John Hunter Nemechek may not have plans to join the PGA Tour anytime soon, but this weekend he’ll make his way to Lebanon, Missouri’s I-44 Speedway in search of his second green jacket. The 18-year-old from Mooresville, North Carolina will attempt to win his second straight Champion Racing Oil Masters of the Pros 144 Saturday night at the high-banked 3/8-mile oval.
“Going back to I-44 Speedway, it’s a really fun race track, high-banked and it’s fun to go back and run Late Model races,” said Nemechek. “We won there last year and got the green jacket, so hopefully we can make it two green jackets in a row.”
Nemechek will compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Dover International Speedway (DE) Friday night before making the trip to Missouri on Saturday. When he gets there, he’ll be looking to repeat his performance from one year ago.
“After being able to run the truck race, hopefully we’ll be able to make it out there despite the rain,” said Nemechek, who is already qualified for the NCWTS Chase. “I’m really looking forward to going back.”
Last year, Nemechek dominated the second half of the 144-lap race on his way to wearing the green jacket in victory lane.
Since that race, the NEMCO Motorsports team has experienced plenty of success in the Late Model ranks. Nemechek won the Snowflake 100 at Five Flags Speedway (FL) in December and followed that up with a Pro Late Model win during SpeedFest at Crisp Motorsports Park (GA). He’s hoping to continue that string of strong runs this weekend when he jumps back in a Late Model for the first time since March.
“Our success in not only Pro Late Models, but Super Late Models over the past couple years has been very successful for us,” stated Nemechek. “It means a lot to us, and how much work and determination we put into it. There’s a lot of thought and engineering processes that go into making our cars go faster around the race track, so it’s always great when you can get a win. Going to Cordele, and also going to I-44 and the Snowflake 100 win, we’ve been close to winning those before and finally got all three of those.”
Qualifying for the JEGS/CRA All-Stars Tour Champion Racing Oil Masters of the Pros 144 is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. CT. Fans can follow along with the race live on Speed51.com.
About NEMCO Motorsports:
NEMCO Motorsports is a title-winning NASCAR XFINITY Series team owned by XFINITY Series champion Joe Nemechek. The team fields an entry in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series with the No. 8 Chevrolet for driver John Hunter Nemechek, and an entry in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with the No. 87 Chevrolet for driver Joe Nemechek. Based in Mooresville, North Carolina, NEMCO Motorsports is a family-owned operation that has been in national NASCAR competition since 1989. For more information, please visit us on the Web at NEMCOMotorsports.com on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/NEMCOMotorsports, and on Twitter @NEMCOMotorsport.