John Hunter Nemechek’s season is getting a little busier.
On Wednesday, Sam Hunt Racing announced that Nemechek will drive for the team in select Xfinity Series races. His first two races for the team will be May 15 at Dover International Speedway and Sept. 11 at Richmond Raceway.
Nemechek, who ran as a Cup Series rookie in 2020, pairs this effort alongside his full-season schedule in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
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“I feel like Sam and I have known about each other for a really long time through mutual friends, or whatever it may be,” said Nemechek, whose lone Xfinity win came in October 2018 at Kansas Speedway for Chip Ganassi Racing. “I know he was running back in the (former) K&N East Series for a while as I was coming up, and we had talked about running races before but really nothing ever happened.
”...It’s something that I feel like has been on our radar and on Sam’s radar as well. We want to help each other the best that we can. He wants to provide a great car that can go and try to win races. I want to get him the best feedback that I can to try and help him grow his team to where he wants it to be.
“I feel like it’s gonna be a mutual effort and mutual sense where we can help each other a lot.”
— Sam Hunt Racing (@Team_SHR26) February 17, 2021
Sam Hunt Racing, which fields the No. 26 Toyota Supra, opened the Xfinity season last Saturday with an eighth-place finish from Brandon Gdovic on the oval at Daytona International Speedway.
Gdovic is one of several drivers who will be in the No. 26 car this season, along with ex-IndyCar racer Santino Ferrucci and another full-time Truck driver, Kris Wright.
Wright is scheduled to drive the No. 26 car in all seven Xfinity road course races this season, including Saturday on the Daytona road course. Ferrucci makes his NASCAR debut Feb. 27 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.