FORT WORTH, Texas (Army News Service, Nov. 7, 2006) - Though Joe Nemechek fought a handling problem and a broken axle, the U.S. Army driver managed to notch an 18th-place finish Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was the fifth-straight top-20 performance for Nemechek, who has also had two top-10s during this period.
"It was rough out there - this is a tough track," said Nemechek, who was running 30th with 100 laps remaining in the 339-lap race.
The handling issue on the Army Chevrolet was one thing, but the big blow came during a pit stop on Lap 195 of 339 when Nemechek was running in 15th place.
As the 01 car left pit road after a quick stop, the rear axle broke, forcing Nemechek to make additional pit stops to repair the problem. The Army team did manage to fix the axle, but Nemechek lost one lap in the process and fell to 27th in track position.
"That was a weird and costly deal," said Nemechek. "It put us in a big hole, but as we have done so many times, we managed to climb out of the hole and salvage a decent finish."
The next stop for Nemechek and the Army team is Sunday's Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. The final race of the season will be Nov. 19 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
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