NASCAR WCUP: Nemechek Scores Seasons Best Finish at 'The Magic Mile'
11 July 2000
Posted By Terry CallahanMotorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
Loudon, NH--Joe Nemechek drove the Oakwood Homes Chevrolet to a second-place finish this weekend at the New Hampshire International Speedway, his best finish of the 2000 season. The thatlook.com 300 was halted twice by rain, and the race was called with 27 laps to go. Nemecheks run at New Hampshire was his best finish since his first Winston Cup victory at the same racetrack last September.
Nemechek gained more positions than anyone else during the race, moving up into the runner-up spot after starting in 30th position after a disappointing run in qualifying on Friday.
We were like fourth or fifth fastest on the board before qualifying, said Nemechek. We had to pick up two-tenths (of a second) from where we were at, and we thought we could do that. But the adjustments we made werent the right ones. When youre going sideways into turn one, it puts a damper on your time, and thats kind of what happened to us.
Nemechek rocketed from 30th into the top ten shortly after the race began and stayed there the rest of the day. Pit strategy and gas mileage came into play a great deal as they always do at New Hampshire. The weather was just one more curve ball thrown at those making the calls in the pits. While Andy Petree and engineer Terry Satchell calculated fuel mileage and tried to decide whether to take two or four tires during the next stop, Nemechek methodically worked his way to the front of the field. He led two laps after Tony Stewart pitted, and then gave up the lead in order to pit himself.
Though the rain denied the drivers 27 laps, Nemechek felt that the Oakwood Homes Chevrolet was among the class of the field, and the team would have finished well, perhaps even won, had the race continued and hed been forced to pit again.
I was just kind of in cruise mode all day. We passed a lot of cars early, and got up running in the top ten. Tony (Stewart) was tough-he was really tough, and I wasnt sure if I had anything for him in times. I have Andy telling me lap times of what Im running and what (Stewart) was running, and I think our cars were very comparable. Its just one of those situations that I wish I could have run with him more and put some pressure on him, but our green flag pit stop was a little bit slow and cost us about a quarter of the front straightaway or more.
We think we would have has enough (fuel) to get to just a couple laps from the end. We didnt know if we had enough to go all the way. I think we were in a lot better shape than Tony was, and also a lot better shape than some of the cars behind us. If we could have gone until there were just a few laps to go, and run a few more caution laps, we would have been sitting real good.
In another weekend marred by tragedy at the New Hampshire Speedway, all 43 Winston Cup competitors had to go racing with heavy hearts. 30 year-old driver Kenny Irwin was killed in a practice crash Friday morning, and Nemechek, along with the rest of the drivers, mourned the loss of one of their own.
When you are out there focused on everything you have to do, you try and block out everything that you can in order to do your job as perfect as you can, said Nemechek after the race. Believe me, the accident that happened this weekend-it probably hits no one harder than myself, losing my brother three years ago in a racing deal. Its tough, and I feel I still ask myself why is this stuff still happening to all these young drivers. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Believe me, Ive been thinking about (the accident) ever since it happened, but when you get out in that racecar youve got to be focused on what you have to do.
Nemecheks focus gained him two positions in the point standings and brings his season top five total to 2 and top ten total to 4. With his past two performances at the New mHampshire Hampshire Speedway, look for Nemechek to claim another Winston Cup victory at the track this fall.
The next race for the Oakwood Homes Winston Cup team will be The Pennsylvania 500 at the Pocono Raceway, after a mid-summer break this coming weekend. TNN will provide live television coverage, and MRN will provide the live radio broadcast.
Text provided by Tiffany Ricardo
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