By AMANDA VINCENT
NASCAR Xfinity Series regular John Hunter Nemechek will be behind the wheel of the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Chevrolet for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Carson Hocevar originally was announced as the No. 42 driver for the Homestead race. Hocevar still is slated to drive the car for the final two races of the season at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 29 and Phoenix Raceway on Nov. 5.
Nemechek already had been named the full-time driver of the No. 42 in the Cup Series, beginning in 2024 when Legacy Motor Club makes a manufacturer change from Chevrolet to Toyota. Nemechek already is part of the Toyota camp as a driver for Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and previously in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with former Toyota team Kyle Busch Motorsports. So Nemechek had to get permission from Toyota to contest the Cup race at Homestead in a Chevrolet.
“Thanks to our long-term partners at Chevy and our future partners at Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, we have the opportunity to run one race this season with our future driver, John Hunter Nemechek, in the 42 car,” Legacy Motor Club co-owner Jimmie Johnson said in a video posted to Legacy’s social media accounts. “It’ll just be one race. We’ll pit Carson back in to close out the season.”
Legacy has been relying on substitute drivers since Noah Gragson was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR in early August for linking a racially insensitive social media post. He has been reinstated by NASCAR, but soon after his suspension began, he asked to be released from his contract with the race team.
Nemechek is a championship contender in the Xfinity Series this year. He leads the drivers standings and has seven wins this season with three races remaining in 2023.
Nemechek competed full-time in the Cup Series in 2020 and posted three top-10 race finishes.
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