John Hunter Nemechek will serve as the replacement driver for Bubba Wallace in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, 23XI Racing confirmed.
Nemechek, who competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports, was originally scheduled to serve as 23XI Racing’s reserve driver before a last-minute decision saw Ty Gibbs get the nod when Kurt Busch was injured at Pocono.
23XI Racing released a statement on Tuesday, expressing the organization’s alignment with NASCAR’s choice to suspend Wallace for one race, and confirming that John Hunter Nemechek will run the No. 45 at Homestead.
23XI’s official statement on the NASCAR Las Vegas Penalty. pic.twitter.com/Pdopqtae1e
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) October 18, 2022
Nemechek has competed in two NASCAR Cup Series events at Homestead-Miami Speedway, both in the Generation 6 car with Front Row Motorsports, where he recorded finishes of 19th and 23rd.
With this suspension to Wallace, 23XI will have both of their scheduled full-time drivers sidelined for various reasons in Sunday’s race at Homestead-Miami, giving opportunities at NASCAR’s top-level to two of Toyota’s brightest starts, John Hunter Nemechek and Ty Gibbs.
