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Nemechek busted for violations 'Front-row Joe' will have to earn a spot near back
Posted: Wednesday February 16, 2000 09:18 PM
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Joe Nemechek's speed in Busch Grand National qualifying seemed too good to be true. NASCAR officials decided it was. So, "Front Row Joe" will have to start from way back Saturday in the season-opening NAPA Auto Parts 300 -- if he starts at all. Nemechek drove his Chevrolet around Daytona's 2 1/2-mile oval at 189.255 mph on Wednesday, an eye-popping 1.9 mph faster than second-place qualifier Hut Stricklin. After inspecting the car for nearly two hours, NASCAR rules officials determined the car violated highly technical weight distribution requirements. Nemechek must now try for one of 11 spots near the rear of the field in qualifying Thursday. "Whether it was intentional or unintentional, that's irrelevant," NASCAR director of operations Kevin Triplett said. "The driver certainly said it wasn't. We felt like something had maybe happened, shifted or whatever, during qualifying." During the inspection, Nemechek conceded he pushed the envelope in some areas on the Chevrolet that he drives and owns. "As a competitor, you're always trying to do as much as you can do to get every advantage you can," he said. "That's typical racing. That's part of what every competitor here does." After the decision, Nemechek's crew worked frantically on the car to prepare it for Thursday while NASCAR officials repeatedly reminded them that the garage was closed. When the crew finally left, Nemechek rushed from the garage to his trailer. "Not right now," he said, when asked for his thoughts on the ruling. Among the beneficiaries of the decision were Stricklin, whose speed of 187.289 was enough to win the pole. "What Joe did, I felt like something wasn't right when I saw it then and there," Stricklin said. "It was pretty obvious. I could see it while I was just standing there on pit road. Some of the bars beneath the car were hitting the ground and sparking." That's because the car was squatting down too much, something NASCAR tried to prevent by introducing a new shock rule for qualifying this year. Moving from the Craftsman Truck Series to Busch this season, Ron Hornaday jumped from third to second at 187.289 mph. Terry Labonte will start third and Buckshot Jones will start fourth. Another winner in the ruling was Dale Jarrett's son, Jason, who moved up to 25th and will avoid having to make the field through second-day qualifying. Nemechek will be among the 32 drivers who will try again Thursday, when the qualifying will fill positions 26-36. Another seven spots are provisional starting positions based on team owner points from last year, bringing the field to 43.
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