April 14, 2009
By Nick Blake
Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are the only Sprint Cup drivers that are slated to run the entire Nationwide schedule…….unless you want to add Front Row Joe Nemechek to that list. The single car team owner is emptying out his pockets and leaving it all out on the track as he has attempted every cup race this season and has made every Nationwide race this season also.
Let’s not forget that NASCAR has changed, while Kevin Harvick is able to field a successful Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series effort, (Shout out to Kelly Bires, great run in the 33 this past weekend.) not everyone can have the same success if time and technology passes you by.
Remember when NEMCO Motorsports was one of the dominant mainstays of the Nationwide (formally Busch) Series?
Not so much anymore.
Nemechek has driven the #87 Chevrolet for his entire Nationwide career, with the exception of a few races in the #88 or #7. His records consist of one championship (1992), 16 wins, 18 poles, 73 top fives, and a whopping 120 top ten finishes. But after winning at least one race per season from 1997 to 2004, and three in 2003, the team went winless in 2005, lost it’s decade long sponsor, CellularOne/BellSouth, and when the team rolled into Daytona for 2006, the team was barely sponsored by Denver Mattress Co.
It didn’t look like the same NEMCO team from years past, even the #87 on the side and roof of the car had a different look to it. The result that weekend? 40th place.
The next race for NEMCO that season? The season finale at Homestead-Miami. The finish there? 23rd.
2007 wasn’t much better for many reasons. On the Cup side, his #13 Chevy should have been called the Un-CertainTeed Chevy because just a handful of races into the season, the car was unsponsored.
Bobby Ginn was in too deep, and sold his team off to Dale Earnhardt Inc. That resulted in Sterling Marlin, as well as Joe Nemechek and Regan Smith losing their jobs.
On the Busch side, Joe only ran three races, with a worst of 34th at Daytona, and a best of 13th at Auto Club Speedway. The middle finish was 16th at Las Vegas. Now that Joe was bounced out of a competive ride, He signed on with Furniture Row Racing in the Cup Series, and therefore couldn’t race in the Nationwide Series.
2008 started out bittersweet for Joe. During 2008 Daytona 500 qualifying, Joe sat on the provisional pole, only to be bumped out late in the show by Jimmie Johnson and Michael Waltrip. The first two positions into the Daytona 500 are locked in via qualifying, but 3rd to 43rd are locked in through the Duels. As a result, Joe went from being the third fastest car in qualifying, to actually starting the race 41st. That’s also where he finished.
The two Talladega races faired much better, winning the pole position for the Aaron's 499 and leading the Amp Energy 500 with less than 20 laps to go before being passed by the eventual race winner Tony Stewart. Joe Finished 11th in that race. It was his best finish since the 2007 Daytona 500.
When the season ended the economy’s ripple effect resulted in Furniture Row Racing buying out Joe Nemechek’s contract because they were cutting back on their schedule. Shortly afterward, the trigger was pulled, and NEMCO Motorsports was revived. Not just in the Nationwide Series, but the Sprint Cup too. And Joe’s intentions are to run the entire 71 race schedule.
To us, his goal seems far fetched; he’s running two unsponsored cars, two different manufactures, Toyota on the Cup side, Chevrolet on the Nationwide side.
And with Yates Racing suspending the #28, Earnhardt Ganassi Racing suspending the #8, time will tell how much longer these single car operations can last. The season didn’t begin the way he had hoped either. He missed the Daytona 500, made the next four races but has yet to finish a race. His best finish is 39th.
The Nationwide side is more of a success story, Nemechek sits 18th in drivers’ points, and has made every race, much thanks to the champions provisional he has from 1992.
The season opener Camping World 300 was best to Front Row Joe, he finished 13th. Last Saturday, Joe was an instant celebrity with his quick rollover. In a wreck with eight laps to go, it appeared that Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got loose and clipped Joe in the right rear, sending Nemechek’s car in to a flip similar to the one Clint Bowyer suffered when he was clipped by Casey Mears in the 2007 Daytona 500. (Geez I mention Daytona a lot in this article don’t I?) The only difference was that Nemechek’s car came back on all fours and he drove away.
When the wreck took place, Joe was on the lead lap and in 12th place. Despite the car being drivable, NASCAR would not allow him to finish, and as a result, a possible top 20 finish turned into 34th place. Despite the finish, he moved up two spots in the points, up to 18th, and is less than 100 points from re-entering the top 15.
So why does Joe Nemechek even bother break his back trying to compete in the Sprint Cup Series when he has life made in the Nationwide Series?
The cost is less to compete, he has champions provisional, so for the most part, he should be able to make every race, as opposed to the Cup Series, where he’s already well far away from the top 35 in owner points.
But the most important reason in my opinion, is that if you simply make every race, finish ahead of all the start and park/lesser funded teams, then you can easily finish in the top 15 in points.
It worked for Mike Wallace in 2007. He started every race, and never finished in the top 10 all season long, but he finished 11th in points.
Kenny Wallace last season only had one top 10 finish, (It was actually a top 5) and finished 16th in points.
And who knows? If Joe was able to run as well as he did during the first stand alone Nationwide race, maybe he still has one upset victory left in that historic NEMCO Motorsports team. But if he continues to pour money into his Cup effort and not the Nationwide team, eventually the money will run dry, and his 18th points standing that he has in that series will go for nothing.
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