WATKINS GLEN, NY (August 4, 2021) – Kyle Busch Motorsports driver John Hunter Nemechek was made available to media prior to the Watkins Glen race weekend today:

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK, No. 4 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports

Do you think the Truck Series drivers are getting better at road courses?

“Well, I hope we make it through turn one, first of all. I feel like a lot of guys that are in the Truck field haven’t been to Watkins Glen. I feel like there is quite a lot of inexperience there with no practice and no qualifying is going to be a little bit different. I feel like COTA was a definitely a lot of fun in the rain, but I feel like guys are starting to get more aggressive. I think it’s coming down to that Playoff cutoff and Watkins Glen being the cutoff race for the Playoffs, I think there are going to be a lot of guys that are being aggressive trying to win, doing different strategies and being aggressive on the racetrack as well. I think everyone is getting better at road course racing. We see the Cup Series have, I think, seven road course races on the schedule this year so you have to become accustomed to it, I feel like. Back in the day, road course ringers could come in and kind of steal the show away and now, I don’t feel like they have as much of an advantage anymore because all of the drivers are putting forth a lot of time and effort into maximizing their road course program.”

Can you be more aggressive at Watkins Glen because you have nothing to lose?

“We don’t have anything to lose, that’s for sure. We are focused on seven Playoff points – is pretty much what our goal is. Go out, win the stages, and try to win the race. It’s really the only thing that matters to us this weekend having locked up the regular season championship, this race doesn’t mean much for points for us. We are going to go out there and give it our best shot. We know the circumstances that we are racing around on people that are going to be aggressive to try to get a win and people who are on the bubble trying to get in. There’s going to be a lot going on this weekend for sure.”

Since you’ve locked the regular season championship, can you try something out of the box this weekend?

“I don’t know much about next year, but I feel like Eric (Phillips, crew chief) and all of my guys have put in a lot of work. We ran really well, I felt like, at Daytona Road Course. We sucked at Circuit of the Americas. We didn’t have a very good day there, so we kind of went back to the drawing board on what we feel like we need to run package wise and tried to figure some things out and put a lot of work into it. Hopefully, it’s going to go well. I have faith in them, and I feel like that they have faith in me. We just have to go out there and do our job.”

How much time you spent preparing or has the focus already gone to the Playoffs?

“We are treating it as if it was another race. You have to go through Watkins Glen to get to the Playoffs, first of all. We have spent quite a lot of time preparing for it. The guys have done a tremendous amount of work to bring a completely different package than I feel like what we have run in the past in the Truck Series or what KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) has run in the Truck Series in the past. There is a lot of work, a lot of effort. It’s a new truck for us this weekend going to Watkins Glen as well, so we are #Here4Wins. We want to win every week, and we are going to put the effort in to do so, just because the Playoffs are going to start in a few weeks at Gateway doesn’t mean we are going to just sit on our hands. We are going to go try and win a race.”

How do you feel the narrative around you has changed this season with the success you have had on track?

“That’s a very good question. Honestly, I haven’t paid a lot of attention to it. It’s been great to have success this year. When we announced coming back to the Truck Series, I felt like this was my best opportunity to get back with Toyota, to be surrounded by a great organization that Kyle (Busch), everyone at Toyota, TRD, has assembled. With having Eric Phillips (crew chief) come back this year, we wanted to win races. That’s the reason we came back. Before that, I hadn’t won in two years. I was kind of getting frustrated. I was down on myself some. I felt like I could do this at a high level, but you can only do it with how good your equipment is and how hard you push yourself, and your team and everyone around you. You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. I felt like this was the best opportunity for me. I feel like we have definitely turned some heads this year, I would say, but as far as all the chatter, or banter, or whatever goes on behind the scenes, we haven’t paid attention to it. We are trying to win races, win the championship and do the best that we can every single week.”

How has that success meant to you and how has this success impacted how you will look for opportunities going forward?

“I have had success in the Truck Series and the Xfinity Series. Having a Cup opportunity, I was super grateful for. At the end of 2019, filling in, and all of last year with Front Row (Motorsports). I don’t regret going Cup racing, I don’t regret going to Front Row Motorsports. I was blessed with the opportunity from Bob Jenkins (team owner, Front Row Motorsports) and all of our partners involved to be able to go there and run races. I learned a ton. There is so many characteristics that go into the Cup Series that you can maximize it in different ways and kind of optimize your potential and you don’t really realize that in the Truck Series or the Xfinity Series. When you go to the Cup level, it’s hard to win. It’s hard to run top-15. It’s hard to run top-10. It’s hard to run top-five. You are running as hard as you can, battling for 20th to 25th as you are making a run for fifth place in the Cup Series. Everyone is the best of the best up there, and when it comes down to it, I don’t feel like I will put myself in a position to not win races again. I think for me, being able to win races and know that I can show up to the racetrack every single weekend and know that I have a shot is the biggest thing for me. When you are running 15th to 25th, and you can knock off a couple of top-10’s, it’s great. It’s great for the organization, kind of like we did last year. I definitely feel like it plays into a factor of helping the guys work for something in the shop. For me, I’m not one to say that I want to be in the Cup Series. I want to be a Cup Series driver to just ride around. I’m here to win races and that’s what I want to do.”

