May 25, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

John Hunter Nemechek tests his dirt skills in the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series

Salisbury, N.C.--John Hunter Nemechek never considered racing on dirt when he was coming through the NASCAR ranks.

The second-generation racer and current Camping World Truck Series points leader had a built-in apprenticeship working in the NEMCO family race shop while running late models and legacy cars on pavement. His truck debut at Martinsville Speedway came four months after he turned 16.

Having competed full-time in the top tiers of stock car racing and now settling in behind the wheel of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, Nemechek, 24, learned to appreciate the car control of drivers who honed their skills on dirt.

After returning to the Toyota Racing family last season, Nemechek appealed to the powers that be about getting behind the wheel of a midget.

“It's something that I've always wanted to do,” Nemechek said. “Having been around Kyle Larson, having him as a teammate (at Ganassi Racing), having raced against Christopher Bell for quite some time, they always told me that I needed to get in one that they were super fun to drive. For me, I just wanted to do something different.” 

Nemechek isn’t alone. What Larson, the current NASCAR Cup champion, learned from open-wheel racing--and how it helps to keep him sharp behind the wheel--isn’t lost on other drivers. 

When World Racing Group debuted the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series this week at Millbridge Raceway in Salisbury, N.C., Nemechek was one of nine NASCAR regulars racing prior to this weekend’s activities at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Along with Kyle Larson and Chase Briscoe, who race regularly at the one-sixth-mile track, current Truck Series champ Ben Rhodes, former truck champ Sheldon Creed, Carson Hocevar, Landon Cassill, Brandon Jones and Brett Moffitt came out to compete in midgets and/or micros this week.

Some NASCAR drivers came to Millbridge to get a feel for the surface prior to the Bristol Dirt Race in April, but like Nemechek, many keep coming back.

“I feel like being able to drive anything and everything, for me, makes a driver better,” Nemechek said. “It's definitely something that is completely different than I've ever done. Something that I have to adapt to and learn pretty quick.”  

Nemechek noticed an uptick in the competition from the weekly racing at Millbridge once the national drivers rolled in with the Xtreme Outlaw tour. Driving the No. 84X Toyota for Chad Boat Industries, Nemechek qualified fifth, finished fifth in Heat 5 and ended up sixth in the first 12-lap Last Chance Showdown. While advancing from a micro to a midget was a challenge, Nemechek welcomes the opportunity.

“Been able to race a micro twice and have tested the midget once, so not a lot of dirt experience. It was super hard to pass. There were a lot of guys there that run midgets every week and have been racing on dirt their whole lives. It’s hard for a guy that maybe has 60 to 70 laps total in a midget to go and compete against them right off of the bat.

“But Chad Boat and all the guys here at CBI have definitely been very great to me--and Toyota/TRD. Just thankful for the opportunity from Toyota to come out here and race and to put me behind the wheel.”

Nemechek will get a second shot on Wednesday night as the Production Alliance Group Double Down Showdown concludes at Millbridge. On Friday, he’ll turn his attention back to his day job driving a Toyota Racing Tundra for KBM at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where he is the defending race winner. 

“I feel like KBM is pretty strong on mile-and-a-half race tracks,” Nemechek said. “Most of our wins actually came (on intermediates) last year. I think for us it's trying to figure out the balance that we need. I feel like we were really good last year—unloading right off the truck and being really good. I feel like it's the same this year, but I feel like there have been times where we've dialed ourselves out during practice now, having that 20-minute practice.

“So just trying to take what the race track will give us. Charlotte has been one of my favorite race tracks to go to. I've always run really well there, and who knows how the PJ1 will come in? It'll either be really good or really tricky.”

Another “tricky” area for Nemechek is navigating the parenting waters when it comes to his young daughter Aspen. There’s a bit of friendly debate among J.H. and his wife Taylor on what path she might take. Nemechek laughs when asked if he could be among the NASCAR dads bringing his daughter to race at Millbridge one day. 
 
“There's a bunch of team guys that bring their kids out here, and it's cool to see,” Nemechek said. “Fathers and sons, father and daughters, families come out here and race in the middle of the week. It gives us something to do. 

“We did put her in a Power Wheels the other day, and she actually drove down the street. She was jumping up and down—super excited. So she's happy when she's touching a steering wheel at this point, so I don't know what's going to happen. 

“Taylor wants ponies, and I want race cars. So maybe we'll meet somewhere in between.” 

Whatever the case, it sounds as if horsepower will be part of the equation.