John Hunter Nemechek to Make 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Debut at Martinsville
Second generation driver, John Hunter Nemechek, will make his 2014 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut racing the #8 SWM-NEMCO Motorsports Toyota Tundra in this Saturday’s Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway in Martinsville, VA.
Nemechek, son of veteran NASCAR competitor, Joe Nemechek, will be making his second attempt at Martinsville and his third in the series overall. Approved by NASCAR to compete on tracks one mile in length or under, the 16-year old Nemechek is slated to run 10 races in the #8 entry with his father filling the seat for the remaining 12 races on the NCWTS schedule.
In preparation, John Hunter Nemechek “shook down” his Tundra at the Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, VA on Monday. With a similar layout to Martinsville, Nemechek says it was a day well spent reacquainting himself with the weight and feel of a race truck.
“Having the opportunity to make laps at Motor Mile was very beneficial and my comfort level in the truck is really high going into Martinsville,” Nemechek said. ”I’m confident in what we accomplished and we’re setting our goals accordingly. The first thing we learned last year at Martinsville is while qualifying pays nothing, track position is everything, so starting up front will be a huge benefit. The new qualifying format will definitely be an advantage for us and since we expect to race well, we feel like we will qualify well.”
The former Allison Legacy Series National Champion and Super Late Model standout has been anything but idle while waiting for his first start of the season. In addition to a substantial Super Late Model schedule, Nemechek kicked off his season with a CRA Pro Tour win at Watermelon Capital Speedway (Cordele, GA) in January.
Looking to apply the skills he’s honed racing at the “grass roots” level, Nemechek also hopes to apply what he learned in 250 laps at the .526-mile oval in Martinsville last October when he earned a 16th-place finish.
“Martinsville is classic short-track racing and given my background, that suits me and my driving style very well,” Nemechek explained. “My goal is to be able to figure out what the truck wants throughout the race, make the appropriate adjustments, pace myself and be there at the end.”
There to support his son in his first truck series outing of 2014 will be Joe Nemechek who will be competing in Sunday’s STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Nemechek shares his son’s confidence coming into the weekend and looks for great things for the 2014 season.
“We’ve put together a team with the best of equipment and great people including the backing and support of Sid Mauldin and SWM International,” Joe Nemechek said. “We’ve named Jerry Babb as crew chief and he and John Hunter, as well as myself, have great communication and a good foundation for this short amount of time. We started off the season well with a sixth-place run in Daytona and we’re expecting top-10 finishes every race. A win is definitely on the radar.”
John Hunter Nemechek first takes to the track at Martinsville for practice on Friday, March 28 at 9:00am ET. Qualifying begins at 11:00am ET on Saturday, March 29 and will air live on FOX Sports 1. The Kroger 250 gets underway Saturday at 2:00pm ET and will also air live on FOX Sports 1. MRN and SiriusXM will carry the live radio broadcast.
About SWM International Inc.
SWM International Inc. is a premier manufacturing facility in Pampa, Texas that specializes in custom design and development of the highest quality oil field completion tools including the best oil well perforating guns in the industry today. Known for being at the forefront of technology, President and CEO, Sid Mauldin, has given the company cutting edge machines and production capabilities unsurpassed by any other company in this industry. In keeping with his passion for NASCAR, Mauldin has expanded the capabilities of the business and is now producing suspension and frame parts for the NASCAR market. For more information about SWM International, please visit www.SWMTX.com or call toll free at 877-665-8747.
For more information on John Hutner Nemehek, visit www.johnhunternemechek.com.
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