The 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was an interesting one, to say the least, for John Hunter Nemechek. He hadn’t scored a win since his first one at Atlanta in 2016. Come to find out, Gateway could have been his last race of the season if sponsorship did not continue. Before that, however, Nemechek had a career-best finish of fourth at Daytona. He then had a couple of rocky weeks at Atlanta, Martinsville, Charlotte, Dover and Fort Worth. Nemechek did not finish in three of those races due to a crash.
Although Nemechek had a finish of fourth at Daytona, he scored a top-five finish at Kansas during those slump weeks. However, an emotional moment came for him and the NEMCO Motorsports team, when it was the eighth and quite possibly, the last race of the season for Nemechek. During that race, he was having a career-best night winning Stage 1 after starting second and finishing third in Stage 2.
A late race caution came out on lap 149 with 11 laps to go. Nemechek passed Matt Crafton for the lead on lap 155 and held on for the final six laps to win his second career victory.
In an interview with Nemechek in late October, Nemechek said the following, “Gateway was definitely a huge relief for us (NEMCO Motorsports),” he said. “We didn’t know exactly how many races we would be able to get to for the rest of the year at that time. Sponsorship wasn’t there and we didn’t have all the races sold. Had we not won Gateway, Iowa would have been our last race.”
As luck would have it, he went on to win at Iowa the following week scoring consecutive victories.
“Luckily, we were able to get to victory lane there,” he said. “It was certainly emotional from the fact that we didn’t know what the future was going to hold for us. Iowa was proof that we could win back to back and it was a relief as well, but not as big as Gateway. I think Iowa was more of a statement.”
With those two wins and having consistent finishes in the summer months despite a Michigan crash, Nemechek would qualify and be playoff eligible. Unfortunately, the playoffs did not go as intended for the Mooresville, North Carolin native. He finished 20th at Loudon (-36 laps down), leaving him last in the playoff point standings. Nemechek had two brighter races ahead finishing eighth at Las Vegas and sixth at Talladega.
Ultimately, his hunt for the championship race ended at Martinsville by crashing out on lap 37 and being eliminated from championship contention. With the 30th place finish, Nemechek wound up finishing last in the playoff points standings.
When the checkered flag flew at Homestead, the 2017 season saw Nemechek picking up two wins, eight top fives and 11 top-10 finishes, including 108 laps led and five DNF’s.
The young 20-year-old will not be driving in the Truck Series next year, as he will be moving up to the NASCAR XFINITY Series driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevy.
For more on Nemechek’s racing or his life adventures follow him on Twitter @JHNemechek and on Instagram @JHNemechek.
