| Jeremy Clements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Clements atSonoma Raceway in 2023 | |||||||
| Born | Jeremy Wayne Clements (1985-01-16)January 16, 1985 (age 40) Spartanburg, South Carolina, U.S. | ||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||
| Weight | 150 lb (68 kg) | ||||||
| NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career | |||||||
| 526 races run over 20 years | |||||||
| Car no., team | No. 51 (Jeremy Clements Racing) | ||||||
| 2025 position | 21st | ||||||
| Best finish | 12th (2017,2021,2022) | ||||||
| First race | 2003Trim Spa Dream Body 250 (Pikes Peak) | ||||||
| Last race | 2025NASCAR Xfinity Series Championship Race (Phoenix) | ||||||
| First win | 2017Johnsonville 180 (Road America) | ||||||
| Last win | 2022Wawa 250 (Daytona) | ||||||
| |||||||
| ARCA Menards Series career | |||||||
| 40 races run over 7 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 23rd (2007) | ||||||
| First race | 2002Food World 300 (Talladega) | ||||||
| Last race | 2008ARCA Re/Max 250 (Talladega) | ||||||
| First win | 2007Toyota ARCA 150 (Nashville) | ||||||
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| Statistics up to date as of November 1, 2025. | |||||||
Jeremy Wayne Clements[1] (born January 16, 1985)[2] is an American professionalstock car racing driver. He competes full-time in theNASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 51Chevrolet Camaro SS forJeremy Clements Racing. He is the son of Tony Clements, owner of Clements Racing Engines.
A native ofSpartanburg,South Carolina, Clements began his racing career at the age of 8 by drivinggo-karts.[3] In 1999, he moved on to race four-cylinder cars in both the Modified and Stock Series atThunder Valley Speedway andCherokee Speedway. Over the next three seasons, he won 55 feature events and two track championships.
In 2002, Clements moved up to theLate Model division where he won nine overall races as well as the championship at Cherokee. He also made hisARCA Series debut atTalladega Superspeedway, starting 6th and finishing seventeenth in the No. 3Chevrolet. He started five ARCA races in 2003, earning three top-tens. Clements was seriously injured on July 24, 2004, at the age of nineteen, while racing at311 Speedway inNorth Carolina. While driving his late model, the driveshaft broke and pierced through the vehicle, injuring his right hand. He was immediately taken to Wake Forest University Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, N.C., where he underwent a nine-hour orthopedic surgery.[citation needed] In the following year, Clements went through ten surgeries; including sewing his hand to his right side hip for a skin graft, using bone grafts from his hip, and taking tendons from his right foot.[4] He did not race again until the following year.
On July 10, 2005, Clements got back behind the wheel of a racecar for the first time since the accident, testing his late model at Thunder Valley. He made his ARCA return atChicagoland Speedway in September. In 2006, he ran ten races in the ARCA series inKen Appling's No. 3Chevrolet. He earned four top-tens, including three consecutive top-fives. He was also selected byGeneral Motors to participate in a three-track test withRichard Childress Racing. Clements had a career season in 2007, earning eight top-tens in twelve races. On August 11, 2007, atNashville Superspeedway, he earned his onlyARCA win to date after starting second and leading 48 laps. In 2008, Clements ran seven races. He earned five top-tens and narrowly missed repeating his win at Nashville, finishing second.
Clements made his debut in theNASCARXfinity Series (then NASCAR Busch Series) in 2003 atPikes Peak International Raceway. Driving the No. 71Chevrolet forYoung Racing, he started 35th and finished 31st after an early crash.
Clements did not return to theNASCAR Xfinity Series again until 2007 when Clements signed withMcGill Motorsports to run the last five races of the season in their No. 36Chevrolet. He only finished two races and had a best finish of 23rd atCharlotte Motor Speedway.
In 2008, Clements attempted four races for his family-owned No. 50 team. He qualified for two of them, earning finishes of 22nd and 30th. During these two years, he also spent time practicing and qualifying cars forJoe Gibbs Racing in races that conflicted with theNASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule.
