Jeremy Clements

Jeremy Clements (born January 16, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He is the son of Tony Clements, owner of Clements Racing Engines. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 51 Chevrolet Camaro for Jeremy Clements Racing.

Early career

A native of Spartanburg, South Carolina, Clements began his racing career at the age of 8 by driving go-karts. In 1999, he moved on to race four-cylinder cars in both the Modified and Stock Series at Thunder Valley Speedway and Cherokee Speedway. Over the next three seasons, he won 55 feature events and two track championships.

Late Model and ARCA

In 2002, Clements moved up to the Late Model division where he won 9 overall races as well as the championship at Cherokee. He also made his ARCA Series debut at Talladega Superspeedway, starting 6th and finishing 17th in the No. 3 Chevrolet. He started five ARCA races in 2003, earning three top 10s. Clements was seriously injured on July 24, 2004 at age 19, while racing at 311 Speedway in North 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. 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. He did not race again until the following year.