John Hunter Nemechek, the son of NASCAR driver Joe Nemechek, will drive the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity Series next year. The team announced the news on Thursday.
“I’m appreciative of the opportunity to get back to competing full-time in the Xfinity Series,” Nemechek said in a statement. “JGR is a group that I know I can win with after getting that win at Texas in 2021. I’m excited to get to work on the 2023 season so we can go out and win some races and compete for a championship.”
Ben Beshore, who previously served as Kyle Busch‘s crew chief in the Cup Series, will now be Nemechek’s crew chief.
The 25-year-old drove three Xfinity races for JGR last season while also driving a full schedule in the Truck Series for Kyle Busch Motorsports. In his career, the Toyota development driver has 13 Truck Series victories and two Xfinity Series victories. He’s also run a full season in the NASCAR Cup, winning at Texas Motor Speedway with JGR in 2021, and running three Cup races in 2022, with his top finish being a second-place finish at Richmond.
“John Hunter has shown the dedication it takes to be a successful racecar driver,” said Steve DeSouza, Executive Vice President, Xfinity Series and Driver Development. “He has experience at all levels of NASCAR that will be valuable to the team in 2023. We are excited to add him to our driver lineup for the year and look forward to the success the No. 20 team will see.”
[NBC Sports, Jayski]
