“Aquarium with the fam”: Jimmie Johnson-led LMC driver John Hunter Nemechek spends quality time ahead of the Atlanta Cup race

NASCAR driver John Hunter Nemechek enjoyed a day with his family in Atlanta before the Cup Series race this weekend. He visited the Georgia Aquarium with his wife Taylor and their two daughters, Aspen Palmer and Penelope James.

Nemechek drives the No. 42 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club (LMC), which is co-owned by NASCAR legend Jimmie Johnson. He will compete in the second race of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday, February 23.

The 27-year-old shared pictures with his family at the largest aquarium in the US on X and wrote:

"Aquarium with the fam in coldlanta!"

Nemechek joined LMC last year for his second full-time Cup season and finished 34th in the final points standings. He made his debut in 2019 with Front Row Motorsports and joined the team for his rookie full-time season the following year, finishing in 27th place. Overall, Nemechek has eight top-10 finishes over 77 starts in the series.

Nemechek previously raced in the NASCAR’s Xfinity and Truck Series, where he collected 11 and 13 wins, respectively.

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"I finished relatively well in every start" - John Hunter Nemechek on Denny Hamlin's comments after Daytona 500

John Hunter Nemechek finished in fifth place at the season-opening Daytona 500 last week, where Henrick Motorsports' William Byron took home the Harley J. Earl Trophy trophy for the second time in a row. Jimmie Johnson, who drives part-time for Legacy Motor Club, finished third.

Denny Hamlin complained that NASCAR’s superspeedway rules rely too much on luck instead of driver skill. He stated on his Actions Detrimental podcast that fans' reaction would have been different if Nemechek had won the 2025 Daytona 500 instead of Byron.

After Hamlin mentioned him on the podcast, Nemechek was surprised that the Joe Gibbs Racing driver brought up his name.

"I guess I get it from the perspective that I haven’t necessarily made a name for myself in the Cup Series yet, but that’s what I’m here to do...For my Cup career at Daytona, especially, I finished relatively well in every start, so I’m not really sure why I was the example of that, but from the standpoint of promoting the sport and things of that sort," John Hunter Nemechek said (via NASCAR.com).

"I guess, like I said, William already has his name established from winning a bunch of races, being a championship contender, and I really haven’t had that shot yet in the NASCAR Cup Series, so not really sure what he was thinking or where his head is at with that," he added.

John Hunter Nemechek had a seventh-place finish at the Daytona 500 in 2024 and finished in 11th place on his debut in 2020.