For 2009, Clements increased his focus on theXfinity Series, attempting thirteen races and making twelve. He ran six races in his family-owned No. 50 with a best finish of sixteenth. Shortly before the October race atKansas Speedway, Clements and sponsorSaxon Group joined forces withJD Motorsports to finish out the season in the No. 0 Chevrolet. In his second race with JD, he finished a then-career best twelfth atAuto Club Speedway.
In the offseason, it was announced that Clements would drive at least the first three races of the 2010 season in the No. 0 for JD Motorsports with sponsorship fromBoudreaux's Butt Paste. After missing the field atDaytona due to qualifying being rained out, his plans for the rest of the reason were up in the air.[5] The No. 0 team was shut down and JD moved Clements to the No. 04. He attempted the next two races as planned, but failed to qualify for both of them. Clements made his first race of the season in April atNashville Superspeedway, finishing 22nd. He attempted nineteen more races, qualifying for fifteen of them. Clements earned his first career top-ten atGateway International Raceway in October, finishing tenth and also leading six laps (the first laps led of his career).
In 2011, Clements competed in all 34 races, finishing fifteenth in points.[6] He had no top-ten finishes, but had three fourteenth place finishes and ten top-twenty finishes during the season.[7]
For 2012, Clements continued in the Xfinity Series with his team. He drove two races forJD Motorsports at Richmond and Indianapolis whenTy Dillon was using his 51. Clements had two top-ten finishes.
After finishing 33rd in the first race of the2013 NASCAR Nationwide Series season, Clements was suspended indefinitely by NASCAR on February 27, 2013. The sanctioning body stated that the suspension was due to violations of the NASCAR Code of Conduct, as defined in Section 7–5 of the sanctioning body's rulebook, as well as Section 12–1, actions detrimental to stock car racing.[8] Clements, in an interview with ESPN, was later quoted as saying, "When you say 'racial' remark, it wasn't used to describe anybody or anything. So that's all I'm going to say to that. And it really wasn't. I was describing racing, and the word I used was incorrect and I shouldn't have said it. It shouldn't be used at all." The MTV editor who had the conversation with Clements,Marty Beckerman, confirmed that Clements said a phrase that included the "n-word".[9] Clements sat out two races and returned for the rest of the season.[10] His season was highlighted by top-ten finishes at the hugeTalladega Superspeedway tri-oval and the series' inaugural race at theMid-Ohio Sports Car Course.[10]
After several equipment setbacks in the2014 NASCAR Nationwide Series, Clements had a brief moment in the top-five in the Aaron's 312 atTalladega Superspeedway on May 3, 2014, before a crash forced him out with four laps to go.Ryan Blaney, who was in second at the time, ricocheted off the wall into Clements, and sent his car hard into the wall.[11] At theGardner Denver 200 atRoad America, Clements recorded a then career-best sixth place finish.
2015 was a decent season for Clements despite a best finish of tenth at Dover and a handful of poor finishes.[12]
At Talladega in 2016, Clements led laps under caution and recorded his first Xfinity top-five finish, a fourth.
In 2017, Clements scored a top-ten outing at Iowa, in which he finished seventh. A few races later, he would score his first career win at Road America after he andMatt Tifft got together with two laps to go.[13] Clements' win was the first for an independent Xfinity Series driver and team not affiliated with NASCAR's Cup Series sinceDavid Gilliland won atKentucky in 2006.[14]
2018
In 2018, Clements would finish inside the top-twenty in 27 of 33 races, and finished fifteenth in the final standings.
2019
Clements showed similar consistency in 2019 and finished fourteenth in the standings.
2021
The 2021 season would be one of Clements' best. Despite not winning a race, he scored eight top-ten finishes and qualified for the playoffs on points. He finished twelfth in the final standings, tying his best points finish.
