NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: CHAMPIONSHIP

November 4, 2023

John Hunter Nemechek

Pit Lane Interview

Q. That restart, what a jump. What happened in 1 and 2?

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK: Drove in, and it didn't turn. I don't know if we had a right front start going down or what exactly it was, but just drove in and didn't turn.

Man, I hate it for our guys, hate it for Toyota TRD, Pye-Barker. Toyota GR Supra was really fast, but drive down, it doesn't turn, it's not a very good thing. Then once we got pinched in the fence there off of 2, it kind of hurt the right sides even more. I think we had a right rear start going down, as well.

It sucks to end up where we finished. Had a really strong effort all day. Proud of this whole 20 crew. Proud of this whole group.

Just sucks to end our season this way, but overall a really successful season for this 20 team, Joe Gibbs Racing. Was proud to be behind the wheel of this 20 car all year, and seven wins is a lot to be proud of.

One race doesn't define us as a group, and it's really just another race. If you win, you come out the champion. That's what we told ourselves all week, and we almost had it.

Overall really proud of this group, proud of myself. We put ourselves in contention and that's really all you can do.

Man, our car was as fast as Xfinity 10G on that restart, just needed it to turn a little bit better, results might have been a little different.

Q. That last restart gave you a shot, but at what point did you lose track of your race car?

JOHN HUNTER NEMECHEK: Just keeping up with the racetrack all night. The 00 got better the second segment of the race to start the third stage. We were better for the beginning of it, towards the middle of the run. Then late in the run he kind of came on. Then we started coming back to him there with 30 to go or whatever before we pitted. Just ever-evolving racetrack, always changing. Trying to stay on top of adjustments.

Like I said, proud of the effort from this team. Proud of myself. Nothing to hang our heads on, that's for sure. We gave it a hell of an effort all year, made it to the Final 4. We had a shot on the final restart to almost go and win it.

Man, it sucks, but looking forward to next year, and looking forward to getting in a Cup car.