NEMCO Motorsports

NEMCO Motorsports

Owner(s)	Andrea Nemechek
Base	Mooresville, North Carolina, United States
Series	Sprint Cup Series
Race drivers	87 - Joe Nemechek 97 - Kevin Conway NNS - 87 Kevin Conway Joe Nemechek 97 - Joe Nemechek 87. Kimi Räikkönen
Manufacturer	Toyota
Career
Drivers' Championships	1

NEMCO Motorsports is a NASCAR team that is owned by driver Joe Nemechek and his family. After a two-year hiatus, NEMCO Motorsports fielded full time entries in both the Cup and Nationwide Series in 2009 with driver Joe Nemechek. It carried the number 87 in both Cup and Nationwide. The team ran Toyota Camrys in Sprint Cup and in Nationwide ran Chevrolet Impalas. The team came back in 2010, with some help from HostGator.Com towards the middle of the year in the Nationwide Series. The team achieved moderate success, and HostGator also sponsored the team for a few Cup races as well. For 2011, NEMCO is back in the Cup Series full-time with Nemechek still in the 87, and Kevin Conway running select races in the 97 with sponsorship from Extenze. Conway will also run select Nationwide races for the team, in the 87. NEMCO is running Toyota Camrys in both Cup and Nationwide in 2011. Nemechek is still looking for full-time funding for his 87 in both series.

Winston/Sprint Cup

Car 87 History

NEMCO made its Winston Cup debut in 1993 at the Slick 50 300, where Nemechek started fifteenth and finished 36th in the 87 car. NEMCO ran two more races with Nemechek that year, at Watkins Glen and Michigan, where he finished 21st and 37th, respectively. NEMCO did not run again until 1995, when Nemechek moved the operation up to Cup full-time. With sponsorship from Burger King, Nemechek posted four top-tens and finished 28th in points. The next season, he had just two top-tens and dropped to 34th in points. After he signed with SABCO Racing, Nemechek abandoned the team's Cup program, and sold the equipment to the SABCO team.

NEMCO returned to the Cup series in 1999, fielding the 87 Bully Hill Vineyards Chevrolet Monte Carlo driven by Ron Fellows at Watkins Glen. Fellows started seventh, led three laps, and finished in second place. Fellows ran at Watkins Glen again the following year, but suffered a blown engine and finished 43rd. In 2001, Fellows began running Watkins Glen as well the series' other road course at Sears Point International Raceway. He finished 38th after wrecking at Sears Point, and 42nd at Watkins Glen after suffering axle problems. Fellows' last race for NEMCO came in 2002 at Sears Point, where he started 19th and finished 25th.

NEMCO did not field a Cup car again until 2005 at Sears Point, when it leased a car to Christine Marie Motorsports to be driven by Chris Cook. He started and finished 28th. The team also attempted Watkins Glen that year, but failed to qualify.

NEMCO returned to race full time in the 2009 season with Joe Nemechek. The car was leased to Scott Speed and the Red Bull Racing Team for two races when Speed did not qualify.

In 2010, Nemechek ran a full season, but only managed to finish one race, due to funding issues. Nemechek secured sponsorship through England Stove Works for the Daytona 500 and succeeded in qualifying, but wrecked during the race. For the fall Talladega race, sponsorship was provided by HostGator.com. They also sponsored the car in the second Texas race, but engine failure took the car out early.

For 2011, the team is back full-time yet again. Joe qualified for the Daytona 500, being the fastest Toyota in the field. An early accident took the car out of the 500 early though. Sponsorship was provided by AM FM Energy, and DAB Constructors for Daytona Speedweeks. AM FM Energy came on as a full time sponsor for the rest of 2011 at the end of summer.

Car 97 History

A second car, the 97, was entered in the Daytona 500 and was driven by Jeff Fuller, but did not qualify for the race. Fuller parked the car about 5 laps into his Duel race. However, Fuller successfully qualified for the October event in Talladega. Nemechek stated that if both cars qualified (which they did) the 97 would Start and Park. And that with the winnings from that car, and the sponsorship from HostGator.com, the 87 would be able to run the entire race.

In 2011, Kevin Conway ran the Bud Shootout in the 97 with longtime sponsor ExtenZe, but was wrecked early on. He also attempted the Daytona 500, but failed to qualify. Conway did qualify for the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, but only ran one lap and then retired from the race. Conway again qualified for the Coke Zero 400, but also again ran one lap and then retired from the race. Conway then attempted the Good Sam RV Club 500 in Talladega and made the race. However like in the previous races, Conway pulled the car in after completing one lap.

Busch/Nationwide Series

Car 7 History

NEMCO debuted its 7 car in 2001. Driven by Randy LaJoie and sponsored by Kleenex, the car won its first race at Daytona International Speedway. LaJoie won another race that season at Memphis Motorsports Park and finished twelfth in points. LaJoie didn't win in 2002, but won a pole at Gateway International Raceway and posted fourteen top-tens on his way to an eleventh place points finish. Following the 2003 GNC Live Well 250, LaJoie and NEMCO parted ways. Nemechek, Todd Bodine, Hank Parker Jr., and Mike Skinner all took over for one race apiece before Greg Biffle was hired for the rest of the season, winning twice and garnering three pole positions.

After the 7 car only ran once with Nemechek in 2004, it assumed the 88 car's owner points, which were sold to GIC-Mixon Motorsports for 2005.

