![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/SUT-L-nascar-0108-02.jpg\")
John Hunter Nemechek smiles prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo\/Matt Kelley)<\/p>\nJohn Hunter Nemechek has no problem finding counsel when it comes to his NASCAR driving career.<\/p>\n
His father, Joe, started 674 Cup races over 24 years with four wins, 10 poles and 62 top-10 finishes.<\/p>\n
And Nemechek\u2019s boss at the Legacy Motor Club is seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I have a question, I get answers,\u201d Nemechek said recently while making a reconnaissance visit to the North Island Naval Base, site of the history-making three-race NASCAR weekend set for June 19 to 21.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy dad still plays a role in my career. We chat about things I\u2019m facing and that he experienced as a driver. My dad has done a lot and taught me a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when it comes to the car side of it, these cars today are so different than what he drove. These cars don\u2019t react the same way as my dad\u2019s cars. It\u2019s hard to understand how much the cars have changed just in the seven seasons since Dad retired.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the influence of Jimmie Johnson \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a guy like Jimmie who has seven championships and 83 Cup wins, someone who is probably the best who has ever been in the NASCAR ranks, alongside you supporting you and pushing you is an absolute, amazing feeling,\u201d said Nemechek. \u201cHaving him as a boss makes it that much better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s quite an experience being around Jimmie. Culture is a huge thing for us at Legacy Motor Club and with the development of what we\u2019re trying to build. Jimmie\u2019s vision is one of the reasons why I came to Legacy Motor Club. We\u2019re building the team and the club from the ground up. Jimmie is very talented in a lot of different ways. He has a lot of great ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of Johnson\u2019s ideas was hiring the young Nemechek to drive for Legacy\u2019s two-car team two years ago. The team and drivers Nemechek and Erik Jones are still searching for that first win as a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2024 season was a rough start,\u201d said Nemechek, 28. \u201cBut there was a lot of building. We made a ton of improvement in 2025. We were in contention. We built some fast cars. But we have to be more consistent when we\u2019re running toward the front. It\u2019s not one thing. It\u2019s just executing all the factors \u2026 cars, drivers, pit crew, strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a win. Hopefully, that will come in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Hunter Nemechek smiles prior to a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025, in Darlington, S.C. (AP Photo\/Matt Kelley)<\/p>\n
What better place than Naval Base Coronado on Father\u2019s Day in Johnson\u2019s first race in his hometown?<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell you how excited everyone at Legacy Motor Club is to be part of this historic race and Jimmie\u2019s return to San Diego,\u201d said Nemechek. \u201cIt\u2019s just special that NASCAR is celebrating the nation\u2019s 250th birthday with its first race ever on a military base. To be part of that and Johnson\u2019s first race in his hometown is meaningful to all of us at Legacy Motor Club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nemechek recently visited the base, visiting sailors and airmen and driving across sections of what will be the street\/road course.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like everyone else,\u201d said Nemechek. \u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to racing on the naval base. I love the idea and the vision that made it happen. It\u2019s going to be an amazing venue and weekend. It\u2019s historic. We all know that and what that means to NASCAR, the drivers, the base, the sailors and the nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely going to be an interesting circuit. I only got to see a couple of the straights and where some of the corners will be.\u00a0 From looking at it, it\u2019s definitely going to have a lot of character as a track. There are going to be some rough patches and bumps. We go over some train tracks. It\u2019s going to be fun and demanding.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be different than anything we\u2019ve ever raced on.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"NASCAR](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/DMT-L-AUTOMATTERS-NASC5-0723-01.jpg\")
NASCAR San Diego weekend graphic
\n(Logo)<\/p>\n
And Nemechek is excited for Johnson, who will attempt to run in all three races \u2014 Cup, Xfinity and Craftsman Trucks \u2014 during his first time ever driving a stock car in San Diego County.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows how many more starts Jimmie has left?\u201d said Nemechek. \u201cIt would be amazing for him to run in all three divisions here. I know he\u2019s excited. But this generation of Cup car makes it much more difficult for anyone who is not racing every week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are very different from the Cup cars of even five year ago. And you have to drive them differently. I still haven\u2019t mastered all of it. These cars are so different from anything I\u2019ve ever driven before. And they are always changing. As a driver, you have to adapt and make changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a driver the caliber of Jimmie Johnson could even hope to pull it off.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Hunter Nemechek has no problem finding counsel when it comes to his NASCAR driving career. His father,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":124562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,74,76,75,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-124561","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-diego","8":"tag-latest-headlines","9":"tag-san-diego","10":"tag-san-diego-headlines","11":"tag-san-diego-news","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}