Where is ... Jerry Nadeau? (cont'd)

Nadeau's recovery progressed slowly, but surely. Eight months after the accident, he tested a Cup car at Concord Motorsport Park in North Carolina. Hard to accept though it was, Nadeau knew he wasn't where he needed to be. Not to go back racing.

"The test went well, but I didn't feel well," Nadeau said. "I knew that in the test. ... My stamina wasn't as good as it used to be. The thinking wasn't as good as it used to be. I don't feel like it's something I need to take a chance on. What happens if I bump the wall? You never think of the worst, but it's in the back of your head."

Go-karts gave Nadeau his start in racing, and he's since returned to them. He's raced at Le Mans and he's hoping to open a go-kart facility in the near future if everything comes together. Nadeau has also at various times served as a consultant with drivers Boston Reid and David Gilliland.

Whatever he's doing, Nadeau is staying as busy as he can possibly stay. He has to.

"I'm still me ... I'm still myself," Nadeau said. "I'm not a fat roly-poly in the house, not doing nothing and living off the fat of the land. I can't do that, No. 1, because I didn't race long enough and put away enough money where I can just live happily ever after. ... I'm just trying to put myself in a position where I can make money and still be happy and have fun."

For all the hardship Nadeau has endured, his daughter Natalie means the world to him. Born less than three months before the accident, she was brought into his hospital room. When asked if he knew who she was, unable to speak, Nadeau wrote her name on a piece of paper.

"She is my life," Nadeau said. "Kids are amazing. It's the greatest thing in the world. I love my daughter to death. It's a blessing."

In the end, Nadeau has no plans to race again. That's not to say he won't. He just has no plans right now to do so at the moment. Could he run the full Cup schedule? No. Definitely not. But is there a chance he could he make a spot start? Maybe.

"I've never said that I've totally got out of NASCAR ... that I've totally got out of racing," Nadeau concluded. "As of right now, I'm taking some time off. I'm trying to organize my life a little better and hope that this new business I'm looking into takes off.

"I'm not saying I'm going to ride around and make a few bucks. I don't know. I just turned 38 years old. I'm still young and I still feel like I've got fire in me."