Top Dog: John Hunter Nemechek
The author C.S. Lewis once said, “Isn’t it funny how day by day, nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different?”
Last season, improvement seemed to be an unreachable mark for Legacy Motor Club and its newest driver, John Hunter Nemechek. With championship metal in its leadership corner, such as co-owner Jimmie Johnson (now the majority owner) and Matt Kenseth as a competition advisor, the bar was set fairly high for the team.
However, it wasn’t long before that bar became lower and lower to the point where winning at limbo was laughable. In other words, it felt as though the team had hit rock bottom.
A dozen races into 2025, the team certainly has experienced its highs and lows, but in hindsight, performance has certainly improved. Specifically, Nemechek has carried the torch for the team, scoring his fourth top 10 of the season in the Advent Health 400 at Kansas Speedway on Sunday (May 11).
The opening stage cast a bleak forecast for Nemechek, as he slipped to 30th after starting 17th. Stage two displayed a slight improvement, but only by three spots for the No. 42 Toyota.
Trapped a lap down in the final stage, a caution for Brad Keselowski on lap 195 injected new life into Nemechek as he received the free pass. That opportunity stirred something fierce in the LMC driver, who picked off one spot after another in a hard charge to the top 10, ultimately finishing 10th.
“Our day wasn’t pretty, that’s for sure,” Nemechek told Frontstretch post-race. “A lap down, couldn’t get our lap back, made adjustments, car wasn’t very good, got it really good, drove back up to the lucky dog spot, got the lucky dog, and then we were able to drive up to 10th. Solid day, solid effort for everyone at Legacy Motor Club.”
Referencing his 2024 season once again, Nemechek earned four total top 10s last season. Now, he has already matched that mark off the back of consecutive top 10s, both coming at intermediate tracks.
The 27-year-old has faced his share of critique for returning to the lower series after reaching the NASCAR Cup Series level in 2020, facing more scrutiny after struggling in his Cup return following productive stints in both the Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series.
Yet momentum is present for this group, and the talent that Nemechek has harbored for years finally seems to have room to shine through.
Notable Underdog Runs
As the summer months approach, the silly season rumor mill has been churning. One driver at the center of the storm is Corey Heim, a driver who checks off box after box for what a Cup team is looking for. Making his fourth career start in 23XI Racing’s No. 67 Toyota, Heim only further supported his case to move up to Cup.
Heim finished 13th, higher than all three of his 23XI teammates, and topped the best finish by the team’s newest addition, Riley Herbst, whose highest finish this year is 14th.
What was impressive from the 22-year-old was his trajectory throughout the event. After finishing stage one in 32nd and falling a lap down, Heim improved to 23rd by the end of stage two. Then, he took the wave around following the lap 194 caution to get back on the lead lap.
Heim had one hiccup on a lap 214 restart when he got into Justin Haley in turn 1, triggering a multi-car crash. Outside of that, Heim’s biggest challenge was fighting possible brake shake over the final 20 laps, powering his machine to a respectable top 15.
Cautions. Breed. Cautions. pic.twitter.com/7dKGHXTALh
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 11, 2025
Already a three-time Truck Series winner this year, as well as the points leader, Heim further made the question of his looming promotion as one of when, not if.
Just ahead of Heim in 12th was Todd Gilliland, who is becoming the model of consistency once again. He also had to overcome falling a lap down early in the race thanks to Kyle Larson‘s bushwhacking of the field.
After receiving the free pass following stage one, Gilliland slowly worked his way forward, snagging his third consecutive finish of 16th or better. That stretch also spans five of the past six races.
Noah Gragson joined Gilliland to place two Front Row Motorsports cars in the top 15, finishing 14th. Gragson was a fixture inside the top 20 for the entire race, piecing together one of his better performances of the season. He had a close call on lap 207 when a four-wide battle on the backstretch turned into bumper cars, resulting in Kyle Busch spinning and unleashing a scathing rant.
.@KyleBusch goes for a big slideeee! pic.twitter.com/n9eqvJR7FT
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 11, 2025
FRM nearly landed all three of its cars in the top 15 — its best car, arguably, finished 16th. That was Zane Smith, who spent much of the race inside the top 10, including a pair of top 10 stage results in 10th and ninth, respectively.
