In his 20th season with at least one start in the NASCAR Xfinity Series division, Jeremy Clements is scheduled to achieve a milestone start. By taking the green flag in this weekend’s event at Circuit of the Americas (COTA), the driver of the No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing (JCR) Chevrolet Camaro entry will make his 500th career start in the Xfinity division.
Clements’ milestone start will also come with a new look sporting his entry after JCR announced a new partnership with Henderson Jet Services, a company that is based in Georgetown, Texas, and will serve as the driver’s primary sponsor for the upcoming 20-turn road-course event in Austin, Texas. Meanwhile, Alliance Driveaway Solutions and Harrison’s will be serving as his associate sponsors for the event.
“First, I am very grateful for Henderson Jet Services coming on board for COTA,” Clements said. “We had few races left to fill out the season and with the help of Steve (Carnes) we were able to get a deal done.”
A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Clements’ Xfinity Series debut occurred at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado, in July 2003. Driving the No. 71 Kenneth Appling Racing Chevrolet entry, he started 35th and finished 31st after he was eliminated from an early incident. Four years later, Clements, who had recovered from being hospitalized following an accident at 311 Speedway in North Carolina, returned to the series as he competed in the final five-scheduled events with McGill Motorsports. Within the five-race span, he notched a season-best 23rd-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October 2007.
During the 2008 and 2009 seasons, Clements made a total of 14 starts in the Xfinity circuit between JD Motorsports and his family-owned Jeremy Clements Motorsports (JCM) organization. His best on-track result between the two seasons was a 12th-place finish at Auto Club Speedway in October 2009. Mired within his Xfinity starts, he also qualified Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 entry twice: once at Kentucky Speedway in 2008 and again at Iowa Speedway in 2009, both in place of Kyle Busch. Clements would return to JD Motorsports for 16 Xfinity events in 2010, where he achieved his first top-10 career result by finishing 10th at World Wide Technology Raceway in October. He also accumulated a total of six top-20 results.
Beginning in 2011, Clements campaigned as a full-time Xfinity competitor for JCM. In his first two full-time campaigns, the South Carolina native recorded a pair of 10th-place finishes at Dover Motor Speedway and at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, respectively, in 2012. He also recorded a combined 21 top-20 results, 696 points in 2011 and a 14th-place result in the final driver’s standings in 2012. After finishing in 33rd place during the 2013 opener at Daytona International Speedway, he was suspended indefinitely for violating NASCAR’s Code of Conduct policy as he used a racial slur. After being replaced by Ryan Sieg for two events, Clements returned for the remainder of the season, where he notched a pair of top-10 runs, including a season-best ninth-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway, and ended up in 16th place in the standings. By then, he surpassed 100 career starts in the Xfinity Series.
Between 2014 to 2016, Clements accumulated a total of six top-10 results, 50 top-20 results and 19 laps led. Mired within the results, he notched his first top-five finish after he settled in fourth place at Talladega in April 2016. He also surpassed 200 Xfinity starts as he finished 15th, 14th and 15th, respectively, in the final standings. At the conclusion of the 2015 season, he boosted his season’s average-finishing result above the top-20 cutline to 19.8.
Then in 2017, Clements achieved a breakthrough moment in his NASCAR career. After finishing as high as seventh through the first 22 events on the schedule, he rallied from being involved in an incident with Matt Tifft, where he spun both himself and the latter on the final turn prior to the penultimate lap, to assume the lead on the final lap and muscle away to his first Xfinity Series career victory in his 256th series start at Road America. Clements’ first victory allowed him and his No. 51 Jeremy Clements Racing (JCR) Chevrolet team to secure a spot into the Playoffs, where he would end up in a career-best 12th place in the final standings after he was eliminated from title contention following the first Playoff round.
From 2018 to 2021, Clements went winless, but he racked up two top-five results, 19 top-10 results, 23 laps led and average-finishing results within the top-18 mark. Between the four-year span, he finished as high as third place at Pocono Raceway in July 2020. Previously, he finished in fourth place at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2019. He would also make the 2021 Playoffs, where he finished 12th in the standings after being eliminated following the Playoff’s Round of 12, and surpass 300 Xfinity starts. In addition, he accumulated a career-high eight top-10 results and notched a career-best average-finishing result of 16.4 during the 2021 campaign.
Clements commenced the 2022 Xfinity season by reaching 400 Xfinity starts following the first two-scheduled events. He would proceed by finishing in the top 10 four times, including a strong fourth-place result at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July, over his next 20 starts. Then at Daytona in August, Clements survived a crash-filled event and an overtime shootout to score his second Xfinity career victory and race his way into the season’s Playoffs. Ultimately, Clements would settle in a career-best 12th place in the final standings after he was eliminated from title contention following the Round of 12 for a third time.
Over the previous two Xfinity seasons (2023-24), Clements recorded a single top-10 result, which was a sixth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway in February 2024. Despite leading a career-high 24 laps in 2024, he finished no higher than 19th place in the 2023 final standings and recorded respective average-finishing results of 21.2 and 23.2. Currently, Clements is coming off respective finishes of ninth and 11th through the first two-scheduled events of the 2025 season. With an early average-finishing result of 10.0, he is ranked in seventh place in the standings and trails the points lead by 29 points as he strives to maintain his early momentum and return to the Playoffs for the first time in three seasons.
Overall, Clements has achieved two victories, six top-five results, 39 top-10 results, 114 laps led and an average-finishing result of 21.0 through 499 current starts in the Xfinity Series division.
“Wow, it’s hard to believe I will be making my 500th Xfinity start!” Clements added. “I am incredibly grateful to all the sponsors, crew, friends, and family who have helped me get to this point in my career. We’ve accomplished so much with limited resources over these 20-plus years, experiencing both ups and downs for sure, but I’m so fortunate to do this for a living! Again, Thank You All for your support—here’s to 500 more!”
Jeremy Clements is scheduled to make his 500th Xfinity Series career start at Circuit of the Americas for the Focused Health 250. The event is scheduled to occur on Saturday, March 1, with a starting broadcast time of 2:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network.
