Top Dog: John Hunter Nemechek
If NASCAR had a Most Improved Award, it might have to go to Legacy Motor Club as a whole.
Following a nightmarish 2024 campaign that saw its full-time drivers finish 28th and 34th in points, the team co-owned by seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson has rebounded in a booming way in 2025.
Between John Hunter Nemechek and Erik Jones, the duo combined for six top 10s in 2024. Through 17 races this year, they have already eclipsed that mark with eight.
Six of those top-10 markers can be credited to Nemechek, who finished sixth for the second consecutive week at Pocono Raceway (June 22) after finishing in the same spot in Mexico City last week. That result in Mexico handed him a career-best mark for top 10s in a single season, and he kept the fire burning in the mountains of Pocono.
It is said that it doesn’t matter where you start, only where you finish, but starting position is key in the NASCAR realm we know today. That has been lucrative for Nemechek, who has improved his average starting position by four spots from last season (23.2 in 2025 compared to 27.3 in 2024).
That boost was enhanced by a fourth-place qualifying effort at a track known for its valuable track position, and it got the ball rolling quickly for Nemechek. He relinquished his track position in stage one to flip the stage and pit before the end of the opening frame, placing 33rd.
An unrhythmic second stage that featured four cautions mixed the strategy up for several teams, shuffling the field at multiple points. Despite getting back into the top 15, the No. 42 team once again elected to flip the stage, finishing stage two in 31st.
A relatively calm final stage allowed the speed of Nemechek to shine, spending much of the final frame inside the top 10. Taking the final restart from ninth, Nemechek climbed the leaderboard, narrowly missing out on a top-five result.
Legacy has undoubtedly lingered at the bottom of the totem pole at Toyota since making the switch in 2023, but with 23XI Racing’s struggles continuing, Nemechek has played a huge role in elevating the team. Though it will likely take a win for Nemechek to make the playoffs, he has progressed to 21st in the standings through this current stint.
Yet, with how the tide has been changing recently, who says a win isn’t out of the cards?
Notable Underdog Runs
It was a one-two punch from Legacy in Pennsylvania, with Jones cashing in a 13th-place finish.
With his son’s sock riding along as a good luck charm, Jones was smooth and steady throughout the day. Jones did not flip the stage to start, earning six points in fifth. He did flip the second stage, however, avoiding the melee throughout the stage to set up the strategy.
Jones ran inside the top 10 for a portion of the final stage, but an untimely caution after he made his final green flag pit stop ultimately hurt his track position. Restarting outside the top 15 with 30 laps remaining, Jones fought back to 13th by the end, though he was frustrated over the radio by the unfortunate circumstances that cost him a top 10.
Nonetheless, the No. 43 has epitomized the team’s progress. Over the past five weeks, Jones hasn’t finished worse than 17th, vaulting him from 27th to 18th in points in that span. Though he is lower in the playoff standings, continuing that momentum could give Jones a case for a playoff spot come late summer.
Another week of controversy, another fast car for Carson Hocevar. In a week where Ricky Stenhouse Jr. vowed to repay Hocevar’s “crimes” from two separate incidents, as well as discipline from Spire Motorsports for comments deemed inappropriate over a Twitch stream, Hocevar didn’t seem phased behind the wheel, qualifying third in the mountains of Pocono.
The 2024 Cup Rookie of the Year was fixed inside the top five in the first stage before going for a Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift-like episode in the opening stage. Hocevar got loose off turn 3, nearly snapping around completely before straightening the car out on the straightaway for one of the best saves of the year.
After flipping the opening stage, Hocevar displayed his talent again by going from 19th to fourth during a restart in the second stage, later finishing the wild portion of the event in 10th.
However, a tight-handling car hampered the leverage of Hocevar’s No. 77, dropping him to 18th by the end of the race. Once again, Hocevar’s speed was undeniable, and he heads to the newly re-branded EchoPark Speedway (Atlanta Motor Speedway), a track where he was a corner away from winning in February before a late caution derailed his attempts.
Rounding out the top 20 runs for the underdogs was Hocevar’s Spire teammate, Justin Haley, who scored a 19th-place result. It was primarily an uneventful day for the Winamac, Ind. native, running inside the top 20 for the majority of the afternoon to tally a much-needed breather from a string of five consecutive finishes outside the top 20.
Spire has been an enigma this season through its growth. The speed of Hocevar has been unmatched by both Haley and veteran teammate Michael McDowell, who fell out of the race with a brake rotor failure. However, the speed of Haley has been off from the other two, making the result in Pocono a step in the right direction.
Underdog Power Rankings
1. Hocevar (+2): A middle-of-the-road finish in 18th may seem like vaulting Hocevar back into the top spot is hasty, but his competitors ahead of him in last week’s rankings put up no challenge, while the sophomore driver showed plenty of speed in Pocono. He heads back to EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta with vengeance in mind — and eyes over his shoulder — after he finished runner-up there in February.
2. AJ Allmendinger (-1): A pedestrian 21st-place result was nothing special for the Kaulig Racing driver, and it’s quickly looking like he may need to replicate what Shane van Gisbergen did in Mexico City and win his way into the playoffs after being a points threat early in the year. Allmendinger will look to improve upon a solid 14th-place result from earlier this season at Atlanta.
3. Nemechek (+2): Deja vu for Nemechek, who earned a second consecutive result of sixth, also serving as his sixth top of the year through 17 races. One of those top 10s came at EchoPark Speedway in February, where the second-generation driver finished 10th.
4. Jones (NR): Jones wasn’t far behind his Legacy teammate, keeping the momentum going for the organization with a 13th-place showing of his own. His recent surge has him as a longshot to potentially point his way into the playoffs, and though he crashed in The Peach State in his last go around, Jones will be one to watch next week in Atlanta.
5. Cole Custer (NR): Welcome to the power rankings, Cole Custer! Though he finished a mediocre 22nd, Custer has been displaying much more speed in recent weeks with the re-branded Haas Factory Team. Fresh off his first top 10 of the season in Mexico, Custer qualified inside the top five and ran inside the top 10 at several points of the race. He will look to turn his fortunes around in The ATL, where he crashed out in the second race of the year.
Top Dog Bracket Challenge
(8) Jones (13th) defeats (14) Custer (22nd)
(2) Allmendinger (21st) defeats (13) Riley Herbst (37th)
Jones will face off against Allmendinger for the bracket challenge title next week at EchoPark Speedway.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
Say, “Peter ate a peck of pickles in Pocono” five times fast (yes, I know that’s not how that usually goes). The pickle car was back for Todd Gilliland and his No. 34 Ford in Pocono, though a sour taste was left for Gilliland.
The old superstition rumbles around the garage that green is a cursed car color, and that theory couldn’t be debunked after a stage two incident relegated Gilliland to 28th.
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.