Joe Nemechek's finishes at California and Las Vegas don't indicate how strong the No. 01 Chevy has been in 2005. Credit: Autostock

Atlanta could end Nemechek's drought

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Maybe this will be the weekend for Joe Nemechek.

The veteran driver has done almost everything but win in 2005, running up front at California and Las Vegas before "gremlins" got in the way of a victory.

And the site of this weekend's race, the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, holds promise for Nemechek as well. He's averaged an eighth-place finish at the 1.54-mile track over the last five events, including a solid fourth last October.

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His other recent finishes here: a 15th, a 10th, a ninth and a second (with 57 laps led).

And despite his strong runs this season, Nemechek sits 24th in the Nextel Cup points standings with finishes of 13th, 39th and 19th.

Atlanta was the site of Nemechek's first race with the No. 01 Chevrolet team, as he joined MB2 Motorsports in the fall of 2003.

Yes, the memories of Atlanta are good for Nemechek.

"No question, Atlanta has always been one of my favorite tracks," Nemechek said. "I've come close to winning there a few times and feel this could be the weekend. We've been flirting with a win at the past two races, but the gremlins got the best of us in the end.

"Anyone who has watched those last two races knows that this team has the potential to pull out a win on any given Sunday -- or Saturday night for that matter."

Nemechek led the most laps at California, 63, before the Hendrick Motorsports engine failed. In Vegas, Nemechek was running third until the final round of pit stops with 43 laps to go.

A botched pit stop and an ill-handling car dropped Nemechek to 19th, but he and the team knew the result should have been better.

"In football terms, we have had flashes of a great offense, but had too many turnovers," Nemechek said. "We squandered a couple of great opportunities. But this is a resilient team that will bounce back."

What it takes to bounce back at Atlanta is the same package it took to run well at California and Las Vegas: a well-balanced car with trimmed-out aerodynamics and a strong engine.

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Atlanta is one of the fastest tracks on which the Nextel Cup teams compete, so maintaining a fast speed through the corners is crucial to turning good lap times

"Balance is critical, because in order to do well at Atlanta you need to hammer down on the gas," Nemechek said.

Nemechek's car should be balanced this weekend, for it is the same chassis the team used to dominate at California.

"That was an awesome car we had in California, and I don't see why it should be any different this weekend." Nemechek said. "We have the package to be successful. We just need to make sure that all of the pieces work together."

The pieces will be scattered this weekend, as Nextel Cup teams practice Friday afternoon, qualify Friday night, take Saturday off and run the race Sunday afternoon.

The cars will be impounded after qualifying, meaning the setup to be used in the race will be almost two days old.

"Having Saturday off is going to be a weird feeling for the crew," crew chief Ryan Pemberton said. "We all hope this experimenting will eventually lead to a two-day show without any days off -- just like the two-day shows in Richmond and the summer race in Bristol."

Of course, Pemberton's main focus will be making Nemechek comfortable in the car. Based on recent performance at Atlanta and other tracks, that shouldn't be a problem.