John Hunter Nemechek to join Ganassi Xfinity Series team
John Hunter Nemechek is taking the next step up the NASCAR career ladder.
Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images
Nemechek, the 20-year-old son of NASCAR veteran Joe Nemechek, will move up to the NASCAR Xfinity Series next season, where he will share the driving duties in Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet, Motorsport.com has learned.
An official announcement of the move could come as early as Tuesday, sources said.
CGR is expected to field one full-time team in the Xfinity Series in 2018 with Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson and Nemechek combining for a majority of the races.
John Hunter would be running a car number in which his father found much success during his Cup career. Joe Nemechek earned his first Cup win in 1999 in the No. 42 and it was the last win for Team Sabco.
John Hunter Nemechek has won five races in the Camping World Truck Series over the past three seasons driving for his family-owned Nemco Motorsports team. He has run the full schedule the past two seasons and advanced to the NASCAR playoffs each year.
Nemechek has spent the vast majority of his NASCAR career thus far in the Truck series, where he has five wins, one pole, 22 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes in 76 career starts.
Nemechek’s move to the Xfinity Series is not expected to mean the end of Nemco Motorsports, however.
The team still plans to compete in the Truck series next season and is in the process of securing sponsorship and another driver. Nemechek could also still do some races.
Although the organization is among the series’ smaller teams, it has managed to win races the past three seasons and its driver has finished eighth in the series standings each of the past two years.
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