John Hunter Nemechek begins trash talk early for Ty Dillon ahead of NASCAR tournament matchup

John Hunter Nemechek isn’t letting Ty Dillon get the upper hand on him in the trash talk department ahead of their NASCAR In-Season Challenge matchup this Sunday at Dover Motor Speedway. It’s Monday, the race is six days away, but Nemechek is already getting started.

Dillon, the No. 32 [last] seed in the tournament, has played bracket buster, knocking off Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman. After each matchup win, Dillon has had a zinger ready for his foes. After advancing past Bowman at Sonoma Raceway, Dillon said, “I do have to give a shout-out to Hendrick’s PR department and let them know the glass slipper fit one last time.” One word, in particular, stood out to Nemechek.

“Key word: last,” Nemechek wrote on X.

Key word: last https://t.co/NB3BcDRV5c

— John Hunter Nemechek (@JHNemechek) July 14, 2025

The inaugural In-Season Challenge for $1 million has seen the unexpected. Nobody saw Dillon — 31st in the points standings — making it to the final four. The same can be said for Nemechek, who has defeated Josh Berry, Chase Elliott and Legacy Motor Club teammate Erik Jones to get to this point.

Now, the two are matched up with a chance to head to the Champions Round at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and face the winner between Tyler Reddick and Ty Gibbs. Both drivers, however, had to fight for it at Sonoma.

John Hunter Nemechek, Ty Dillon narrowly advance to Round 4 of NASCAR tournament

Nemechek finished 28th, one spot ahead of Jones. Dillon, meanwhile, gave Bowman a bump on the final lap to get by him. He finished P17 to advance. Bowman and Dillon shared a friendly chat on pit road after the race and ended it with a handshake.

“Alex and I race really clean,” Dillon said. “I told him – man, if it wasn’t for the million dollars, I probably wouldn’t have done that, but I had to. It’s been an incredible run for this No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet team. We’ve worked so hard for this opportunity. … I’ve worked so hard to get here and I’m just grateful. All of our partners that are on board, this has just been so much fun.

“We’re going to give it all we’ve got at Dover — put pressure on the guys. I think you’ve seen through this that our team doesn’t quit. I saw the No. 48 there at the end, and I knew it was our opportunity to race hard and go get him. Just proud of this team’s effort.”

Expect Dillon to hold nothing back against Nemechek. Dillon will definitely be expecting the same in return.