Nemechek Earns Second Straight Top-10 In Atlanta
John Hunter Nemechek during the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway (Jacob Seelman/Race Face Digital photo)
HAMPTON, Ga. – NASCAR on FOX analyst Clint Bowyer described John Hunter Nemechek and Legacy Motor Club’s shocking start to the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign as “the greatest comeback story of the season” Sunday, and with good reason.
After leading the series in involved incidents last year, Nemechek and the No. 42 Toyota team have kicked off the new year with back-to-back top-10 finishes, adding a 10th-place run in Sunday’s Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway to their fifth from the season-opening Daytona 500.
“[It was a] solid day,” said Nemechek. “Really proud of Hayden (Reeves, spotter). He worked hard today. (This was) way more intense than Daytona.
“Hats off to all of the men and women at Legacy Motor Club,” he added. ‘Road crew, pit crew – everyone did a solid job all day. We were able to keep it straight all day and salvaged another top 10. (That’s) two really good runs to start the season and (I’m) looking forward to COTA next week.”
Nemechek sits seventh in the Cup Series points standings leaving Atlanta, though only two of the 26 regular-season races have been completed so far.
After a rookie season with Front Row Motorsports in 2020 saw Nemechek score three top-10 finishes – ninth at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway and a pair of eighths at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway – he returned to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series as part of the Toyota development pipeline.
Now, since clawing his way back to the Cup Series level, Nemechek is in year two with LMC and is well on his way to improving upon last year’s stat line (no wins or top-fives and just four top-10s).
Nemechek already has two top 10s in as many races and his first career top five, with more likely on the horizon as the team owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has exhibited positive early season strides.
The LMC No. 42 team looks to keep its momentum rolling heading to the road course at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, next weekend.
Coverage of the EchoPark Texas Grand Prix begins at 3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90, with in-car cameras streaming exclusively on MAX.
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