John Hunter Nemechek

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.