Nemechek to pull triple duty for first time in career

By Army News ServiceNovember 16, 2006

Nemechek to pull triple duty for first time in career
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HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Army News Service, Nov. 16, 2006) - For the first time in his racing career Joe Nemechek will compete in NASCAR's three professional divisions in the same weekend at the same track.

The triple-header weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway kicks off Friday evening for Nemechek, who will pilot the No. 46 Silverado for Morgan-Dollar Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. It will be his third race of the season in the No. 46 entry.

The second part of the weekend schedule for Nemechek will be his return to the Busch Series, where he has claimed 16 career victories. His only other Busch race of the season was the February opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Nemechek, who must qualify on time for Saturday night's Busch event, will drive his No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet with sponsorship from Ginn Clubs & Resorts.

The racing weekend culminates Sunday for Nemechek, who will drive the No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet in the final Nextel Cup event of the season - the Ford 400.

"It will be a busy and demanding weekend, but that's the way I like it," said Nemechek. "The more races the better. I don't like when we stop racing. If it were up to me we would do this (racing) 52 weeks a year."

Though he wouldn't get a majority endorsement about his version of a racing schedule, no one would ever accuse Nemechek of lacking desire and passion.

"The older you get, the more you want to race," offered Nemechek. "You would think it would be the other way around. But for me the desire to compete gets greater each week. I feel blessed that I am able to make a living doing something I truly love."

What makes racing even better is achieving good results. That hasn't been the case for Nemechek for most of the 2006 season, but a late-season charge by the Army team is making racing more fun again for the MB2 Motorsports driver.

In the last six races, Nemechek has scored a top-20 result in each event, including two top 10s.

"We just got clicking way too late," offered Nemechek. "But we never gave up. Like our Soldiers, we've been Army Strong. Through the hard times we maintained a positive attitude and kept fighting the mission. It's been fun to see the momentum turn in our favor."