Latest news with #Nemechek
NBC Sports
06-07-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
After year of change, John Hunter Nemechek and No. 42 team reaching new heights
Travis Mack spent the offseason listening to radio communication John Hunter Nemechek had with his Legacy Motor Club team to better understand what he could do to help his new driver. Mack, who came to the team from Kaulig Racing, was just one of many changes Legacy Motor Club has gone through since the end of the 2023 campaign. Nemechek was brought in before the 2024 season as the organization moved from Chevrolet to Toyota. That change meant different ways of doing things, different tools and much to learn. Nemechek and teammate Erik Jones struggled last year as Legacy Motor Club went through additional personnel changes. Performance has improved for the team owned by seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Heading into Sunday's Chicago Street Race, Jones is 16th in the season standings, 49 points below the playoff cutline. Nemechek is 23rd in the season standings but has had a career-high six top-10 finishes this season — his most recent a sixth-place result two weeks ago in Mexico. Nemechek has four top 10s in the last eight races. The recent performance is a sign of how Mack and engineer Sydney Prince, who became the team's lead engineer in May, have worked well with Nemechek and given him a car he needs. That goes back to what Mack heard in the offseason as he listened to the radio communication Nemechek had with his team last year. Dustin Long, 'In his past, in lap one or two, they were on the radio already telling him how to drive,' Mack told NBC Sports. 'They were trying to lecture him on what he needed to do different, how to drive like somebody else.' Along with Legacy Motor Club's cars getting better, Mack also seeks to give Nemechek more freedom on what he needs with the car. 'The sim driver could tell us something all week, but if (Nemechek) goes out and says 'You can't do that … the car is not capable of that,' we've got to trust what he's telling us and that's one of the biggest things.' Nate Ryan, That also relates to the information the team provides Nemechek to help him. 'We put together a ton of notes throughout the week on (such items as) differences of how he drives vs. other people,' Prince told NBC Sports. 'He'll retain that information and he'll go out there and run how he thinks he needs to drive the car and have that (information) in the back of his head, so if we need to change up something during practice or during the race, it's not necessarily changing his driving style to drive like other people — because none of the drivers are exactly the same — it's just notes to keep stacking on ways to get better.' All of that has helped Nemechek perform better on the track since May, scoring sixth-place finishes at Pocono and Mexico, an eighth-place result at Texas and a 10th-place run at Kansas. 'I think it's confidence in your equipment,' Nemechek told NBC Sports. 'When I go out on the racetrack, I'm confident that I know that he car is going to stick and that I can push it. Last year, you never really knew what you were going to get from a correlation aspect, from unloading from sim to the racetrack. 'I know when I'm coming to the racetrack kind of where we're going to be as far as balance-wise. If it's not that way, it's not that way, but having confidence in them that we can make our cars better.' Nemechek says his team's growth is just an example of what's taking place at Legacy Motor Club this season. 'I think that last year was a very big building year,' he said. 'I think there were a lot of things that we didn't do great as team last year at Legacy. I think the personnel changes, the hires, the people that are now running competition, that are running the tech side, shop guys, everyone has bought in.'
