Joe Nemechek says he takes driving for the Army very seriously. Credit: Autostock

Conversation: Joe Nemechek

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Joe Nemechek said the events two weeks ago at Kansas Speedway was the stuff of dreams.

Nemechek won the pole for the Banquet 400 on Friday, beat Greg Biffle by a few feet in the Mr. Goodcents 300 Busch Series race on Saturday, and then led a trio of armed forces-backed cars in the Nextel Cup race on Sunday.

AUDIO Conversation: Joe Nemechek Listen to the Conversation!

Not a bad weekend at all. And it hasn't been a bad few races for Nemechek and his MB2 Motorsports team. He also won the pole at Talladega and finished seventh, two races after finishing sixth at New Hampshire.

Last Saturday night, Nemechek finished fifth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Earlier that weekend, Nemechek sat down with NASCAR.COM staff writer Lee Montgomery to talk about the Kansas weekend, about driving for the Army and about his many nicknames.

Q: Your emotion last week was obvious in your interviews and everything after all that happened, sweeping both races. Have you come at all down from that?

Nemechek won both events at Kansas Speedway two weekends ago. Credit: Autostock

Joe Nemechek: Oh, yeah. That's the one thing about this sport. It will give you a reality check each week. It was cool. I'm still pumped up over winning like that -- just an incredible thing to do: get the pole and then win both races. Just incredible.

But I've got great teams, both the Cellular One team and the Army team. These guys never give up. We've had some mistakes and some problems this year. We learned by all that stuff, and we seem to keep getting better and better. It's fun. It's fun driving the cars when they go fast.

Q: This may sound like a dumb question, but was that the biggest weekend of your career? Or was there something else along the way?

Nemechek: Nah, I'd say that's definitely the biggest weekend of my career. I won the championship in the Busch Series, and I've won races before. But, man, winning two races like that, that's pretty incredible.

Q: We've heard all the nicknames: "Front Row Joe," "G.I. Joe." I saw "Smokin' Joe." Any of those you like any more than another.

Nemechek: It doesn't matter. "Victory Lane Joe" is probably better yet. It's neat. "G.I. Joe," driving the Army car, is really, really cool. Getting that nickname, "Front Row Joe," getting poles, being able to do that -- it's a neat thing. All of 'em are neat.

Q: Did you have any crazy nicknames as a kid? Anybody calling you something Joe?

Nemechek: Not really.

Q: No? You had to get to Nextel Cup to get nicknames.

Nemechek: Yeah, that's about right. It started back in '96, '97 when all that "Front Row Joe" stuff started. It kinda stuck there. It's pretty cool you get a name like that. It's just hard to live up to all the time.

Banquet 400 Victory Lane Nemechek celebrates the weekend sweep at Kansas Final laps Joe Nemechek takes the checkered flag at Kansas Speedway Chase Reaction Chase contenders review their runs at Kansas Hard hit Title hopes of Newman and Johnson take a hit at Kansas Minor setback Mark Martin avoids disaster after cutting a tire on Lap 141 Early Caution Sterling Marlin encounters clutch problems on Lap 4 •   Results •   Standings

Q: I wasn't sure how to ask this question or how to phrase it. Do you consider Sunday's victory an upset? I know it certainly wasn't a fluke, but do you consider it an upset at all?

Nemechek: No, not really. We led a good portion of the end of that race. We were off just a little bit at the beginning, we worked on it, got it better, and then we went too far and got loose. Tightened it up there that last run, and it was good.

When everybody pitted, we were fifth or sixth in line, saving gas. Heck, I drove by all those guys. Drove by Ricky Rudd. He was one of the first guys I got by. We were all racing right there together to start with.

It's interesting on how all these races turn out. Some of them turn out how you think, and some of them don't. Greg Biffle, a great buddy of mine, he probably had the best car there. But he got back in some of the stuff where we were, and it was just hard to go.

Just one of those things. You run as hard as you can all the time, and you never know who's going to win until that checkered flag comes out.

Q: Do you think people outside the garage understand what you guys are up against on a weekly basis, racing some of these huge teams with all these employees? You guys aren't exactly a small team, but you're not a great big team.

Nemechek: We're not the big powerhouse out there, but the people we have are quality people that are there to get the job done. It's neat. It's neat when you outrun the big three or the big four, you know? But it gets back to people. You've got to have the right people, have the right communication, and you've got to have the right equipment.

If I can tell them how to make my car better, we're going to go faster, and that's what it's all about.

Q: I understand you got a long-distance congratulatory call from a guy in Iraq.

Nemechek: It's interesting all the stuff. We got a ton of e-mails and a lot of calls. A lot of the generals call. This is a big deal for the Army. For me, I take a lot of pride in driving this car. There's nothing better than to get that Army car in Victory Lane. We needed a good boost like that.

It gives all the men and women serving in the force -- whether it be the Army or any other military division -- something to pull for. On top of that, having the Army, the Air Force and the National Guard finish 1-2-3, just an incredible weekend.

Q: You talked about how important it is for the Army. I got an e-mail from a guy who had been in Iraq, and now he's in Hawaii -- but he's in the Army -- right after the race saying, "Go Army." That's pretty important to you, as well.

Nemechek has four top-10 finishes in his past five starts. Credit: Autostock

Nemechek: It definitely is. We like running good. I feel I've got the best crew chief in the garage, and I've got the best team in the garage. If it wasn't for a lot of the bad luck we've had this year, man, we'd be up there in the top 10 in points.

We just keep doing the best we can do every week. We're learning a lot for next year. It's kind of like a building year, but we want to win now.

Q: So there's no reason you guys can't contend for the championship? There is nothing holding you back right now?

Nemechek: There's nothing at all. We have a whole new aero package next year, so there's a lot of changes, so we'll have to adapt to all that. I wish we could take all those runs when we were running in the top five and then something happen -- I wish we could have all those back. Man, we'd be right up there in contention.