 | | Martha Nemechek wears a military uniform to every race. Credit: Autostock |
By David Newton, NASCAR.COM
October 8, 2006
08:13 PM EDT (00:13 GMT)
TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Martha Nemechek was greeted by the mother of a soldier that recently was killed in Iraq when she arrived at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. The mother gave her a picture of her son and a small red and white gold star flag from President Bush. Nemechek, dressed in a camouflage uniform she has worn at almost every race since her son, Joe, began driving the No. 01 Army Chevrolet in 2003, began to cry. It is moments like this she will miss next season with Mark Martin taking over the Army car. "I don't know what Joe will do next year," Martha said of her son, who has been slated to drive a third car for MB2 Motorsports that currently doesn't have a sponsor. "But I won't stop meeting soldiers at the track and e-mailing them overseas." Martha took the driver change harder than her son. She has become a fixture in the garage, pushing the 01 car through the garage on race days and meeting with military personnel that frequent tracks. She's always dressed in one of three full uniforms, from a drill sergeant's hat to army boots and medals, given to her by four-star generals. "I'll keep them and put them in Joe's Hall of Fame one day," she said. Meanwhile, she'll miss moments like she shared with the mom, whose son was killed in June. "She told me she was sad Joe would not be in the Army car next year, but that her son died thinking Joe was a hero," Martha said. It is stories like this we all will miss. As this reporter turned to walk away, Martha tapped me the shoulder and placed a black and gold heart with the words "Front Row Joe" in my right hand. "I've given my heart away to a lot of people," she said. | 