Fox Sports
11-03-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
I want it that way! John Hunter Nemechek car to feature Backstreet Boys at Las Vegas
Backstreet's back, alright. Cup Series driver John Hunter Nemechek will hit the track for Sunday's race at Las Vegas in a car featuring renowned pop group the Backstreet Boys, Legacy Motor Club announced. Nemechek's No. 42 car art promotes the eight-time Grammy-nominated band's recently announced residency, "Into The Millennium," at Sphere Las Vegas kicking off July 11. [Read more: NASCAR Power Rankings: Can anyone dethrone Christopher Bell?] "I'm beyond excited to have the Backstreet Boys on board our Toyota Camry for Las Vegas," Nemechek said. "Their music is legendary, and to have them represented on our car is really special. Hopefully, we can put on a great show and take this ride to Victory Lane — because as they say, 'I want it that way!'" The Pennzoil 400 gets underway Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 as Christopher Bell looks for a fourth straight Cup Series win this season. recommended Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more in this topic
NBC Sports
21-02-2025
- Automotive
- NBC Sports
Legacy Motor Club seeks to build off Daytona 500 success at Atlanta and beyond
One night won't change things for Legacy Motor Club, but the finish of last weekend's Daytona 500 was a much-needed boost for a team that has struggled on the track and made significant changes off it in the past six months. Jimmie Johnson's third-place finish and John Hunter Nemechek's fifth-place result in the Daytona 500 equaled the number of top-five finishes Legacy Motor Club had the previous two seasons combined. With Erik Jones falling inches shy of winning his qualifying race and then finishing 12th in the Daytona 500, the first points race of the season was a success for the team owned by Johnson. The key is to carry that momentum into Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and beyond. 'We already really know that we're better than 2024,' Nemechek said this week. 'I mean, we couldn't have got much worse, for sure.' Nate Ryan, Last year was difficult for Legacy Motor Club in its first season with Toyota and switching from Chevrolet. Unlike fellow Toyota team, 23XI Racing, Legacy Motor Club was not as closely aligned with Joe Gibbs Racing. Without those resources, performance proved challenging. Jones had two top-10 results last year. Nemechek collected four top 10s. Johnson had none in nine starts. The three combined to finish 25th or worse 50 times last season. Such performances led to several management changes. 'One of the worst parts I've experienced as an owner is termination and trying to move on from an individual or a department of people and bring in someone new,' Johnson said. 'I'm not sure I'll ever get comfortable with that. So that's been tough, and we went through a lot of that over the course of last season.' Among the key moves: Jacob Canter was hired Aug. 9 as director of competition. He spent nearly 16 years at Joe Gibbs Racing, going from race engineer to Research and Development Team Manager. Canter was the engineering manager of vehicle performance at General Motors before joining Legacy Motor Club. Brian Campe was named the technical director on Oct. 4. He had multiple roles at Team Penske after being at Hendrick Motorsports. Campe rejoined Hendrick Motorsports in 2021 and eventually became the organization's technical director before he went to Legacy Motor Club. Chad Johnston was named the team's manager of race engineering on Nov. 15. He had been a crew chief for several organizations, including Stewart-Haas Racing, before he joined Legacy Motor Club. Dustin Long, The team announced Jan. 27 that Johnson had become the majority team owner and that Knighthood Capital Management had acquired a minority stake in the organization. 'On the competition side, we've really restructured, reorganized the department, and, you don't have a choice, but we started in the late spring of 2024 and started making changes, evolving and ultimately trying to recruit individuals to our company,' Johnson said. 'That process is tough, on top of people who are available, on top of contracts and when they're going to be free and come and work for us. So really, mid-November, maybe even the first of December, we had everyone in-house that we recruited. So, there's been various steps along the way with people coming in. 'I'd say Jacob Cantor was probably the earliest one to come in and his presence, trying to put processes into place and organize the competition department. He at least got a head start on it. We're still playing catch up and we're not totally where we want to be, but we've made a lot of massive steps forward.' Jones knows it will take time to build Legacy Motor Club. 'One thing we can't hire or buy is time,' he said. 'We're competing against time right now to build out our sim program and that side of things. Build out our aero program and car builds. That's just a process that's going to take time and experience. 'Along with that, these guys are very sharp but are in new roles. New roles that are more involved than what they've done in the past. Not to take anything away from them, just bigger roles so it'll take some time as well.' Even with the success at Daytona, it is clear that work remains. Both Jones and Nemechek failed to advance to the 23-car Clash at Bowman Gray Stadium. While Johnson secured a starting spot for the Daytona 500 in single-car qualifying, he was 29th on the speed chart. Jones was 36th and Nemechek was 38th among 45 cars that made an attempt. 'We didn't have the speed in qualifying, but they drove really good in the draft and we know kind of some of the areas that we need to work going back superspeedway racing,' Nemechek said. 'It's a testament to everyone that is working hard and a lot of long hours during the offseason in the shop and just trying to get the place running smoothly and like we want it to be able to be contender one day. 'Brick by brick we want to build this place to be able to try to win races and have the opportunity to win championships.'
