AVONDALE, Ariz.—John Hunter Nemechek doesn’t want the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series season to end.
The 26-year-old racer has won the most races, led the most laps, and has enjoyed a personal best average finish of 8.9—his best of any series he has competed in since joining the NASCAR ranks a decade ago.
And while the sport will crown an Xfinity champion on Saturday night, with the year Nemechek has enjoyed at Joe Gibbs Racing—win or lose—he’s going to enjoy the moment.
“I’m having fun,” Nemechek said. “That’s all that matters. When you’re having fun and love what you do it makes your job 10 times easier. I’m enjoying every aspect of it. I feel like there’s been times in my career where I’ve really enjoyed things and other times where I haven’t had fun at all.
“This year has definitely been fun with this 20 team and Joe Gibbs Racing. Hopefully, we can cap off the year with one more race win. That would be huge for myself and this organization. All in all, if it’s meant to be it’s meant to be. If not, it’s not meant to be. We’re here to race, here to compete, here to do what we love and fun doing it.”
The way NASCAR crowns a champion under the current Playoff system isn’t indicative of a competitor’s body of work. Based on points alone, Nemechek holds a 52-point advantage over Justin Allgaier. It doesn’t matter. The sole determination of each champion comes down to his individual race and which driver crosses the finish line first.
Nemechek has won a pole at Phoenix Raceway. He’s never finished worse than ninth. His average finish of 6.5 is the best among current drivers. But in six starts, he’s never won at the one-mile track.
“I like the race track,” Nemechek said. “I’ve yet to win here, so hopefully we can accomplish that this weekend. It’s been a good race track for me. I feel like there’s quite a few of those where we’ve been really good but haven’t won quite yet, so hopefully we can get the job done.”
As a second-generation racer, Nemechek’s challenges have been well-documented. He overachieved with an underfunded family-owned truck team, produced average results in good Xfinity equipment en route to a back marker Cup ride and then returned to the truck series in 2021 with support from Toyota and worked his way up the ladder again.
Nemechek was a contender every week with Kyle Busch Motorsports. His five wins and 12 top fives were best on tour. Come the Championship 4 at Phoenix, however, he finished seventh—the third of the four drivers. In 2022, Nemechek fell just short of advancing to the truck final four, finishing fifth.
His return to Xfinity this year resulted in seven wins, two poles, 17 top fives, and 24 top 10s. The 17 top fives equals Nemechek’s career total prior to his 67 starts prior to this year. The necessary effort to achieve those results is not lost on the driver.
“It’s a very long season,” Nemechek said. “Thirty-three races—not as long as the Cup Series but being able to be competitive every single week is very hard to do….I feel like being able to have a shot to do that every single week within a good organization and good people surrounding you, makes the long season, I guess, easier.
“There’s a lot that goes into it. From film study to simulation to spending time at the shop with the guys understanding race cars, traveling to the racetrack, being able to execute and study when you’re at the racetrack, changing things on the fly if you need to.
“Being able to adapt in every situation I think is huge. A lot of hard work behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t get to see so I’m glad that we’re here. I wish that the season wasn’t over yet, just with the season we’ve had.”
Nemechek will leave JGR and return to the Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club in 2024. But he won’t allow himself to think of his next challenge just yet. Instead, Nemechek chooses to remain in his bubble laser-focused on the task at hand—winning the season finale and the Xfinity Championship.
Still, Nemechek hasn’t put a lot of thought into actually winning the NXS title.
“It would be a super meaningful with all the hard work and taking a gamble,” Nemechek said. “Not only for myself but for Toyota and TRD and all the great partners that I’ve had supporting me up to the Cup level and then back to the Truck Series level. They shared the same vision that I did, and Toyota did in order to get back to Sundays at some point.
“To win a championship would mean a lot. It would be a huge validation, that’s for sure.”
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