As the 2024 season kicked off, the pressure was on John Hunter Nemechek to help bring in solid results for Jimmie Johnson’s Legacy Motor Club. That said, the #42 Camry XSE driver finished on the podium at COTA to help his side gain momentum, but it all came undone with a couple of DNFs in the following races at Martinsville and Texas. So heading into Talladega, Nemechek was hoping for a better end to his day. Unfortunately, that never came.

Bump-drafting their way through the turns of the super-speedway, Nemechek, unfortunately, became the primary suspect of triggering the wreck between Bubba Wallace and Erik Jones. But that wasn’t the only thing Jimmie Johnson’s driver had to face. Veterans from the Door Bumper Clear podcast called out the LMC driver for failing at recreating Dale Earnhardt Jr’s 2004 Talladega dominance.

The Door Bumper Clear podcast pulled no punches against John Hunter Nemechek’s Talladega debacle

During the GEICO 500, TRD drivers were on a strategy alternate to the competition. Placing their bets on drafting in packs as the winning card compared to saving fuel, the Legacy Motor Club driver was running second. As the pack consisting of Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace, Nemechek, and Erik Jones proceeded through lap 157, all hell broke loose. The #42 seemed to have nudged Wallace ever so slightly, resulting in the 23XI racing driver making contact with Erik Jones, sending the TRD pack sliding into chaos.

Naturally, the hosts at ‘Door Bumper Clear’ weren’t too pleased with Nemechek’s heroics. Speaking of which, the insiders went on to dissect the situation and how it wasn’t all that it seemed to be either.

Griffin stated on the DBC podcast, “There was a point yesterday when the leader was out front, and I don’t remember if it was McDowell or who it was, but Clint made the comment of, this guy’s doing a great job of managing the runs behind him to stay in the lead. They’re running at a hundred and seventy-three miles an hour and I’m like, “What the f*** are you talking about?” I’ll probably text him.”

Similar to the Fox analysts praising Michael McDowell’s racing, they also spoke highly of John Hunter Nemechek as he led the pack draft, but this is when the spotter of the #6 car pointed out the grim reality. Bringing up Dale Earnhardt Jr’s heroic first Talladega win in 2004, Majors sidelined Nemechek’s so-called heroics. He stated, “John Hunter thought he was 2004 Dale Jr. I mean, he may as well do that because it looked cool from the TV and Jesse’s point, but I was literally sitting there going, “What is he doing?”

Compared to 2004, where Earnhardt Jr led 9 times for a combined 78 laps, Nemechek failed to impress the veteran spotters as it not only led to a major wreck, but Nemechek himself finishing outside the top 30. At the end of the day, Brett Griffin laughed at the expense of TRD spotter Freddie Kraft. He concluded “Where was that spotter the times I swerved left and right? Coming to the checkered flag, that’s what John Hunter was doing till he ran over you Freddie, and wrecked your whole Toyota line.”

Though it’s safe to say John Hunter Nemechek took the brunt of the blame based on the Door Bumper Clear crew’s opinions, they also highlighted another aspect that could have led to TRD’s disaster.

Was it the spotter’s mistake at Talladega that cost Nemechek heavily?

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Going over the lapses in decisions during the GEICO 500, the veteran spotters pointed out how some wrecks could have been avoided. Brett Griffin highlighted Chase Elliott’s run-in with Justin Haley and how it could have been avoidable if his new spotter and cousin, Trey Poole, called it at the right time. Similarly, John Hunter Nemechek’s fate could have also been prevented by the #42’s spotter. Griffin stated, “Then obviously with John Hunter’s deal I felt like he didn’t know the gaps out front, which is on the spotter.”

Although Nemechek’s spotter, Ryan Blanchard, could have perhaps called the gap earlier, Freddie Kraft felt it fell on the LMC driver to know the racing scenario. He stated, “At the same time, John Hunter, whether or not Blanchard was giving him information about the gaps…(…)…but you gotta know that’s a spot you can’t be pushing, entry to three, over that tunnel, that spot you really can’t just be wide open up a guy’s a**, whether your spotter is doing his job or not. That’s just something you have to know.”

With the pressure on John Hunter Nemechek now at an all-time high after back-to-back DNFs and disasters, can Jimmie Johnson’s Star turn things around in time?