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
John Hunter Nemechek responds to Hamlin's podcast ponderings: 'I'm here to make a name for myself as well'
John Hunter Nemechek responded to remarks lobbed his way by fellow driver Denny Hamlin on Wednesday, saying he was uncertain why he was singled out in the latest episode of his podcast after Sunday's Daytona 500. Nemechek's remarks came in a media availability Wednesday afternoon, three days after his fifth-place finish in Sunday's season-opening event. The result was part of a banner day for his Legacy Motor Club team, led by owner/driver Jimmie Johnson's third-place effort and teammate Erik Jones in 12th. RELATED: | Hamlin made an extended critique of the Daytona 500 finish earlier this week in his 'Actions Detrimental' podcast, saying that superspeedway skill had been minimized by current NASCAR Cup Series rules and procedures. 'I just want to see us do something different, to put the sport back in it and take luck back out of these prestigious events,' Hamlin said. Hamlin, a three-time Daytona 500 winner, said that Sunday's victory by William Byron — who squirted past a last-lap crash that foiled Hamlin and multiple others — helped to legitimize the outcome, given Byron's star power and his ability to repeat in the 'Great American Race.' Hamlin then asked rhetorically, 'Let me ask you this, how do we feel if John Hunter Nemechek was in William Byron's spot?' before offering, 'that's not a knock on John Hunter. I just think that, I believe that the people would view it differently.' Nemechek said he was made aware of Hamlin's comments in the moments before Wednesday's availability, adding that he hadn't discussed them with his fellow Toyota driver. He added that Hamlin was one of the drivers he confided in when he was at a career crossroads after the 2020 season. 'I mean, I guess I get it from the perspective that I haven't necessarily made a name for myself in the Cup Series yet, but that's what I'm here to do,' said Nemechek, who is beginning his second season with Legacy M.C. 'I'm out on the race track, racing as hard as I can. We're up front with Denny at the end. He was pushing me, and our car wasn't super-fast to lead the lane, but he stayed committed to me. So in that circumstance, I know that he's pissed about not winning the race, but like I said, I'm here to make a name for myself as well, whether that's winning the Daytona 500 or winning another race throughout the year. Yes, anyone can win at the Daytona 500 or any superspeedway race, in my opinion. But to second that, I would also say that you have to put yourself in the right position. You have to execute all day as a race-car driver, and there are a few guys that are really good at superspeedways, and they're the ones that are always up there. 'For my Cup career at Daytona, especially, I finished relatively well in every start, so I'm not really sure why I was the example of that, but from the standpoint of promoting the sport and things of that sort, I guess, like I said, William already has his name established from winning a bunch of races, being a championship contender, and I really haven't had that shot yet in the NASCAR Cup Series, so not really sure what he was thinking or where his head is at with that. Part of me wants to say, 'Screw you, Denny,' but at the same time, I also have to earn respect from those guys, and I get that. But I feel like, for myself, I feel like I do a great job promoting the sport, and I'm not saying he said that I don't.' MORE: | Nemechek and the rest of the Legacy Motor Club organization aim to build on their solid showing in Daytona Speedweeks in Sunday's Ambetter Health 400 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Atlanta Motor Speedway, an intermediate-sized track with superspeedway-style characteristics. The 27-year-old driver pointed to a handful of key personnel moves that LMC made to prepare for the 2025 season, plus its learnings from a week in Daytona, as reasons for optimism. 'It's a testament to everyone that is working hard and a lot of long hours during the offseason in the shop and just trying to get the place running smoothly and like we want it to be able to be a contender one day,' Nemechek said. 'Brick by brick, we want to build this place to be able to try and win races and have the opportunity to win championships.'
