The Freedom Bus
The McLemore Boys and Newmar
Built with Newmar.
Driven by faith, family, food, fun, and freedom.
Our Freedom Bus journey started with a conversation at Daytona. It became a collaboration with the people at Newmar, a home for our family on the road, and a way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday everywhere we go.
From the first design to the Talladega unveiling and the miles that followed, this is the story of how we brought the Freedom Bus to life.
Follow the Journey
A Conversation At Daytona Started It All
We’ve been around racing for more than 30 years. Some of our favorite relationships have started at a racetrack, usually with something cooking nearby.
At the 2025 Daytona 500, we were cooking for Richard Childress and Johnny Morris when a mutual friend introduced us to Newmar’s Casey Tubman.
That introduction led to more conversations—and an idea that brought together our family, our love of traveling, and our pride in this country.
With America’s 250th birthday approaching, we wanted to build a bus that would help us celebrate across the country. A place to travel together, welcome friends, feed people, and share the five values that guide the McLemore Boys:
Faith. Family. Food. Fun. Freedom.
Together with Newmar, we started turning that idea into the Freedom Bus.
Designed Around the Way We Live
The build started with conversations about what life on the road actually looks like for our family.
Big John and Tonya traveled to Newmar’s headquarters in Nappanee, Indiana, to work alongside the design and operations teams. They toured coaches, reviewed layouts, chose finishes, and worked through the details that would make this Newmar Essex feel like home.
Bunk beds made room for grandkids and team members. The kitchen and dining area were arranged with entertaining in mind, including a view toward the patio where everyone gathers. Storage, a spacious shower, and outdoor cooking and hosting features reflected how we would use the bus every day.
As Big John put it: “We wanted it to feel like home when we were inside the RV.”
Newmar listened, helped us work through the choices, and brought those details together.
A Celebration of America From Nose to Tail
Outside, we wanted the Freedom Bus to tell its story before the door ever opened.
An American flag stretches along the coach. An eagle, the Preamble, the Pledge of Allegiance, and “God Bless America” help carry the celebration from 1776 to 2026.
Look closer, and you’ll find pieces of our family’s story, too—including a star marking our hometown of Hamilton, Georgia, and a few subtle nods to our college football loyalties.
Before Talladega We Stopped Close to Home
We took delivery in March 2026, sharing a first celebration with the Newmar employees who helped build the bus.
Then came the journey toward its public unveiling at Talladega.
Leaving our family farm, we visited the school where Tonya had taught and our kids had gone to class. We stopped to celebrate first responders and visited the Infantry Museum. At the school where our daughter Bailey teaches, students gathered outside in patriotic clothes to welcome us.
Those stops gave the journey its meaning from the beginning.
Before the race weekend, before the cameras, there were teachers, children, first responders, and family standing along the way.
Then Came Talladega
With a police escort leading us into Talladega, the Freedom Bus rolled through the tunnel and onto the speedway, crossing the start-finish line before heading into the infield.
We kept it covered ahead of the Friday unveiling. As sunset approached, family, friends, partners, and guests gathered to see the finished bus.
The weekend brought together everything we had imagined: cooking, hospitality, racing, and time with people we love. We filmed episodes of Grilling Across America, welcomed guests, and finished the weekend with the Freedom Trophy presentation in Victory Lane alongside Newmar and 1-800-PACK-RAT.
The Freedom Bus was ready for its next chapter.
What Freedom Looks Like To Us
It looks like taking the grandkids along.
Cooking for friends and making room for someone new.
Seeing the country together and returning home with stories to tell.
The Freedom Bus gives us a way to live our values and share them with the people we meet. Newmar helped us create a home that carries those values wherever the road takes us.
Faith. Family. Food. Fun. Freedom.
Pick Your Coach. Then Pick a Road.
For us, a good road trip means bringing the grandkids, firing up the grill, and taking the long way when we’ve got the time.
That’s what we had in mind when we built the Freedom Bus with Newmar.
Now it’s your turn.
Pick your model, play around with floor plans and paint colors, and see what you’d take down the road.
Where you point it first is up to you.
