HAMPTON, Ga. – John Hunter Nemechek’s roller-coaster Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway started out “sketchy,” but ultimately ended with a solid top-five finish in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut.

Driving Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 42 Chevrolet for the first time, Nemechek rallied back from a myriad of obstacles in the Rinnai 250, including a near-spin on lap six, contact with Cole Custer that drew the first caution of the day on lap 11 and a flat tire just before the end of the first stage.

At that point, he found himself one lap down to the leaders, but quickly caught the lucky dog at the end of the first stage to get back on the lead lap. From then forward, it was game on as Nemechek clawed his way through the field from as low as 30th.

In the end, Nemechek passed 26 cars to come home fourth at the checkered flag, a solid effort in his maiden voyage for team owner Chip Ganassi and his best NASCAR result in any of the top three series since a runner-up finish in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Arizona’s ISM Raceway in November.

“I have to thank Chip (Ganassi) for the opportunity and Fire Alarm Services for coming on board this year,” Nemechek said with a huge grin after getting a hug from his father, Joe, on pit road. “It’s a successful day, for sure. I said if we could run top five, I’d be happy, and we accomplished my goal. We definitely passed a lot of cars.”

“It was a really fun, learning day. (Crew chief Mike) Shiplett and I have hit it off pretty good so far. He made some good adjustments from on top of the box and improved the car a lot for me as the race went on. It was a lot of fun being able to rebound from the back to the front. I just had to be patient. I wish there could have been a caution, so we could have come and gotten tires. I don’t know what we had for those top guys, but I think we could have given them a run for their money.”

Nemechek was particularly apologetic to Custer, however, after his involvement in the lap 11 crash that took his fellow NASCAR Next alumnus out of the race.

“Those couple instances where I got turned sideways by a few of the veterans, I guess I was learning my place,” admitted Nemechek. “I have to apologize to Cole. I didn’t mean to get into him off of (turn) four there. I got tagged from behind and turned into him, and it just sent him spinning. I feel really bad for those guys.”

Coming up from the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nemechek explained that the aerodynamic differences between the truks and the Xfinity cars were something that he continued to learn all race long.

“The aero deal with these cars … it’s way different than a truck,” said Nemechek. “The Xfinity cars are way less aero-dependent than the trucks are. The trucks tend to just snap when someone’s packing air on your right rear, but these you can actually race side-by-side, even though you do still get free some. That was something I was learning throughout each run.”

Nemechek also had to manage his equipment and stay cool under pressure, especially when he was rallying through traffic.

“I had to listen to (spotter) Derek Kneeland preach patience all race,” Nemechek explained. “I feel like he and I, and then me and Shiplett … we all have a really strong communicational bond already early in the season. They know what I need so we can adjust on the race car and fix what we need to fix and make it faster.”

“We overadjusted a bit at the end and got a bit too loose, but I was glad that we went that way instead of being on the tight side. With all the right front issues there were all day, I felt like we were where we needed to be to get to the end. … We were able to adapt fast and learn on the fly, which I think was good for us. I feel comfortable with where we finished the day and I know experience can only help.”

In the end, Nemechek left Atlanta thoroughly satisfied with both his performance and the overall result.

“I had an open mindset going into this weekend. I honestly didn’t know what to expect,” Nemechek said. “I had no idea where we would stack up in practice, didn’t know where we would stack up in qualifying and didn’t know how the race would go. I wanted to learn as much as I could and run up front if the car and I were both capable of that.”

“This was definitely more than I had expected coming into the weekend. After practice and qualifying, I felt like we could run top three and maybe even contend for the win, had the circumstances been right. It was a great debut, in my opinion. Bring on some more races.”

And while the rest of his Xfinity schedule has yet to be completely finalized, Nemechek does have a new goal in sight now.

“Chip likes winners, so that’s the hashtag we’re going with. Hopefully we can get him one of those here in the future.”