John Hunter Nemechek: Driver, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Overview:
Event: Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200, Race 5 of 23, 200 Laps –50/50/100; 105.2 Miles
Location: Martinsville (Va.) Speedway (0.526-mile oval)
Date/Broadcast: April 7, 2022, at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Nemechek #Back4More in 2022:
Nemechek and the No. 4 Mobil 1 team head to Martinsville (Va.) Speedway looking to build momentum off of their second-place finish at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) on March 26. Despite being sent to the rear of the field twice during the 46-lap event at COTA, the No. 4 team rebounded for their first top-five finish of the season.
Through the first four races of the 2022 season, Nemechek currently sits eighth in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings, 55 points behind his Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) teammate Chandler Smith, who leads the standings. Nemechek has led at least one lap in each of the first four races this season and leads the NASCAR Truck Series with three stage wins and 85 laps led.
The 24-year-old driver will be making his 14th career start at Martinsville Speedway in Camping World Truck series action. He has tallied one win (2018), 83 laps led, four top-five, and five top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 16.2 in his first 13 starts. He also has two starts at ‘The Paperclip’ in the NASCAR Cup Series, with a best finish of 25th coming in the spring event in 2020.
The Toyota Racing driver spent the Truck Series off weekend racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in the No. 18 Toyota Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). Nemechek started second, won the first stage, and led a race-high 135 laps before finishing second to JGR teammate Ty Gibbs.
The world’s leading synthetic motor oil, Mobil 1, will adorn the hood of the No. 4 Tundra TRD Pro Thursday night at Martinsville Speedway. Mobil 1 returns as the primary sponsor of Nemechek’s Toyota in the following Truck Series event at the Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway Dirt race on April 16.
Nemechek is an 11-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports, and returning to victory lane in 2021 with KBM. Across 128 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, he has compiled three poles, 1,266 laps led, 41 top-five and 67 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.8.
Eric Phillips returned to lead the No. 4 team in 2022. His 41 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 32 of those coming while at KBM including five last year. Phillips led the No. 18 team at KBM in its debut season in 2010 and helped build the organization into one of the premier teams in all of NASCAR before departing at the end of the 2014 season. Under his guidance, the No. 18 team won eight races in its inaugural campaign and became the first team in Truck Series history to capture an owner’s championship in its first season of competition. In 2014, the Illinois native led the No. 51 team to an owner’s championship and his team’s 10 wins spearheaded KBM to a single-season Truck Series record of 14 wins. At Martinsville, Phillip’s drivers have collected two poles, one win (Denny Hamlin, 2011), 251 laps led, six top-five, and 12 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 14.2 across 21 starts.
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:
John Hunter Nemechek | Martinsville Speedway Preview
Do you feel like things are finally starting to turn your way a little bit after having a tough start to the year?
“I definitely think so. I think after having a tough start to the year it’s definitely turned a little bit to try and get the ship righted in the right direction. I think the biggest thing for us is just being able to finish races. We’ve had speed all year, we’ve been able to get a lot of stage points and some stage wins and that has kept us in the points position that we’re in. Definitely feel like after having the second-place finish at COTA and now having the second-place finish last weekend at Richmond in the Xfinity Series car, we’re on the right track.”
What’s the most challenging part about Martinsville?
“I think the most challenging part is having track position, how to pass, and trying not to make enemies. It is a short track so it’s not if you are going to get run into, it’s when you are going to get run into. So, trying to keep your head cool and not lose your mind in a sense and not make any mistakes. I think the biggest thing for us is to go there and have a solid day. We’ve got to get some more solid finishes underneath our belt and just be able to race hard. You can have everything going right for you all day and get turned or make somebody mad and they can ruin your day so just have to keep the truck in one piece and be there at the end when it counts.”
Do you think with Martinsville being a regular season race that people will be less aggressive?
“I think that times have changed and seems like everybody is being aggressive now no matter where you go. I think the biggest thing for us is knowing who you’re racing around, how they’re going to race you, and different things of that sort. Just because it’s not a playoff race doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter so I still feel like the intensity is going to be high and everybody is going to be racing as hard as they can to try and maximize their performance and get the best finish that they can.”
John Hunter Nemechek Career Highlights:
- Eleven-time winner in Camping World Truck Series action, winning at least one race each season from 2015 to 2018 for his family-owned team, NEMCO Motorsports. Across 125 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, has compiled two poles, 1,231 laps led, 40 top-five and 66 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7. Registered a career-high and series-leading five victories in 2021 and earned the NCWTS Regular Season championship while finishing third in the final standings after qualifying for the Championship Four for the first time in his career.
- Produced three top-10 finishes and an average result of 22.4 while competing for rookie of the year honors in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2020. He recorded a career-best eighth-place finish twice, both coming at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
- Across 56 career XFINITY Series starts, has totaled two wins, one pole, 364 laps led, 14 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 11.7.
John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 4 Mobil 1 Tundra:
KBM-58: The No. 4 Mobil 1 team will unload KBM-58 for Thursday’s race at Martinsville. Nemechek produced three of his series-leading five wins with this Toyota last year: Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch also produced a victory with this Tundra TRD Pro at Charlotte in 2019.
KBM-58 Performance Profile
KBM Notes of Interest:
- KBM drivers have collected eight wins, five poles, 987 laps led, 24 top-five and 38 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 9.4 across 6o starts at Martinsville. Todd Gilliland picked up the organization’s most recent victory at the 0.526-mile oval in October of 2019. Kyle Busch (2016 & 2019), Darrell Wallace Jr. (2013 & 2014), and Denny Hamlin (2011 & 2012) have all collected two victories at the Virginia track while Noah Gragson (2017) has one win.
- KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (92) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway Corey Heim became the 18th different driver to win a Truck Series event for KBM. In addition to collecting a series-record seven Owner’s Championships, the organization has produced two championship-winning drivers: Erik Jones (2015) and Christopher Bell (2017).
- The No. 4 has 16 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.
