NASCAR: 5 possible Chip Ganassi Racing drivers for 2021
By Asher Fair
Possible Chip Ganassi Racing drivers: John Hunter Nemechek
John Hunter Nemechek may be one of the most underrated prospects in not only NASCAR but in any form of racing, and that has been evident for the last several years.
The 22-year-old Mooresville, North Carolina native has been competing somewhere within NASCAR’s top three levels since he was 16 years old back in 2013 when he made his Truck Series debut with NEMCO Motorsports (then SWM-NEMCO Motorsports), a team owned by his family.
He won at least one Truck Series race each year from 2015 to 2018, and he made his Xfinity Series debut in the 2018 season driving for Chip Ganassi Racing. As a part-time driver, he secured his first career victory at Kansas Speedway.
Could that win, coupled with his five other top five finishes in 17 other starts, be enough to at least keep him on the team’s radar for next year?
He went winless in 2019 as a full-time driver for GMS Racing, but he still finished in seventh place in the championship standings. Aside of the “Big 3” of Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Christopher Bell, he was the highest finishing driver who was promoted to the Cup Series.
Nemechek began his Cup Series career late last year, filling in for Matt Tifft after Tifft suffered a seizure, at Front Row Motorsports. With Tifft out indefinitely, Nemechek was confirmed as a full-time driver for Bob Jenkins’s team beginning in the 2020 season.
In 32 starts for Front Row Motorsports, which are one of the sport’s slowest teams, Nemechek has been impressive, and above all, he has been consistent, just as he had been in the lower series. His average finish is a solid 22.6 and is 22.5 through 29 races this year.
At 23 years old, Nemechek has more NASCAR experience than many driver several years older than he is. His long-term upside could be worth a team such as Chip Ganassi Racing taking a chance on, especially since they have previously worked together.