Event: SpeedyCash.com 220, Race 11 of 22, 147 Laps – 35/35/77; 220.5 Miles
Location: Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Date/Broadcast: June 12, 2021 at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR 90
Neme’chek’ The Facts:
John Hunter Nemechek and the No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co team roll into Texas Motor Speedway riding momentum after capturing the team’s third win of the 2021 season at Charlotte (N.C) Motor Speedway. The SpeedyCash.com 220 Saturday afternoon at Texas marks the halfway point of the 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. So far in 2021, Nemechek leads the series in wins (three), stage wins (eight), top fives (six), and laps led (409). Nemechek continues to lead Ben Rhodes by 44 points in the point standings with five races remaining in the regular season.
In NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition at Texas, Nemechek has five starts at the 1.5-mile facility. His best career finish at Texas was seventh in 2021. Across his five starts, he has completed 95.7% (742/775) of the laps, has an average start of 14.6, and an average finish of 15.2. Nemechek finished 21st in his NASCAR Cup Series debut at Texas in November of 2019 and finished 22nd in both of his NASCAR Cup Series starts at Texas last season. In his three NASCAR Xfinity Series starts, Nemechek finished in the top-10 in all three including a best finish of fourth in 2018.
Nemechek is a nine-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 this year with KBM. Across 112 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, the second-generation driver has compiled two poles, 1018 laps led, 34 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7. The North Carolina native qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017. He was voted the series most popular driver in 2015.
KBM has collected the trophy at all four mile-and-a-half races in 2021, with Nemechek winning at Charlotte and Las Vegas while Kyle Busch brought home the trophy at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. KBM drivers have combined to lead 70.1% (379/538) of the total laps in the four races on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
Eric Phillips returns to KBM to lead the No. 4 team this season. 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. His 40 career Truck Series victories make him the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, with 30 of those coming while at KBM. Across 19 starts at Texas, Phillips has collected three wins, six top fives, 11 top 10s, and an average finish of 11.9. Phillips won in 2006 with Clint Bowyer and with Kyle Busch in 2010 and 2014. He also captured one NASCAR Xfinity Series victory at Texas with John Hunter Nemechek’s father, Joe, in March of 2003.
John Hunter Nemechek, Driver Q&A:
After everything that happened at Charlotte, what did it mean to get the win?
“Starting off the way we did at Charlotte by going P1 on the board to the next lap hitting the fence was not the way we wanted to start off the weekend. I guess we got it out of the way early. We were able to fix that truck and take it to victory lane. It meant a lot to myself and the team. We were in there working, trying to get it back together to not pull a backup truck out, and luckily it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was. We were able to get it going.”
How similar is Texas compared to Charlotte?
“I feel like it used to be similar before the repave. I feel like it’s definitely changed a lot now with the repave. The same aspect applies with the PJ1 being applied like Charlotte did. Hopefully it will make for some great racing and come in fast since we are the first ones on the track this weekend. There are a lot of unknowns going into the weekend. Texas has always been a good place for me. I hope to bring home another win on a mile-and-a-half.”
With five races left in the regular season, is winning the regular season championship on your mind?
“Getting the regular season championship is a goal for us. We are #Here4Wins. We want to win everything we can, from races to championships to anything plus. Winning the regular season championship gives you a big bonus going into the Playoffs. We have five more races to go and try to win to continue our points lead. We have to maximize our days and our potential and can increase that lead by the end of those five races.”
John Hunter Nemechek Career Highlights:
Nine-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 112 career starts in NASCAR’s third division, has compiled two poles, 1,018 laps led, 34 top-five and 58 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.7.
Qualified for the Camping World Truck Series playoffs in each of his two full-time seasons, finishing eighth in the championship standings in both 2016 and 2017.
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, earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race award four times and finished 23rd in the championship standings.
Across 52 career XFINITY Series starts, has totaled one win (Kansas Speedway, 10/20/18), one pole, 225 laps led, 12 top-five and 30 top-10 finishes resulting in an average finish of 12.0.
John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 4 ROMCO Equipment Co. Tundra:
KBM-038: The No. 4 ROMCO team will unload KBM-038 Saturday at Texas. So far in 2021, KBM-038 has ran once at Kansas Speedway where Nemechek piloted the chassis to a fifth-place finish. Overall, “38 Special” has collected six wins across 21 career starts. Three with Christopher Bell and one each with Kyle Busch, William Byron and Noah Gragson.
KBM drivers have collected eight wins, three poles, 18 top-five and 33 top-10 finishes, and an average finish of 10.9 across 53 starts in the Lone Star State.
Owner-driver Kyle Busch’s victory in July 2020 was his fourth for his organization (2010, 2014, 2019 & 2020), Greg Biffle (2020), Christopher Bell (2017), William Byron (2016) and Erik Jones (2015) all have one victory at Texas.
KBM holds the Camping World Truck Series records for most career wins (86) and most wins in a single season (14 in 2014). With his victory at the Bristol Motor Speedway Dirt Track, Martin Truex Jr. became the 16th 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 14 career victories at KBM and was the number for both of the organization’s driver championships.
