John Hunter Nemechek remembers coming to Pocono Raceway to watch his father.
Joe Nemechek made 39 career starts at the 2.5-mile triangular track in Long Pond. He had two top-five and four top-10 finishes. “Front Row” Joe even won the pole for the July 1997 race.
Now, the younger Nemechek gets his first chance to compete at Pocono. He will drive the No. 8 Chevrolet in the Pocono Mountains 150 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Saturday.
When he turned 18 on June 11, John Hunter became eligible to compete at any length track and in any NASCAR series. Before that, he was only able to race on tracks 1.25 miles or less in length and road courses.
“It’s called the ‘Tricky Triangle’ for a reason,” John Hunter said. “My dad is going to be a great help to me learning the track.”
Until John Hunter turned 18, Joe competed in four Truck Series races this season, and Sprint Cup Series regular Ryan Newman drove at Kansas.
Two days after his 18th birthday, John Hunter took over the ride full-time and drove to a fourth-place finish at Gateway Motorsports Park. He has since finished 23rd at Iowa, 11th at Kentucky and seventh last week at Eldora Speedway, the Ohio dirt track owned by Tony Stewart.
In 18 career Truck Series starts since 2013, he has two top-five and eight top-10 finishes.
“Since I’ve gotten into the truck series, I’ve been able to adapt to the weight of the cars quickly,” John Hunter said.
Clearly, John Hunter was destined to follow in his father’s tire tracks.
When he was born, he was named for his uncle John Nemechek, who three months earlier died as a result of head injuries suffered in a crash during a Truck Series race at Homestead. John Hunter honors his uncle by running the same number.
At age 4, he started racing go-karts, quarter midgets and dirt bikes. In 2010, he started competing in the Allison Legacy Series, which uses three-quarter-size stock cars. In 2012, John Hunter won 15-of-18 races to take the series championship.
His Truck Series debut came at Martinsville in October 2013 at the age of 16.
Another of John Hunter’s notable accomplishments came in December 2014 when he won the prestigious Snowball Derby, a 300-lap super late model race in Pensacola, Florida.
Recently, John Hunter was one of 12 drivers named to the NASCAR Next Class of 2015. The program recognizes young, up-and-coming talent and helps groom them for the future.
“It’s a unique opportunity that not everybody gets,” John Hunter said. “I’m very honored to be part of the group. I hope to learn as much as I can. I’m always trying to make myself better and help promote the series.”
Despite his last name and what his father accomplished, John Hunter said he doesn’t feel any added pressure.
“I certainly want to try to go above what he did,” John Hunter said. “But it’s going to be tough because he had great success in his career.”
Practice for the Pocono Mountains 150 is Friday from 2 to 4:25 p.m. Qualifying is Saturday at 10 a.m. with the race scheduled to get the green flag at 1 p.m.
Pocono schedule
Friday
11 a.m to 12:25 p.m. —- Sprint Cup practice
12:30-1:55 p.m. — ARCA practice
2-4:25 p.m. — Truck Series practice
4:45 p.m. — Sprint Cup qualifying
6 p.m. — ARCA qualifying
Saturday
9 to 9:50 a.m. — Sprint Cup practice
10 a.m. — Truck Series qualifying
11:35 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. — Sprint Cup final practice
1 p.m. — Pocono Mountains 150 Truck Series race
3:15 p.m. — ModSpace 125 ARCA Series race
Sunday
1 p.m. — Driver introductions
1:30 p.m. — Windows 10 400 Sprint Cup race