John Hunter Nemechek's Weak Drafting Record Makes Him a Longshot
7 months agoAlthough John Hunter Nemechek just finished seventh in the Daytona 500 last week, he ran considerably worse and was one of the luckiest drivers in the race, primarily because he missed the Big One. Nemechek is not particularly strong on drafting tracks as he failed to win at both Daytona and Talladega in the Xfinity Series and the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. He did have one win at Atlanta in the Xfinity Series last year, though. The Toyotas in general were very fast at Daytona last week, with five Toyota drivers ranking in the top seven in speed. Nemechek was not one of them, as he ranked 23rd in speed and 29th in driver rating, so he had to rely on the wreck to get a good finish. Atlanta pileups do not tend to be as large as Daytona melees, so if John Hunter runs similarly to how he ran at Daytona, expect a mediocre result at Atlanta.
Source: Racing Reference
Source: Racing Reference