Front-Row Joe

No, he’s not from California, he didn’t drive sprint cars in Indiana, and he’s not a second-generation star driver. He’s Joe Nemechek III—from Florida, where he began racing motorcycles before moving to Late Models.

He’s second-generation in name only, because his dad, Joe Jr. (of Czech decent), wasn’t a race car driver but founded the family’s machine and tool business in Mulberry, Florida.

In a state where legendary motorsports history was written by folks named France, Fireball, and Garlits, here’s a guy with a name you’d expect to see on an offensive guard with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

And recently, you’ve probably heard little more about him than if he was toiling away in the NFL trenches. Perhaps the last you read anything at length was when he won his first Winston Cup race last year with Felix Sabates, and more recently, when he was named to take over the steering wheel of Andy Petree’s #33 Oakwood Homes Chevrolet, which was vacated by Ken Schrader. That agreement runs through 2001.

We’re to remedy that with a glance back at his efforts to run a family-owned Winston Cup car; union with Sabates; loss of close brother, John, to racing; and the support of his dad, Mom Martha, and the wife and mother of his two children, Andrea.

We also ask Petree, a guy with two Winston Cup scalps while crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, why this Joe?

First, however, it’s been a quiet 2000 thus far—a transition year. “It’s definitely been a transition period, getting everybody to know each other, and I think our team is going through that,” Nemechek says.

“You know, it’s just all new guys to myself, and working with Andy Petree and Wally Reeves (car chief). They’ve run at a lot of racetracks in the past with Ken Schrader. We came into 2000 with a new body and a lot of new things that had to be factored into the equation on race car setup.

“We’ve had to work pretty hard this year on trying to find that right race car setup, and some of the tracks we haven’t run good at, but on the other hand, we’ve come up with some setups with which we ran good.

“The aerodynamic changes between last year’s Monte Carlo and this year’s were huge. We’re just trying to stay on top of it, because you know the air around you is your friend when you can use it to your advantage.”

Nemechek brought no extra baggage, such as superstition or long-range goals to Andy Petree Racing. “I can’t say I’m superstitious. Once in a while, if something works, I’ll try and do the same routine the following race weekend, but normally, nothing ever really pans out,” Nemechek says with a shrug.

“As for being goal-oriented—yes and no. My goals are always to perform well, to do my best. I wanna win, and I think that’s why I’ve achieved some of the success I have in the past. But I don’t say I want to win one race this year, and I want to have one pole, and I want to have 10 top fives. I can’t say that. I go into every race thinking I have a shot at the pole, No. 1, and No. 2; in the race mode, I want to feel I have an opportunity to win the race.”

Nemechek on Petree

Nemechek says he, Petree, and the crew haven’t discussed long-range goals and that’s in keeping with Petree’s philosophy.

“He’s a racer like myself, and you know, if you get in an accident running fifth, then so be it, it happens. We’ve been caught in some of those accidents when running very well this year, but I think by midpoint of the season, we only had one bad run, as far as missing the setup.”

A racer’s relationship is shared by Nemechek and Petree. “He’s a racer, and that’s what I like about Andy,” Nemechek says. “He works really hard on trying to make his racing competitive. He wants to win, he wants to run well, and he’s had to do it with very little in a lot of cases. Same with the crew and guys in the motor department. They’re always trying to find new ways of doing things. Nobody’s afraid to jump in there and get dirty.

“Andy’s been with Earnhardt and Harry Gant and won two champion-ships and a lot of races. He’s been around, he’s seen, it and he’s seen how things work—he’s got a lot of faith in everything that’s going on.”

Petree on Nemechek

“When I was looking for somebody to take the seat of the 33, I wanted a driver who was experienced but had the ability to run up front every week,” Petree says of his selection. “Joe has proven in the Busch series over and over that he can run up front.

“With Joe, I felt we would have somebody that has the same desire to win as I do—Second Place is the first loser. Joe proved to all of us that he could win in Winston Cup with his victory at New Hampshire. We are extremely excited about having him in an APR car and believe he can help take us to the next level,” Petree says.

Early Years

Nemechek participated in motocross racing during his career at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, Florida. He wanted to head in a different direction, though, so he switched from motocross to stock cars at Lakeland Speedway in 1987. He won Rookie of the Year Honors—a precursor of things to come. The next year he was both top Rookie and champion of the United Stockcar Alliance Late Model Series.

Perhaps the defining race of that season came when he defeated veteran “King of the Florida Short Tracks” Dick Anderson at the road course in Sebring.

Nemechek held off a hard-charging Anderson, who had been slowed by an unscheduled pit stop earlier.

Asked later about the incident, a confident Nemechek says, “That was too bad, but he still wouldn’t have caught me.”

In 1989 Nemechek moved to the All Pro level, where he again was the top rookie and champion of that traveling series.

In 1990 he formed Nemco Motor-sports in Mooresville, North Carolina and was again Rookie of the Year, this time in the Busch series.

By 1992 Nemechek was the Busch Series champion and enjoyed the first of two back-to-back Most Popular Driver titles in that venue.

He found it a struggle when he also tried to race his own car in Winston Cup and prior to the ’97 season sold that operation to Felix Sabates, for whom he drove the #42 through last year. His New Hampshire win came in that car. Prior to that, he was given the nickname “Front Row Joe” because of his penchant for winning poles—five—and starting on the front row.

The Family

Nemechek’s brother, John, was killed in a truck-racing accident in March 1997, but his and Andrea’s first child, now 3, was named after his uncle, John Hunter Nemechek. They also have a daughter, Blair Makenzie.

“My mom, dad, and Andrea play a big part in my career,” Nemechek says. “Mom, for all the support and help she gave me since I was a kid.

She taught me how to do things the right way, to believe in God. My father, he has the wisdom and helped me get my (racing) business going. He was always trying to teach me to make the right decisions.

“Andrea probably puts up with the most, from the good days to the bad ones. We’re blessed with two kids. I’m having fun racing, and she wants me to have fun. If it’s a bad day, she’s still thinking that, so that’s a big plus. She always has a smile and a laugh on her face. You can seldom find her mad. She always keeps me up.”