Friday Faceoff: Where Will John Hunter Nemechek Race in 2027?

1) Which points leader will have the better bounce back weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend: Denny Hamlin or Justin Allgaier?

Alex Klancko: Denny Hamlin will have the better bounce back at World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend. Although Justin Allgaier is the best driver in the O’Reilly Auto Part Series and has shown a lot of pace over the course of the season, Hamlin has far and away the best track record at WWTR. In the past three starts at Gateway, Hamlin has finished in the top two all three times, including getting a win in 2025. Compare that to Allgaier, who has just one top-20 finish, third place on Oct. 23, 2010, in his past three starts dating back to 2010.

Michael Bellifemini: I’ll lean towards Hamlin since he is the defending winner at Gateway. I would be shocked if Allgaier had another rough performance, but if I had to pick one to have a better points day, I’d go with Hamlin.

Christopher Hansen: Hamlin. Following an 18th-place finish in The Chase opener last weekend at Darlington Raceway, Hamlin enters this weekend as the defending race winner at World Wide Technology Raceway. Aside from a 34th-place finish in the inaugural Cup race in 2022, Hamlin’s worst finish in four races at WWT Raceway is second. While he maintained the points lead after his poor showing at Darlington, I expect Hamlin and the No. 11 team to bounce back this weekend as he looks for a second straight win at WWTR.

Jon Iaccino: The answer to this feels like the, “Both? Both? Both is good” meme. There’s a reason both Hamlin and Allgaier built huge point leads during the regular season. Their two teams hold the top spots in each respective series. One down week doesn’t make or break a season anymore, so I look for both to bounce back in St. Louis this weekend. I’ll give the slight edge to Allgaier having a bigger bounce back just because there aren’t as many race-winning competitive cars in the O’Reilly Series compared to the Cup Series. Hamlin won the pole and the race in St. Louis last year, and Allgaier won the second stage in the O’Reilly race before he sped on pit road and then got caught up in a wreck on a restart. Both will challenge for wins again this weekend, but Allgaier seems like a slightly safer bet to me out of the two.

2) After his departure from Legacy Motor Club, who will John Hunter Nemechek race for in 2027?

Jeffrey Boswell: Wherever John Hunter Nemechek ends up in 2027, he’ll arrive with baggage. One thing he won’t arrive with is a job reference from Jimmie Johnson. Both may cost him a seat in a Cup series car, and they may even cost him a top-level O’Reilly seat. Nemechek has vast experience in a Toyota in all three series, and also has a previous amicable history with Sam Hunt Racing, and there’s an opening in the No. 26 at SHR.

Hansen: Realistically, I could see Nemechek drop back down to either the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series or even the Craftsman Truck Series. With the recent announcement of Chandler Smith moving up to the No. 21 Richard Childress Racing NOAPS entry in 2027, that leaves a prominent seat available in Front Row Motorsports’ No. 38 truck. Those are two scenarios where Nemechek could get back to an organization where he can contend for race wins and a championship immediately.

Bellifemini: There aren’t many Cup seats left for 2027, so maybe JHN drops back to the lower series once again. Maybe a seat opens up at Haas Factory Team’s O’Reilly program, or he stays with Toyota and finds a spot in a TRICON Garage truck.

Iaccino: There are obviously a shortage of Cup rides available for next year, so it seems as if Nemechek is going to have to end back up in the O’Reilly or even the Truck Series. There is an opening with Sam Hunt Racing in the No. 26 car in the O’Reilly Series that makes sense, as Nemechek has raced for that team before on a part-time basis, and he would keep his relationship with Toyota, albeit in a lower series. However, the performance for those two cars this season has been a struggle as both Harrison Burton and Dean Thompson were nowhere near Chase contention this year. Haas Factory Team hasn’t announced their driver plans for two of their now three seats for next year, so from a competitive car standpoint, this would be the number one option available. Nemechek has proven he is a title contender in the O’Reilly Series in the past, and I believe he could be there again next year if the hypothetical marriage with Haas Factory Team happens.

3) Can Sheldon Creed go from winless to O’Reilly Auto Part Series champion in just one season?

Bellifemini: It’s possible if Allgaier has a poor Chase run and if Carson Kvapil cools off, too. Those two JR Motorsports drivers are Sheldon Creed’s biggest competition. If Creed wins another couple of races, that should bolster his chances a ton, given how many points they pay out.

Klancko: Creed has been excellent so far this season. He is second in top five’s and top 10’s with 10 and 17, respectively. He has also led the third most laps this season with 235, with only Allgaier and Jesse Love having more laps led. Heading into Gateway, Creed is coming off a great win at Darlington, leading the second-most laps and adding major points in the second stage. I’d say if this brings back the pace he had from Phoenix Raceway to Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year when he had nine top 10’s, including five top five finishes in a nine-race span, he has a shot at the title.

Boswell: Creed may have to take a back seat to Allgaier, who’s a juggernaut in the O’Reilly championship race with six wins (four more than anyone else) and 619 laps led (235 more than anyone else). If Creed is to press Allgaier, Creed will need race wins in The Chase (he has one regular-season win; he may need more than that). The law of averages, coupled with the JR Motorsports ace’s stellar season, means he’ll likely stack at least two more victories in The Chase. That may be too much for Creed to overcome.

4) Which Cup driver will contribute the most to NASCAR’s “Swear Jar” fund during The Chase?

Hansen: Ryan Blaney. We can always count on an outburst or two from the 2023 Cup Series champion. With the stakes as high as they’ve been all the season, for the 16 Chase drivers, this is the most pressure they’ll face all season. As the number of races goes down, the pressure rises, and with that, drivers push more to their limits mentally, physically and in this instance, emotionally.

Boswell: My guess is Daniel Suarez, if for no other reason than he can vent his frustration at Carson Hocevar with expletives in two languages. And Suarez is right behind Hocevar in The Chase standings, so if/when Hocevar makes an idiotic move that may cost Suarez a spot or two in the points standings, the “dump” button on aired radio communications should be ready.

Iaccino: I’m going to go with Hocevar on this one. If you’ve heard snippets of his radio conversations, you know that he has a hard time saying a complete sentence without a swear word in there. Because of how online he is and how much he hates being in the spotlight (sarcasm), I have no doubt that he is completely aware of the promotion. As he’s shown on social media, he loves throwing fans a deal that they can’t refuse on merchandise. What’s more popular than to give the winning fan of this promotion more money for simply cussing on the radio a little bit more for the remaining nine weeks of the year?

Klancko: I feel like the consensus is Blaney because he is always on the radio. But I am going to go in a different direction. I am going to pick Shane van Gisbergen. It is widely known that Kiwis swear a lot, and that is the same with van Gisbergen. Van Gisbergen said he didn’t realize that “shit” was a swear word in the U.S. because it is slang-like in New Zealand, so even if he might have not known he was cursing, it technically counts here. He is also on the radio quite a bit, so there could be more of an opportunity to swear. I have my money on van Gisbergen to take the swearing title.