In2022, Clements scored his second career win, after a firm tenth-place finish at Watkins Glen put him in place for a good starting place at Daytona. The win at theDaytona night race after overtime, earned him a playoff appearance at first.[15] However, NASCAR issued the team an L2 penalty four days later after the post-race inspection discovered an illegally modified intake manifold. Clements kept the win but was declared ineligible for the playoffs. In addition, crew chief Mark Setzer was finedUS$60,000 and the team was docked 75 owner and driver points, plus 10 playoff points should the team qualify for the postseason.[16] Clements' appeal was heard on September 13; panel members Tom DeLoach, Richard Gore and Dixon Johnston found in Clements's favor, rescinding the penalty and revoking the punishments.[17] As a result, he regained his eligibility for the 2022 playoffs.[17] On October 18, Setzer was suspended for one race and finedUS$25,000 for an L1 Penalty under Section 14.4.B.E, which deals with the modification of a composite body part following theLas Vegas race. In addition, the No. 51 has been docked 40 driver and owner points.[18] Clements would wind up finishing twelfth in the points standings.
2023 was a disappointing season for Clements.[19] He recorded seven top-fifteens, with his best showings being two fourteenth place finishes.[19] He failed to record a single top-ten finish and finished nineteenth in the point standings.[19]
Clements' 2024 season would follow a similar trend as the previous season. He scored just one top-ten finish, a sixth place finish atAtlanta, and finished twentieth in the standings.
Clements began the2025 season with a ninth place finish atDaytona. Clements would be awarded an extra point because he scored the Xfinity Fastest Lap in the race. AtCircuit of the Americas, Clements would make his 500th Xfinity Series start, becoming the fourth driver to do so.[citation needed] He ended the season with four top-ten finishes and finished 21st in the standings.
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
| ARCA Re/Max Series results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Car owner | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ARSC | Pts | Ref |
| 2002 | Ken Appling | 3 | Chevy | DAY | ATL | NSH | SLM | KEN | CLT | KAN | POC | MCH | TOL | SBO | KEN | BLN | POC | NSH | ISF | WIN | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL 17 | CLT DNQ | 74th | 420 | [40] | |
| 2003 | DAY 34 | ATL 7 | NSH 35 | SLM | TOL | KEN | CLT 3 | BLN | KAN | MCH | LER | POC | POC | NSH | ISF | WIN | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | CLT 3 | SBO | 36th | 750 | [41] | ||||
| 2004 | Pontiac | DAY DNQ | 70th | 380 | [42] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chevy | NSH 8 | SLM | KEN 29 | TOL | CLT 37 | KAN 37 | POC | MCH | SBO | BLN | KEN | GTW | POC | LER | NSH | ISF | TOL | DSF | CHI | SLM | TAL | ||||||||
| 2005 | DAY | NSH | SLM | KEN | TOL | LAN | MIL | POC | MCH | KAN | KEN | BLN | POC | GTW | LER | NSH | MCH | ISF | TOL | DSF | CHI 34 | SLM | 112th | 175 | [43] | ||||
| Pontiac | TAL 23 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2006 | Chevy | DAY 13 | NSH 29 | SLM | WIN | KEN 14 | TOL | POC 27 | MCH | KAN | KEN 3 | BLN | POC 2 | GTW 5 | NSH 9 | MCH 38 | ISF | MIL | TOL | DSF | CHI 16 | SLM | TAL DNQ | IOW | 31st | 1555 | [44] | ||
| 2007 | DAY 3 | USA | NSH 12 | SLM | KAN 35 | WIN | KEN 40 | TOL | IOW | POC 4 | MCH 5 | BLN | KEN 7 | POC 3 | NSH 1* | ISF | MIL | GTW 36 | DSF | CHI 4 | SLM | TAL 6 | TOL | 23rd | 2000 | [45] | |||
| 2008 | DAY DNQ | SLM | IOW | KAN | CAR 6 | KEN 33 | TOL | POC 31 | MCH | CAY | KEN | BLN | POC 6 | NSH 2 | ISF | DSF | CHI 9 | SLM | NJE | TAL 4 | TOL | 31st | 1185 | [46] | |||||
