John Hunter Nemechek delivers controversial take on Hendrick Motorsports star's popularity reign in NASCAR

John Hunter Nemechek, driver of the No. 42 Toyota Camry for Legacy Motor Club in the NCS, recently shared a controversial take on Chase Elliott's popularity in the sport. In his recent appearance on the Gypsy Tales podcast, Nemechek explained how essentially no other driver could ever win NASCAR's most popular driver award as long as the Hendrick Motorsports star competes in NASCAR.

While Chase Elliott is currently the most popular driver in the sport, evident from his seven consecutive Most Popular Driver titles, John Hunter Nemecheck is the most viral driver in NASCAR. He has more followers on YouTube (1.41 million) than NASCAR itself, which sits at 1.4 million subscribers.

Speaking about Elliott's popularity in NASCAR, John Hunter Nemechek said:

"I think from my standpoint within the NASCAR ranks, like nobody's ever going to beat Chase Elliott when it comes to the most popular driver, right? Just because of his history and it's a huge fan base. It's like Dale Junior winning most popular driver for (multiple) years in a row... No one's ever going to beat Chase until he leaves the sport." (14:17 onwards)

When asked why he thinks it is the case with Chase Elliott, John Hunter Nemecheck reasoned that NASCAR being a southern sport and Elliott belonging to Darsonville, Georgia, plus being the son of Bill Elliott, are two of the biggest reasons behind his unmatched popularity.

"I think it's generational fan base," John Hunter Nemechek added. "Having that name, the Elliot name, but I also think that Chase has grown his fan base as well. I don't know exactly why... but I do know that NASCAR is a southern sport, Chase being from Dawsonville, Georgia, and Bill being one of the pioneers in the sport, right? Like there's a huge fan base behind them built in. So like I said, you're never going to win most popular driver."

Nemechek currently sits 18th in the NCS drivers' standings with 130 points to his name.

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John Hunter Nemechek compares racing in NASCAR to competing in a marathon

NASCAR: John Hunter Nemechek at Cup Qualifying - Source: Imagn

Whether or not racecar drivers are real athletes has been a long-standing debate in the sporting community. Some believe that sitting in a car and just turning the wheel for a certain number of laps doesn't require as much physical effort as some other physically demanding sports. However, John Hunter Nemeched explained why being a racecar driver is not as easy as it might look from the outside.

To prove his point, Nemechek gave the example of his elevated heartbeat of close to 160 bpm throughout the race, which peaked at somewhere about 190 during the final stint at the Circuit of The Americas (COTA). He eventually compared competing in NASCAR to running in a marathon.

"I've run a couple of half Ironmans in the past, and like I would equate that to being in a race car every Sunday. Like it's three-and-a-half hours at max heart rate, and it's pretty much running a marathon," John Hunter Nemecheck shared (19:30 onwards).

John Hunter Nemechek has had a decent start to his 2025 NCS campaign compared to last season, with one top-5 and two top-10 results already under his belt. He finished 23rd in the Straight Talk Wireless 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and added 14 points to his tally.