Jerry Nadeau says he's hoping for his condition to improve greatly in the next six months. Credit: Autostock

Return a long shot for Nadeau, but he's hoping

Nearly three years after hard wreck, veteran spotting for Reid

LOUDON, N.H. -- More than two years have passed since Jerry Nadeau last manned a racecar. And while he clings to aspirations of a return to competitive driving, he knows it is unlikely, if not impossible, that he'll ever race again.

	Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images
	Inside the Numbers Jerry Nadeau's Cup stats Category Stat Starts 177 Wins 1 Top-5s 9 Top-10s 19 Laps Led 655 Avg. Start 20.9 Avg. Finish 26.3 Earnings $9,634,007

"I haven't totally got (driving) out of my mind, but after dealing with the doctors the last two years, it's not a good chance for me to come back," Nadeau said Saturday at New Hampshire International Speedway.

"But I'm still hoping. It's only been two and a half years, and they said these injuries could take three years to heal. So I'm hoping in these next six months I'll get better."

Nadeau suffered a critical head injury in a crash during practice at Richmond International Raceway on May 2, 2003. Rehabilitation has helped tremendously, but physicians are urging him to move on and leave driving in the past.

"The first thing Dr. (Jerry) Petty told me was, 'Jerry, I love you like a son. I would choose another profession,'" Nadeau explained. "I can understand that point. If I take another hit, I don't have to take a very big hit.

"It could just be a little tap and into the fence. Your brain can only take so many hits, like a boxer. I don't know if it's worth taking a chance going out and doing that."

He admits his priorities are changing. He has a daughter to support, and is actively seeking a new passion.

He knows it lies within the motorsports industry, he just isn't sure exactly where. This weekend, he is on-hand at NHIS to coach and spot for Hendrick Motorsports development driver Boston Reid.

"I've got a daughter I've got to support, and I didn't stay in racing long enough to put away a lot of money, so I'm definitely going to have to do something," Nadeau said. "I think the only thing I can do is something in racing because I know so much about it.

"I'm really trying to find my next love. Obviously I used to love racing, but I can't do that now so I have to figure out what I'm going to do next."

Driving racecars, it seems, is not among his options.

"If I didn't have a family, I'd just go do it. I'd go. But life is too critical and I've got a different perspective."