Editor’s note: This is the sixth in a series in which we review the top 30 drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series in reverse order of the 2025 final standings.
Driver: John Hunter Nemechek, No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota
Crew chief: Travis Mack
Final 2025 ranking: 25th
Key stats: 0 wins, 2 top fives, 8 top 10s, 37 laps led
How 2025 ended: The 28-year-old Nemechek missed the playoffs in his third full-time Cup Series season, but undoubtedly, 2025 was by far his best. Entering his second campaign with Legacy Motor Club, Nemechek had never earned a top-five finish, a milestone he checked off in the season-opening Daytona 500. The final seven races of the campaign were challenging, finishing better than 21st just once, but there’s certainly much for Nemechek to build off going forward.
Best race: In a Southern 500 headlined by issues to playoff drivers, Nemechek capitalized to finish fourth for his best-career finish. He led 15 laps at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval, finishing directly behind teammate Erik Jones in arguably Legacy’s best race as an organization. Nemechek overcame poor track position to start, qualifying 30th, quickly drove to the front and had an average running position of ninth over 367 laps.
RELATED: 2026 Cup Series schedule | John Hunter Nemechek driver page
Other season highlights: Nemechek’s 2025 successes came in twos, earning all eight of his top 10s in back-to-back stretches. In May, he finished eighth at Texas Motor Speedway with a 10th-place finish to follow at Kansas Speedway, later banking sixth-place finishes at both Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and Pocono Raceway. After his heroic effort in the Southern 500, Nemechek finished sixth at World Wide Technology Raceway seven days later. Over the summer, the Mooresville, North Carolina native advanced to the semifinals of the inaugural In-Season Challenge before getting eliminated by Ty Dillon at Dover Motor Speedway.
Stat to know: In a 14-race span beginning in Mexico City and ending at Bristol Motor Speedway, Nemechek had nine finishes of 17th or better. He climbed as high as 19th in the Cup Series standings with seven races remaining.
Quotable: “It was really fun to be a part of. It was great from a fan perspective. When you didn’t have a chance to win the race, you want to try and get the best finish that you can. At Dover, Ty Dillon and I didn’t have the best cars all day and we kept trading it off, and we knew we were racing them. It gives you something to race for when you are running 25th that day, or 15th that day, or whatever that may be. The trash-talking on social media and the content capture, that was a lot of fun for me. I think you saw a lot of different personalities come out through that and a lot of engagement you wouldn’t normally see on a weekly basis unless you were racing for something like that,” said Nemechek, speaking about the In-Season Challenge during a press conference at Iowa Speedway.
Looking ahead: Nemechek is expected to return to the No. 42 Toyota for a third consecutive season in 2026. Earning career bests in most major statistical categories, and with the organization continuing to make strides under the ownership of Jimmie Johnson, Nemechek is a candidate to have a breakthrough season. He’s still looking for his first career victory, and the way things are trending, that may just happen once the calendar flips.