Joe Gibbs Racing announced today that John Hunter Nemechek will drive the team’s No. 18 Toyota GR Supra in three NASCAR Xfinity Series races this season.
Nemechek will make his JGR season debut at Richmond Raceway (April 2) with the support of Safeway and follow with the race at Dover Motor Speedway (April 30) with ACME on board, before returning to defend his win at Texas Motor Speedway (September 24) with ROMCO.
Nemechek has made more than 200 starts across NASCAR’s top three national series. He has returned to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series fulltime this season after winning the 2021 regular season title prior to finishing third in the playoffs. His overall resume also includes two Xfinity Series wins which includes a victory at Kansas Speedway in 2018 and his win at Texas last season with JGR. He also has 11 career Truck Series wins including five last season with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“I am really excited to have this opportunity to race again in JGR’s Xfinity Series program after the success we had last season,” said Nemechek. “We were able to pick up a win in just three starts and hopefully we can add to that success this season. I am also looking forward to working with crew chief Jason Ratcliff, who has found victory lane with a lot of different drivers over the years. I really appreciate the support of my long-term partners Safeway, ACME, and ROMCO for coming on board to support me and of course Toyota.”
The 24-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina native joins an impressive driver lineup for the No. 18 GR Supra. Drew Dollar, Trevor Bayne, and Ryan Truex have all driven for the team already this season and additional drivers are expected to fill out the full season schedule for the team.
“John Hunter was impressive in his starts with us last year and we’re excited to have him back this season to work with Jason (Ratcliff) and our 18 team for a few races,” said Steve de Souza, Executive Vice President of Xfinity Series and Development for Joe Gibbs Racing. “He really has made the most of every opportunity and we expect he will run up front again in these races.”
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