Car 87 history

The original car in the NEMCO stable, the 87 car debuted in 1989 at North Carolina Speedway as the 88 Buick with Nemechek finishing 33rd after an engine failure. The car switched to the 87 and ran full-time in 1990 with sponsorship from Master Machine & Tool. Nemechek had five top-tens and was named NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year. After jumping to sixth in points the following year, Nemechek and the team won two races and the Busch Series championship in 1992.

After Nemechek failed to win the championship again in 1993, he left for Larry Hedrick Motorsports at the Winston Cup level. He continued to drive the 87 part-time in the Busch Series for several year. After winning the Hardee's 250 in 1994, Nemechek did not win until 1997, when he won the Carquest Auto Parts 300 and the Jiffy Lube Miami 300 in the BellSouth sponsored car.

Beginning in 1998, Nemechek began sharing the car with Ron Fellows. Fellows picked up his first win that year at the Lysol 200, then finished second the next year to Dale Earnhardt, Jr., before winning at Watkins Glen the next two years. In 2000, the team got new sponsorship from Cellular One, and Nemechek went on to win three races in 2003.

In 2002, David Reutimann drove the 87 for four races, his best finish a twelfth at Memphis. The next year, Hendrick Motorsports development driver Kyle Busch climbed on board for a number of races with ditech sponsorship, posting two runner-up finishes. Reutimann also drove the 87 for a few races in 2003, finishing in fifth place twice. Nemechek shared the 87 with Reutimann again in the early parts of 2004, before Reutimann left. Midseason, Hendrick development drivers Blake Feese and Boston Reid drove for a handful of races in the 87. Feese's best finish was a 33rd at Indianapolis Raceway Park, and Reid's a 26th at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Nemechek picked up a win that season at Kansas Speedway. His lone highlight of 2005 was winning the pole at the season-opening race at Daytona. Ron Fellows returned to the 87 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he finished 41st after a wreck.

In 2006, NEMCO ran two races with Nemechek at Daytona and Homestead, where he started finished fortieth and twenty-third, respectively. He ran three of the first four races in 2007 with Brunton vineyards sponsoring, with a best finish of thirteenth.

The 87 came back full time in 2009. Nemechek drove most of the races with Chad Blount, Dave Blaney, Mike Bliss, Kevin Conway and Jeff Fuller filling in throughout the year for various races. Towards the end of the season, funding got tight and Joe^[who?] was forced to Start and Park most of the races.

In 2010, Nemechek returned to the 87 for most of the season with Jarit Johnson, Antonio Perez, and Paulie Harraka driving in the races he did not take part in. However, Nemechek did run the 97 while Harraka was wheeling the 87 in Montreal. The team received sponsorship from various companies through the first 17 events before HostGator became the primary sponsor for the rest of the season.

For the 2011 Drive4COPD 300, Nemechek ran the 87 car with DAB Constructors as the sponsor. The team has received other sponsorship from Sin City Motorsports, and AM FM Energy in other various races. HostGator made their first appearance on the car at the spring race in Texas. The team is slowly transitioning to Toyota Camrys, although they have run Chevrolet Impalas off and on throughout the year thus far. With both the 87 and the 97 entered for the annual race in Las Vegas, it was impossible to change the 97 back to an 87 after Joe crashed the 87 in practice. So, Joe took the wheel of the 97 while Kevin Conway started and parked the 87 as a back-up Jay Robinson car. Joe^[who?] took the reins of the 97 again a couple of weeks later in California, while Conway drove the 87 with sponsorship from Extenze. Kimi Räikkönen drove the 87 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May 2011.

Car 88 History

The 88 car debuted in 2001 at California Speedway with Jeff Fuller as the driver. He started 40th and finished 42nd after an early vibration problem. The car returned at Daytona in 2002 with Fuller as the driver. He started fifth, but finished 42nd after being involved in a wreck early in the race. He ran again that year at Talladega, but crashed again and finished 40th. Fuller and Nemechek ran three races apiece in the 88 the following year, finishing last in each one, while Reutimann had a sixth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway.

In 2004, Fuller moved to the 88 virtually full-time. Despite the full-time schedule, Fuller did not finish a race all year long, his best finish being a 35th at Nazareth Speedway. Nemechek and Wally Dallenbach Jr. drove one race apiece in the car during that season.

In 2005, the team's owners points were transferred to the 7 car's, which were sold to GIC-Mixon Motorsports.

Craftsman Truck Series

Truck 8 history

The 8 truck was driven by Nemechek's brother John. He debuted the truck in 1996 at the Miami-Dade Homestead Motorsports Complex, where he finished seventh. He ran full-time that year and finished 13th in points. Three races into 1997, John was involved in a single-truck accident at Miami-Dade and suffered massive head injuries, which claimed his life five days later. The 8 truck has not raced since. In 2011, the truck was sold to Kevin Harvick Incorporated and is now driven by Nelson Piquet, Jr..

Truck 87 history

NEMCO began running the 87 truck in 1995 with John Nemechek driving with sponsorship from Burger King and Delco Remy America. John had two top-tens and finished 16th in points despite not competing in four races. Joe took over the 87 the following year on a part-time basis. He finished second at Watkins Glen after Steve Park qualified on the pole in the truck, then finished eighth at Phoenix International Raceway. After finishing 27th at Walt Disney World Speedway in 1997, Nemechek didn't return to the trucks until the following year, where he finished sixth at WDWS. Fellows began racing the truck in 1999, finishing third in his debut at Portland International Raceway before winning the following week at Watkins Glen. The 87 truck hasn't run since.

External links

• NEMCO Motorsports Official Web Page
• Joe Nemechek Owner Statistics