Nemechek Looking to Regain Momentum at Road America
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Last weekend at Pocono Raceway, NASCAR Xfinity Series driver John Hunter Nemechek saw his lead in the regular season standings dwindle to just 13-points over race winner Austin Hill.
Driving the No. 20 Mobil One Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing, Nemechek is looking to regain momentum in Saturday’s 180-mile race at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.
“I’m excited about going to Road America. With the repave, I expect the track to be a lot faster so that may change things like braking points and whatnot. I enjoyed my other two times racing there even though we didn’t get the results we wanted. Hopefully going there this weekend we can put a solid race together and make up some of the points we lost last weekend in Pocono and get our momentum going back in the right direction for the regular season championship.”
Nemechek has finished 26th and 18th in a pair of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts at Road America.
As far as managing the slim point he has over the final seven races of the regular season before the playoffs begin, Nemechek, a four-race winner this season, says it’s not complicated.
“Keep winning. Win stages, win races. Just have solid days, no mistakes. I feel like that has something that we’ve fought all year is having to overcome things every single week, whether that might be a mistake on pit road or something I did, restart violation or wherever it may be. We’ve had to come from the back quite a bit this year, in short periods of time and have still salvaged days. Turned bad days into good days, and overall have good days every week.”
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While Nemechek recognizes that’s easier said than done, he credits the JGR team for putting him in this position in the first place.
“Everyone that works on this 20 team and everyone that works at Joe Gibbs Racing has given every tool that I’ve needed to succeed, including Toyota, TRD. I think just consistent runs throughout the year, turning bad days into good days or in the top-10 days, let’s say, and being frustrated with a top-10. That’s a pretty good day.
“For us, it’s just keeping our head down and continuing to bring fast Toyota GR Supras to the race track every single week. I have to keep doing my homework and doing my job and focus on each race weekend and doing the best that I can as a driver and for my team. It goes back to communication as well. Communication is key. I feel some of that goes unnoticed from a team aspect of NASCAR. It’s a team sport, so being able to communicate with the crew chief, the engineers, all of your crew guys – it just makes everything better.”
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Having an experienced crew chief like Ben Beshore has been a huge factor in his success so far this season, according to Nemechek
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being able to work with Ben, so far this year. Going into the off season, not knowing who the crew chief was going to be for me, and then getting announced that it was Ben – sitting down, chatting with him, talking with him, communicating, trying to create that relationship, I feel like we’ve created a pretty good relationship so far. The experience is huge.
“Anytime I feel like that you have an experienced crew chief; it makes you better as a driver. He not only has experience as a crew chief, but he’s a very experienced engineer. He’s been around this sport for quite some time, so being able to chat with him and pick his brain on some ideas and have him ask me questions that really haven’t been asked before or in a way that they haven’t been asked before, to make me think a little bit differently about what he is asking and how the car is driving and different things of that sort. I feel like that has been a huge stepping stone for me and has made me a better race car driver.
“I think the experience side has helped me mature for sure as a race car driver. We are very good about letting each other do our jobs every single weekend, but still in constant communication on what we can do better as a team and how we continue to get better. I feel like our relationship has really kicked off, and it has been really, really good.”
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Not knowing what his status or driving plans are for next year could be an added distraction for a driver looking to win his first NASCAR championship. But Nemechek knows he just has to remain patient and focused, and the future will take care of itself. Again, something easier said than done.
“I think at times anyone would say it can get frustrating not knowing your future or where you are going to end up, but at the same time, patience is a virtue. I had to learn patience once I had a kid, that is for sure. I feel like that has changed my perspective on a lot of things.
“For me, it’s continuing to focus on what I love to do and that is going racing and winning races. The future will settle itself, so it’s just heads down and working hard every single day.”
Coverage of this weekend’s Xfinity Series race at Road America is scheduled for Saturday, July 29, at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN Radio, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.