NASCAR WCUP: Jerry Nadeau: Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

ATLANTA (March 8, 2001) -- A watched pot never boils. The phone never rings when you're waiting for a call. Time always stands still when you're waiting for something to happen.

And the wait for your first NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory never seems to end. For Jerry Nadeau, his first win may have come three years later than he wanted, but in actuality it was just 24 hours late.

Nadeau scored his first NASCAR Winston Cup Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on a chilly Monday last November after the race was postponed one day due to rain. The win came in Nadeau's 103rd NASCAR Winston Cup Series start.

"I've always won in every series I've ever raced in," said Nadeau, driver of the No. 25 UAW-Delphi Chevrolet. "It was getting hard for me to wait any longer to be the first under the checkered flag. It was tough to be patient and wait for our time to come -- but it did, finally. I knew I was going to be able to do it, I just didn't know when it was going to happen.

"People don't realize how hard it is to win in Winston Cup racing. There are only a few drivers that have won and I'm glad to be one of that group."

The win was also Team 25's first victory in nearly 10 years, making it even sweeter for the entire Hendrick Motorsports family -- especially car owner "Papa" Joe Hendrick.

"More than anything, I was happy for my guys and for Papa Joe," Nadeau said. "Everybody worked so hard all year long. We had some weird things happen to us last year that shouldn't have, so being able to win the last race of the season was great for the team and made the offseason much better for all of us.

"It's a lot easier to go to the track each week now without the pressure of 'when are you going to win your first race'," Nadeau explained. "I think the win made me feel more secure about where I am and what I'm doing. Ever since I started driving for Hendrick Motorsports, a lot of pressure has been lifted off of me."

Like most drivers, the site of Nadeau's first win will always be a special place, but not nearly as special as the car he drove to victory lane. "We're taking the same car we won with back to Atlanta for the race this week," the 30-year-old Danbury, Conn., native said. "I wouldn't take any other one. We really didn't do anything different to it before we loaded it on the transporter. We just painted it, put UAW-Delphi decals on it and now we'll see if we can do it again.

"Everything was perfect that day. The guys did a good job on pit road, we made all the right adjustments and we're pretty happy about everything that happened all day. The only thing that could make it better this time is that my wife, Jada, is going to be there. She is working on a degree in dentistry and she couldn't be in Atlanta last time because of a test she had to take."

Some drivers change after their first win, but Nadeau's youthful personality has only brightened after visiting victory lane. But did the win make him a more mature driver on the track?

"I don't think it helped me mature," Nadeau said, laughing. "I still think I'm a big kid to be honest. I still do all the same things as before and have fun doing them. There are just more things people want me to do these days than there were a year ago."

The details of that first win may grow fuzzy over the years, but one thing will stick out in Nadeau's mind when he remembers that day 30 years from now.

"My best memory of that day was crossing the line with (Dale) Earnhardt on my bumper. That was pretty cool. I'm glad I had the chance to do that."

Text Provided By Melanie Whitfield

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