John Hunter Nemechek visits South Carolina football practice, hangs out with Shane Beamer

Today, Nemechek is getting a chance to be around the No. 13 ranked team in the nation. Saturday, he’ll be back inside his No. 42 Toyota for the Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

It’s the regular season finale and two playoff spots are up for grabs. Nemechek, 26th in the points standings, needs to win to qualify for the postseason.

The good thing for Nemechek is that Daytona is his best racetrack. Nemechek’s average finish in five Cup Series starts at Daytona is 9.8. That is tops among all full-time drivers. Nemechek finished fifth in this year’s Daytona 500 and 15th in last year’s Coke Zero Sugar 400.

John Hunter Nemechek has taken a step forward in 2025

Even if Nemechek fails to win this Saturday, it’s still been a step forward kind of a year for him and Legacy Motor Club. Nemechek has six top 10s this season and just one DNF. He told NBC Sports last month that he’s grown to become more confident in his car this season.

“I think it’s confidence in your equipment,” Nemechek said. “When I go out on the racetrack, I’m confident that I know that the car is going to stick and that I can push it. Last year, you never really knew what you were going to get from a correlation aspect, from unloading from sim to the racetrack.

“I know when I’m coming to the racetrack kind of where we’re going to be as far as balance-wise. If it’s not that way, it’s not that way, but having confidence in them that we can make our cars better.”