Would it make sense for you to look at Cup next season with everyone on the same starting point with NextGen?

“I feel like a lot of people say that the new car is going to equal things out or that it’s a great time to move up because it’s a new car coming in, but you are going to see the guys at the top of their level, the guys who run up front every single week and optimize everything continue to do so in the new car. Yes, you see the bigger teams like a Hendrick (Motorsports), or a Joe Gibbs (Racing), or (Team) Penske, or Stewart-Haas (Racing), they all kind of go through dominating at different times of the year. Hendrick was on a roll earlier this year, and now I feel like the tide has kind of shifted. I feel like it’s going to be the same way with the new car. I feel like that a lot of guys are saying that’s a great time to move up to the Cup Series to learn the new car and everyone is going to be on a level playing field, but I don’t necessarily think that that is the case. For myself as a driver, it kind of goes back to putting yourself in the best opportunity to win races and that’s where I feel like I will be.”

What would you grade your season?

“I would say B+ or A-. I feel like we left a couple of races out there on the table that we should have won. Hindsight is always 20-20, but you can kind of go back and look at different things, if I would have done this different, we should have won the race, and a couple of things on that standpoint. We probably could have salvaged a better finish at Bristol dirt if we didn’t get wrecked. We lost quite a bit of points that day. There have been a couple races that I kind of feel like stand out. Yes, our year has been good with five wins, but not perfect. I feel to give yourself an A or A+, you kind of have to be perfect. We’ve led a lot of laps, we’ve won and all of that kind of stuff, but at the same time, we want to win every single week. I know that is not necessarily realistic, but you can definitely be in contention, and I feel like we have been able to do that so far as well.”

What would you want to say to your competitors about the aggression level in the series or would it just be yelling into the wind at this point?

“I think a lot of it is yelling into the wind, but at the same time, we’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all ran over each other. We’ve all done that coming up the ranks, but as you continue to move up the ranks, you learn respect and how to respect other drivers and race how you want to be raced kind of thing. I think that comes from the Cup Series level as well. You don’t see a lot of the Cup guys running each other over or wrecking each other or anything like that sort. I’ve had my share in my day of wrecking trucks and battling and getting over my head and making mistakes and what-not, but it comes back to respect and just trying to run every single lap as hard as you can without making those mistakes and without running over the competition. It will all kind of turn around. They will learn, and that just comes with experience, and knowledge, and being able to race around certain guys.”

How different is the aggression level in the series now versus what it was when you started out?

“I think when I came in the Truck Series you still had guys like Ron Hornaday. Johnny Sauter was another one, Matt Crafton’s still here. You had quite a few veterans that were in the Truck Series. You also had Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, Cole Custer, you had a lot of the guys that are in the Cup Series now, and they are in the Cup Series for a reason. When you are able to race around those guys and you are able to kind of get, not necessarily brought up in a certain way, you have respect for your equipment. You work on your own equipment and do things of that sort; I feel like you race different. If I would have wrecked Ron Hornaday or Johnny Sauter, they would have come over to beat my butt after the race, no matter if I was 16 or 18 years old. It doesn’t matter. They are the type of guys that instill that respect like they had back in the day. I definitely feel like we need more of that today. I feel like the kids that come from short-track racing; everyone is super aggressive. They move each other and I’m not taking anything away from my past, but you definitely learn a lot and you continue to grow as you get older and wiser and you continue to gain that valuable experience.”

How do you think having track time at Watkins Glen will play to your advantage this weekend?

“I hope it plays to our advantage quite a bit. I hope we can go out there and try to get the lead early and kind of set sail from there. Hopefully, we can have a dominating day, but I feel like Watkins Glen can be a tricky place, especially with no practice and everything. I feel like there are some key areas to make up lap time, and some key areas that can definitely hinder your lap time and cause trouble as well. We will see how it goes. There are quite a few guys that haven’t been there in the past. I’m sure they’ve been on the sim and what-not, but when you go to a new racetrack for the first time and have to learn it the first laps on the racetrack, it definitely can kind of get a little hairy or sketchy, so hopefully, we keep our heads on straight, all of us, myself included and go out there and put on one heck of a show.”

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