John Hunter Nemechek / No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra Preview — NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship

No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra News and Notes

  • CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDERS: Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race at Phoenix International Raceway will be John Hunter Nemechek’s 56th career NASCAR Xfinity Series start and he has racked up two wins. His victory three weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, locked the No. 54 Toyota into the championship four title race for the NASCAR Xfinity Owners Championship.
  • IN IT TO WIN IT: In order to win the NASCAR Xfinity owners championship, the No. 54 Toyota Supra of JGR must finish ahead of the No. 9 from JR Motorsports, the No. 22 of Penske Racing and the No. 16 of Kaulig Racing. The No. 18 Toyota Supra from JGR can win the drivers points championship, but is not eligible for the owners title. So if the No. 54 wins the race and the No. 18 finishes second or vice versa, JGR will win both titles.
  • RACE FIVE: Nemechek has competed in four Xfinity races in 2021, with one win, two top-three finishes and has led 100 laps.
  • PHOENIX RESULTS: In three NASCAR Xfinity races, Nemechek has always finished in the top-10 and scored a pole in November 2018. He has seven NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts with four top-10 finishes, including two runner-up finishes.  
  • TRUCK FINAL FOUR: In addition to going for the owne’rs championship with the 54 Toyota Supra team in the Xfinity Series, Nemechek is also in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship four driving the No. 4 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
  • ATOP THE PIT BOX: Veteran crew chief Chris Gayle will oversee the No. 54 team’s efforts this weekend. Gale, who is from Little Rock, Arkansas, has led his drivers to two NASCAR Cup Series victories and 30 Xfinity Series wins. The list of drivers Gayle has visited victory lane with includes Ty Gibbs, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Sam Hornish Jr., Erik Jones, Elliott Sadler, Christopher Bell and Nemechek
  •        JGR AT PHOENIX: Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) has 100 total starts at Phoenix in Xfinity competition with 13 wins, 43 top-five finishes, 68 top-10 finishes and the team has led 2964 laps. The team has also own 18 pole positions, the most of any Xfinity track for JGR.
  •        RACE INFO: The NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship race is scheduled for 8:30 pm EDT on Saturday, November 6 and will be broadcast on NBCSN, SiriusXM Channel 90 and MRN.

John Hunter Nemechek, Driver of the No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra

“I’m looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of the 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra for this weekend at Phoenix. It’s been an amazing year for the 54 boys finding victory lane 11 times and now racing for the owner’s championship. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be behind the wheel as the one racing for the championship and we hope to make all of our partners and everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing proud.”

Chris Gayle, Crew Chief of the No. 54 Mobil 1 Toyota Supra

“This is what it all comes down to. We’ve had a very successful year and we weren’t even scheduled to run every race. But it worked out and we got victories with Nemechek, Kyle Busch, Christopher Bell and Ty Gibbs and now we are going for the owner’s championship. We’ll bring a great Mobil 1 Toyota Supra and I know Nemechek will drive that to the best of his abilities, just like he did when he won at Texas. We’re all excited and we’re ready to go for this championship.”

JGR PR