AUSTIN, TX :: Still chasing that first official Super Late Model (SLM) win, 17-year-old John Hunter Nemechek means business as he heads down to Pensacola for one last chance to do so this year: the Snowball Derby.
For what will be his third outing in the event, Nemechek has all of the bases covered — experience, preparation, and all the rest — leaving the driver with only one focus: victory.
“Our main focus is to win,” Nemechek said. “We don’t go to run second, so we’re going down there full force and giving it our best to take both [the Derby and Snowflake 100] wins home.”
Despite the record books, Nemechek did collect a win in the SLM division earlier this year, but he didn’t exactly get to take it home — crossing the line first in the Nashville Southern Super Series race in April, only to later have the win stripped by virtue of an illegal driveshaft in post-race inspection.
Having “circled the All-American 400 on the calendar” as the race to avenge his SLM disqualification on the racetrack at which it occurred, Nemechek did just that. But unfortunately,that race win didn’t happen in the way that the driver imagined it to: with a late switch to the ProLate Model (PLM) discipline, Nemechek was prevented from adding the All-American 400 win to his SLM resume.
“It was kind of unfortunate that they turned it into a Pro race, because I was looking forward to going back in a Super there,” Nemechek said. “But I think trying to get that first Super win — first official Super Late Model win — is definitely still hard to do, but I think it’s a task that we can do at the Snowball.”
That task will be aided by a new addition to Nemechek’s force: a purpose-built SLM — that purpose being the Derby. Participating in pre-race testing early last week to work on speed, Nemechek said that the team had a “very good car” for this year’s event.
“[The new car] was fast right off the truck, and we made it even faster when we were down there testing,” Nemechek said. “It’s been a good couple of days down there as far as making improvements, adjustments, and race runs to know what we want for the race.
“Temperature might not be the same because it normally it gets cold when we go down there for the Derby, but you never know how that’s going to shake out.”
And while the shake out of the weather conditions may be unclear, father and NASCAR veteran Joe Nemechek is confident in one thing: the amount of effort put into bringing out this newmachine in Pensacola.
“We’re breaking out our newest generation of car and we’ve made a lot of improvements to it,” the elder Nemechek said. “It’s taken us almost all year to get it refined, but we’ll see how it does. There are a lot of new things going on, and we’re going to make them hold onto their hats in Pensacola.”
The younger Nemechek would agree that the team heads to Pensacola with the intent of making a show — feeling that the team’s SLM in particular “is more prepared than it has bee n in years past,” the driver has high hopes for his shot at winning against a veteran-stacked field.
“There are a lot of veterans out there who have run it for more years than I have, so they hav emore experience running the race than I do,” Nemechek said. “But it’s all about how fast you go,how well you manage your tires, and how you get to the end and survive — it’s all a patience game throughout the race.”
Just the opposite of that patience game is what Nemechek will compete in the night before: the PLM Snowflake 100, which Nemechek described as a “dash race” compared to the Derby.Looking to sweep the weekend’s Late Model races, Nemechek will have to prepare for both the long and short events — with the former being by far his biggest challenge.
“[The Snowball Derby is] a long race,” Nemechek said. “You have to make pit stops; you have topace yourself through the end and be there at the end. My first year running it, we ended up getting caught in a wreck, and then last year we ended up finishing fifth, but I’m really looking forward to this year. I think we’ll have a shot to win it.”
Capitalizing on that shot to win in the Derby is what will be key for Nemechek, and the driver said that doing so would be “amazing” given the storied record books of the race.
“I mean, all the history that has gone down there — getting your name in the record books with Darrell Waltrip and all those guys who have raced down there and won the race — it would definitely mean a lot to me,” Nemechek said. “When you go down there, everyone wants to take home the Snowball Derby trophy, and be able to say that you’ve won the Snowball is an amazing experience.”
With eyes on the experience of that elusive first SLM win and with the year coming to a close,Nemechek has a new date circled on his calendar: December 7, 2014. And with a win on his mind, the driver of the No. 8 car has a strict plan to execute in Pensacola.
“[Our plan for the races is] to go down there and set records, lead as many laps as we can, andbe there when it counts at the end,” Nemechek said. “To win both [the Snowflake and theSnowball] would be an amazing accomplishment.”
