Joe Nemechek posted nine top-10 finishes in 2005. Credit: Autostock

In Review: J. Nemechek

Bad luck helped keep No. 01 out of Victory Lane, Chase

The Coca-Cola 600 pretty well offered the perfect microcosm for a season comprised of equal parts promise and heartbreak.

There were 10 laps remaining in the event, one so marred with cautions it required more than five hours to complete. To that point, Joe Nemechek had managed to dodge the mayhem and place his Chevrolet at the head of the field.

Inside the Numbers Joe Nemechek in 2005 Race Start Finish Daytona 500 34 13 Auto Club 500 4 39 UAW-DaimChrys 400 12 19 Golden Corral 500 7 35 Food City 500 40 33 Advance 500 10 10 Sam/R.Shack 500 9 17 Subway Fresh 500 13 10 Aaron's 499 24 31 Dodge Charger 500 27 11 Chevy 400 25 18 Coca-Cola 600 38 18 RacePoints 400 19 27 Pocono 500 18 3 Batman Begins 400 11 6 Dodge/S. Mart 350 12 23 Pepsi 400 5 15 USG 400 15 15 New England 300 22 18 Penn. 500 14 22 Allstate 400 19 28 Sirius at the Glen 17 9 GFS Marketplace 400 1 8 Sharpie 500 35 12 Sony HD 500 22 10 Chevy 400 11 26 Sylvania 300 11 25 RacePoints 400 9 17 UAW-Ford 500 5 9 Banquet 400 16 20 UAW-GM 500 12 4 Subway 500 8 23 Bass Pro Shops 500 27 18 Dickies 500 4 37 Checker 500 18 17 Ford 400 10 24 Average 16.2 18.6 Atten - tion!Nemechek discusses NASCAR's role in Army recruiting with CNN 10 QuestionsNemechek answers 10 questions with NASCAR.COM's Dave Rodman Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

His lead was slim but comfortable, .32 seconds. He'd held it for some 25 laps, and looked poised to cruise to his first victory of the season.

Cue: heartbreak.

Nemechek arched into Turn 3 and ran over a piece of debris, cutting down his right-rear tire and sending him hard into the outside retaining wall.

In response all he could do was shrug. He'd been there before. This year.

The second, third and fourth races of the 2005 campaign were pivotal in determining the outcome of Nemechek's season.

"Had it not been for a couple of bad breaks early in the year, we would have been in the Chase fighting for the championship," Nemechek said.

At California, in the season's second race, Nemechek led the most laps but blew an engine with 77 laps to go (as the race leader) and finished 39th. Two weeks later at Vegas, he was running third late in race, but got what he deemed a bad set of tires on the race's final pit stop and was nearly lapped en route to a 19th-place finish.

Then, in the season's fourth week at Atlanta, Nemechek ascended to as high as second before a hole in his radiator eliminated him from competition with 45 laps remaining.

There were no less than six other instances during the year when Nemechek solidified himself as a top-10 threat, only to experience misfortune. It was just that kind of year.

All said, Nemechek finished the season 16th in the point standings -- his best overall points effort since 2000, when he finished a career-best 15th while driving for Andy Petree Racing.

"All-in-all we didn't have a bad year and I am confident there's plenty of success in store for this team," Nemechek said following a 24th-place run in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"There were good teams that finished ahead of us (in points) and good teams that finished behind us. We captured a pole and had four or five excellent opportunities to win a race. But it seemed like we were victims of some tough luck this year.

"But that's racing, and you continue to battle on and never quit," Nemechek said. "Just like what our brave soldiers do every day."

Despite the bad luck bug, Nemechek managed to improve three positions from his effort in 2004.

"The improvement is not surprising because this team was starting to jell towards the end of last year," offered Nemechek. "You could feel it coming."

And while Nemechek failed to win a race in 2005, he did score a pair of top-fives and nine top-10s, one of which came at Michigan International Speedway on a weekend that started on the Bud Pole.

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During that race at Michigan, Nemechek was the race leader when the right-front tire blew just before the halfway point. A fuel-mileage gamble late in the race ultimately lifted him to an eighth-place finish.

"I feel that we made some big gains this year and are heading in the right direction," said crew chief Ryan Pemberton. "We have a talented team of people at MB2 Motorsports and we're all deeply committed to take that next big step. We'll be back at work tomorrow getting ready for our preseason testing in Daytona."