For the second time in 2025, John Hunter Nemechek has earned back-to-back top-10 finishes.
The 27-year-old driver brought the No. 42 Dollar Tree Toyota Camry XSE home an impressive tenth-place for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, his fourth top-10 of the season, and his second in a row.
Last week at Texas, Nemechek was a part of a major milestone for the organization, which managed to score its first double top-10 in the NASCAR Cup Series (outside of a drafting track), with the No. 42 finishing in eighth, and his teammate Erik Jones collecting a top-five.
It’s a massive step forward for not only Nemechek, currently in his third full-time campaign in the NASCAR Cup Series, but the entire organization, which is in the process of mounting a rebound after a dismal first season of competition under the Toyota GAZOO Racing banner.
Highs and heartbreak in the Heartland. pic.twitter.com/ZbIro2kAo4
— LEGACY MOTOR CLUB (@LEGACYMotorClub) May 11, 2025
“We’ve made a lot of gains for sure,” Nemechek said post-race. “Last week was a really good showing, and we had speed. This week, both cars had speed as well. Luckily, we were able to come home 10th in our Dollar Tree Camry.”
The afternoon wasn’t as simple as a top-10 finish makes it sound.
With Kyle Larson, the eventual race-winner, setting an unbelievable pace early on in Sunday’s event, Nemechek, along with several others running outside the top-20, found themselves being put a lap down by the Hendrick Motorsports driver before the end of the first stage.
Things got slightly more complicated for Nemechek as the laps ticked off in the opening stage, with Nemechek radioing to his crew chief, Travis Mack, that he felt a tire going down. Instead of hitting pit road and losing multiple laps, the Mooresville, North Carolina-native was able to limp his No. 42 to the green-and-white checkered flag.
It took a significant portion of the remaining laps, and a valiant effort holding off race-leader Kyle Larson, for Nemechek to return to the lead lap, being awarded the free pass at Lap 195 and putting his LEGACY MOTOR CLUB team back in contention.
The final laps of Sunday’s event are where Nemechek surged, driving from a spot at the back-half of the top-20 into the top-10, racing against guys like Tyler Reddick, Chase Elliott, and Austin Cindric, who had been at the front of the pack all afternoon.
“I like it. I like that we have decent speed,” Nemechek added. “Solid day, solid effort. It wasn’t pretty — that is for sure, but we were able to maximize our finish and come home 10th.”
Nemechek, in speaking with Frontstretch on Sunday, also commented on the growth and improvement from LEGACY MOTOR CLUB this season, with the driver of the No. 42 already matching his top-10 total from last season.
“Personnel. Atmosphere, there’s a lot that goes into it. Process and procedures, there’s a lot that has changed at LEGACY over the last eight months, and continuing to get better,” Nemechek said.
Nemechek, after an impressive two-week stretch on the mile-and-a-halfs, has now jumped back into the top-20 in NASCAR Cup Series point standings, and with a couple more good finishes, could be in contention to qualify for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs come this Fall.
