John Nemechek

For his nephew, also a racing driver in NASCAR, see John Hunter Nemechek.

John Frank Nemechek (March 12, 1970 – March 21, 1997) was an American racing driver who competed in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

John Nemechek
Nemechek in 1996
Born	John Frank Nemechek (1970-03-12)March 12, 1970 Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
Died	March 21, 1997(1997-03-21) (aged 27) Homestead, Florida, U.S.
Cause of death	Racing accident
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	92nd (1994)
First race	1994 Kroger 200 (IRP)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
43 races run over 3 years
Best finish	13th (1996)
First race	1995 Skoal Bandit Copper World Classic (Phoenix)
Last race	1997 Florida Dodge Dealers 400 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 4 0

Life and racing career

Nemechek's 1996 truck

The younger brother of four-time NASCAR Cup Series race winner Joe Nemechek, John followed his brother into racing, participating in his first race at the age of twelve in an 80 class dirtbike race. After a quick progression to the 250cc class, he moved onto mini-stock cars, where he raced against his brother, and eventually late-model stocks.

When he was not racing, Nemechek served as the front-tire changer on Joe's pit crew, and was on Joe's 1992 NASCAR Busch Series championship-winning team. He would begin attempting NASCAR races himself, and ran one Busch race at IRP in 1994.^[1] He finished 30th after his No. 89 Chevrolet suffered an engine failure. The following season, he began racing in the new Craftsman Truck Series, driving at first for Redding Motorsports,^[2] and then for his brother's NEMCO Motorsports. In the first year of competition, Nemechek ran 16 races and had two top-ten finishes. He followed that up with two more top-tens in 1996 and a thirteenth-place finish in points, running a single truck he built himself titled the War Wagon under his own team, Chek Racing.

Death

On March 16, 1997, Nemechek was running a Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway when with 14 laps to go, he lost control and struck the first-turn wall, driver's side first, and hit his head on the wall, suffering head injuries. He was extracted and transported to a hospital, where he died on March 21, 1997.^{[citation needed]}

Legacy

Following the incident, Homestead was reconfigured into a true oval with a six-degree banking to reduce the possibility of the type of crash that killed Nemechek. His brother Joe won a Busch Series race that November at the reconfigured circuit; he later named his son John Hunter after his late brother.

In 1999, when Joe won his first Cup Race at New Hampshire, he paid tribute to John over the radio while he took the checkered flag:

“This is for my brother John. I love you.”^[3][4]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	NBGNC	Pts	Ref
1994	NEMCO Motorsports	89	Chevy	DAY	CAR	RCH	ATL	MAR	DAR	HCY	BRI	ROU	NHA	NZH	CLT	DOV	MYB	GLN	MLW	SBO	TAL	HCY	IRP 30	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	MAR	CAR	92nd	73	[5]
1996	NEMCO Motorsports	89	Chevy	DAY	CAR DNQ	RCH DNQ	ATL	NSV	DAR	BRI	HCY	NZH	CLT	DOV	SBO	MYB	GLN	MLW	NHA	TAL	IRP	MCH	BRI	DAR	RCH	DOV	CLT	CAR	HOM			NA	0	[6]

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	NCTC	Pts	Ref
1995	Redding Motorsports	89	Chevy	PHO 13	TUS	SGS																								16th	1674	[7]
	NEMCO Motorsports	87	Chevy				MMR 26	POR 14	EVG 27	I70 23	LVL 22	BRI 29	MLW 17	CNS 15	HPT	IRP 8	FLM 20	RCH 19	MAR 9	NWS 22	SON	MMR 30	PHO 19
1996	Chek Racing	8	Chevy	HOM 7	PHO 14	POR 12	EVG 20	TUS 17	CNS 12	HPT 21	BRI 20	NZH 20	MLW 29	LVL 10	I70 16	IRP 26	FLM 14	GLN 16	NSV 21	RCH 27	NHA 20	MAR 14	NWS 19	SON 16	MMR 19	PHO 17	LVS 27			13th	2615	[8]
1997				WDW 36	TUS 20	HOM 21	PHO	POR	EVG	I70	NHA	TEX	BRI	NZH	MLW	LVL	CNS	HPT	IRP	FLM	NSV	GLN	RCH	MAR	SON	MMR	CAL	PHO	LVS	71st	258	[9]

References

1. Barker, John (August 5, 1994). "Third Sportsman 100 tonight at L.I.S." The Ledger. Lakeland, FL. p. 2D. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
2. Barker, John (December 13, 1994). "Younger Nemechek to drive Super Truck Series". The Ledger. Lakeland, FL. p. 3D. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
3. Staff Writer. "Joe Nemechek gets first NASCAR win". The Ledger.
4. "ESPN.com - Auto Racing - Nemechek breaks through for emotional first win". www.espn.com.
5. "John Nemechek – 1994 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
6. "John Nemechek – 1996 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
7. "John Nemechek – 1995 NASCAR SuperTruck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
8. "John Nemechek – 1996 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
9. "John Nemechek – 1997 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 25, 2024.

External links

• John Nemechek driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• John Nemechek's fatal crash on YouTube