LMC announced early last month that it had hired Nemechek to compete full-time in its No. 42 Cup car beginning in the 2024 season.
Nemechek, 26, currently is competing for the 2023 Xfinity Series championship with Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
While JGR and LMC will both be Toyota teams next year, LMC is currently a Chevrolet organization and but Nemechek getting a head start with his new team this season appeared to be problematic until Monday.
LMC posted on video on its social media channels with team co-owner Jimmie Johnson explaining the change:
“Hi fans, I want to let you know about a quick change for Homestead. Thanks to our long-term partners at Chevy and our future partners of Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing, we have an opportunity to run one race with our future driver John Hunter Nemechek in the No. 42 car,” he said.
“It will just be one race. Carson (Hocevar) is going to step aside. He’s going to come hang out at the race and watch but we’ll put Carson back in to close out the season (at Phoenix).”
Nemechek hasn’t been full-time in the Cup Series since 2020 when he drove for Front Row Motorsports. After finishing 27th in points and losing his ride at FRM, he then went and essentially repeated the NASCAR ladder system.
He drove Trucks for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2021, winning five races and finishing third in the final standings. In 2022, he won two more races and ended the year fifth in points.
This year running Xfinity for JGR in the No. 20 Toyota, he has a series-leading seven victories and is in excellent position to advance to the Championship 4 at Phoenix and compete for the series title.
His most recent Cup start came in last year’s race at Homestead, where he drove the No. 45 Toyota for 23XI Racing, starting fourth and finishing 27th after getting in an accident in the opening stage of the race.