John Hunter Nemechek makes his feelings known on Jimmie Johnson-led LMC’s upward trend

John Hunter Nemechek shared his thoughts on LEGACY MOTOR CLUB’s (LMC) progress following a strong performance at the 2025 DAYTONA 500. He talked about the improvements made since last season and showed optimism about what lies ahead for the team.

The comments came in a tweet by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio (Ch. 90), which featured an interview with Nemechek. The tweet opened with his top-five finish at the DAYTONA 500 and included his remark from the attached video interview. The caption read,

"A top 5 in the #DAYTONA for @JHNemechek was just what the doctor ordered at @LEGACYMotorClub🗣️

“Definitely a step in the right direction from last year.”

It marks his best career finish as a #NASCAR Cup Series driver."

The interview video showed the 27-year-old discussing his performance, the team’s progress, and the chaotic race finish. In the interview, John Hunter Nemechek spoke about LMC’s strong performance, noting that both he and Jimmie Johnson finished in the top five. He credited the team for building fast race cars and the improvements made since the 2024 season. He said,

"We're in contention, we did what we needed to do. We're up front, led some lanes. Overall, really solid day for the Legacy Motor Club organization. Jimmie finished third and myself finishing fifth, so overall proud of that effort from all these guys. They built some fast race cars, definitely a step in the right direction from last year, from 2024," Nemechek said in the video.

John Hunter Nemechek also described his experience going through the late-race incident. He recounted how he managed to avoid a major wreck and push his way to a career-best fifth-place finish.

"I'm not sure how we kept it straight there on back through that wreck. I think I was getting hit from every angle, but somehow we were able to manage, get through, and came up fifth," he added.

The 67th running of the DAYTONA 500 took place on February 16. LMC had a strong showing, with Erik Jones finishing second in his Duel qualifier and Nemechek recording the fastest practice time for Toyota. The race was even more successful, with all three LMC entries finishing in the top 12. Jimmie Johnson took the third place, Nemechek earned a career-best fifth-place finish, and Jones finished 12th.

The race started after a three-hour delay due to rain. Nemechek began in 18th place but quickly made up positions before the weather delay halted the race. When racing resumed, he played it safe to avoid early trouble and ended Stage 1 in 36th.

In Stage 2, Nemechek was caught in the race’s first major wreck on Lap 71 but managed to keep his car in control and avoid big damage. After a quick stop for new tires, he rejoined the race and moved into the top 10, finishing the stage in 17th.

As sourced via speedway-digest, before the final stage, his crew chief, Travis Mack, advised him to be aggressive. A well-timed fuel-only pit stop vaulted Nemechek up 11 spots to restart eighth. He continued to climb and positioned himself in the top three after avoiding another "Big One" wreck that took out several cars. The race came down to a NASCAR Overtime finish, where Nemechek secured a fifth-place finish, making it his best result in the Cup Series.

---

'I don’t have any friends out there': When John Hunter Nemechek listed down the worst moments from his 2024 season

In a YouTube video in 2024, John Hunter Nemechek listed his five worst moments of the season. It also included a disappointing Daytona race where he felt unsupported by fellow drivers.

"We’re leading the race, leading laps. Larson was pushing me, I got a little squirrely, and ended up spinning Tokyo Drift style. I saved it. Then, we were coming back through the field. Coming to the white flag, I was third in line on the outside, probably had a shot to win the race. I had a huge run created," said Nemechek in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel [0:59 onwards]

However, when Nemechek made a move for the lead, no one followed him. This is where he expressed frustration over the lack of help while drafting, saying,

"I had Ty Gibbs behind me, another Toyota teammate. I pulled out of line coming to the start/finish line, one to go, to make it three wide. No one went with me. I guess I don’t have any friends out there. We ended up going from a chance to win the race to finishing like 15th or something," he mentioned [1:23 onwards]

Other difficult moments from the season included a pit stop mistake that caused a fire, a hard crash at Indianapolis, and penalties at Kansas that cost him a strong finish. Nemechek also discussed how a late-season crew chief change shook up his team but ultimately bore fruit.

"We had a crew chief change. Man, it shook things up with just five races to go... But in the end, I think it all worked out." [4:01 onwards]

LMC made changes towards the end of 2024, such as hiring Brian Campe as technical director. They also shifted Nemechek's former crew chief, Ben Beshore, to the No. 43 team assist driver Erik Jones.