Late-race restarts and handling issues caused Smith to slide outside the top 15, but held on to secure his third consecutive top 20. Like Gilliland, Smith has flexed consistency, finishing 19th or better in six of the past seven events. He also jumped four spots in the standings to 23rd.
So many positives to take from today. Had to start in the back but was able to get in the top 10 early and stay there all day until final 50 laps. Just needed to keep up with the track changes a little better. Regardless had lots of speed and had a lot of fun! P16 @kansasspeedway pic.twitter.com/m1cGa02ROp
— Zane Smith (@ZaneSmith) May 11, 2025
Wanted: a rabbit’s foot, horseshoe, four-leaf clover, lucky penny, or anything that will shift fortunes for Carson Hocevar. That has to be what he’s thinking after another top-10 run turned into shattered glass.
Blazing his way to seventh in the closing stages of the race, Hocevar was en route to backing up a win in Saturday night’s (May 10) Truck race with a career-best Kansas finish. Instead, his right front tire blew, sending him into the wall with four to go. Hocevar finished 26th and left Kansas with more questions of what could have been.
Stat to Chew On
Nemechek has scored back-to-back top 10s for the second time this season. Entering 2025, a LMC driver had not accomplished this since Erik Jones scored consecutive top 10s at Darlington Raceway and Kansas in the fall of 2023.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (+1): In spite of his modest 19th-place finish, Stenhouse’s consistency, matched by the changing tides of his peers, vaults the No. 47 Hyak Motorsports driver into the top spot. Even with a mere seven-point advantage on the playoff cut line, Stenhouse is going above and beyond expectations for a team that experienced sweeping changes this past off-season. Last year’s All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway was quite eventful for the Olive Branch, Miss. native, who will look to avoid any issues, or physical altercations, this time around.
2. Gilliland (+2): Just like that, Gilliland has three consecutive finishes of 16th or better. Ironically, he kickstarted a similar stretch around this time last year that featured nine straight finishes of 17th or better. We’ll see if FRM’s flagship driver will follow a similar path this year. The 24-year-old heads to North Wilkesboro in search of his first All-Star appearance.
3. Michael McDowell (-1): Following a week where McDowell likely got little sleep after nearly stealing a win at Texas Motor Speedway, the No. 71 team still looked defeated at Kansas, where McDowell was a non-factor. With a dozen races in the books, he is still in search of his first top 10 of the season, an anomaly at this point. McDowell will look to make his fourth All-Star appearance through the All-Star Open or fan vote next week.
4. Hocevar (-1): The box score doesn’t reflect what truly went down, but the bad luck bug nipped Hocevar once again. Carrying consistent speed and getting to the front are vastly better than having to fight slow, ill-handling cars, but Hocevar and Co. have to be wondering when that raw speed will translate into results. On the bright side, the 22-year-old should be one of the favorites to make the All-Star Race, whether through the Open or fan vote.
5. Nemechek (NR): After a lull of slumbering performances for a few weeks, Nemechek is not only back in the game, but knocking on the door of the playoffs in what has been quite the turnaround for the No. 42 team from a year ago. He too will look to race his way to his first All-Star Race main event.
Honorable Mentions: Smith, Gragson, Allmendinger
Small Team Scheme of the Week
You’ve heard about Kansas and the yellow brick road, but what about Kansas and the yellow race car?
How about that!
— Taylor Kitchen (@_TaylorKitchen_) May 11, 2025
In his first NASCAR Cup Series start of the season, Corey Heim wheels his way home in the 13th position, the best finishing position for the 23XI Racing team at Kansas. pic.twitter.com/zpQ3OFTwTs
Launching Robinhood’s deal as a multi-race primary sponsor for 23XI, it truly was Heim Time in The Sunflower State, as his 23XI teammates followed the yellow No. 67 to the start/finish line. Both Heim and Bubba Wallace will sport the tennis ball-colored livery of Robinhood in three additional races this season.
Entering his fifth year with Frontstretch, Luken Glover is the author of The Underdog House, shedding light on the motivation and performance of NASCAR's dark horse teams as they strive to fight to the top. Additionally, Glover reports for the site at various events, and he contributes in the video editing department.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a middle school math and PE teacher, as well as a basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.