year (ROTY) contender John Hunter Nemechek has slotted himself as a threat to play spoiler in the ROTY race.
Nemechek posted a 69.1 driver rating, second among rookies, only to Tyler Reddick’s 73.4. Nemechek did so en route to an 11th place finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 which made him the highest finishing ROTY contender of the six who raced in the 500.
“I feel like it’s going to be a battle down to the end for Cup rookie of the year,” Nemechek stated. “It’s whoever makes the least amount of mistakes and has the best runs here and I definitely feel like we could be a contender for that.”
“Hard work and good attitude can sometimes outweigh a lot of other things.”
Nemechek raced full-time for the GMS Racing no. 23 Chevrolet in the 2019 Xfinity Series season. A year later, Nemechek has transitioned to Ford, now driving the Front Row Motorsports no. 38.
The move to Ford meant a full-time ride but the loss of his availability to Josh Wise, his driver coach for the past two seasons. However, John Hunter is utilizing his dad’s veteran experience to serve in the same role as Wise had.
“He has so much experience so I’m able to lean on him with questions and different things I’m feeling,” Nemechek said. “I know during practice he had his headset on in the garage and he was actually listening to the debrief when I got out of the car post-practice.”
John Hunter Nemechek has also looked to predecessor David Ragan for advice on transitioning from shorter weekends in the lower-tier series to longer weekends in Cup, like the week-and-a-half-long Speedweeks that starts the season.
“David last week at Daytona was a big help to me and I was able to reach out to him about different practice sessions.” Nemechek said. “It’s really easy for a rookie to get lost in what your focus is each practice session so it’s being able to lean on him quite a bit and just ask questions.”
John Hunter Nemechek was 21st fastest in first practice, with a time of 30.758 seconds (175.564 MPH average) in his no. 38 Berry’s Bullets Ford. Nemechek improved to be ninth fastest in final practice, with a time of 30.293 seconds (178.259 MPH average).
SOURCES:
Racing-Reference.info
NASCAR
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com