John Hunter Nemechek returns to Sam Hunt Racing for Vegas Xfinity

Las Vegas is a popular vacation spot, and John Hunter Nemechek likes the area enough to visit its race track twice as a NASCAR Xfinity Series driver in 2022. On Tuesday, Sam Hunt Racing announced Nemechek will run the two Xfinity races at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 5 March and 15 October. Berry’s Bullets, who has sponsored Nemechek in the past, will appear on his #26 Toyota Supra.

Nemechek is set to enter his second season in the Camping World Truck Series with Kyle Busch Motorsports. His first, a year removed from a Rookie of the Year campaign in the Cup Series, saw him establish himself as the class of the field as he led the series in wins (five), top fives (twelve), and top tens (sixteen, tied with Todd Gilliland). He won the regular season championship and made the Championship Round but early misfortune in the final race resulted in a third-place points finish. Competing in the series since 2013, mainly for his family team NEMCO Motorsports, he has eleven career wins.

In addition to his 2021 Truck schedule, he ran two Xfinity races for SHR at Dover and Richmond, scoring a third at the latter. In the playoffs, he entered three races with SHR ally Joe Gibbs Racing and won at Texas. He previously competed full-time in the series in 2019 for GMS Racing, which followed a limited slate the previous year for Chip Ganassi Racing during which he won his maiden series race at Kansas. He finished second in his first Xfinity event at Las Vegas.

Berry’s Bullets, a firearm ammunication manufacturer, has sponsored Nemechek since he drove for NEMCO.

“Any time we get to go to the track with John Hunter, it’s extremely beneficial for our organisation,” stated SHR owner Sam Hunt. “He’s been a large part of our growth, provides invaluable feedback, and even came close to winning a race for us last year at Richmond, my home track. He comes from a gritty background, and he really embraces our group and how I go about building this team.”

SHR’s #26 finished twenty-third in the 2021 owner points. For 2022, the team has so far hired Ryan Truex and Jeffrey Earnhardt.