Nemechek braces for year of uncertainty after release

INDIANAPOLIS -- Near the end of a row of nondescript concrete garages -- otherwise known as the famous Gasoline Alley at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- far from where fans can see, a sweaty Joe Nemechek stands against a pit cart, looking at a laptop computer.

On the screen, a listing of Saturday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard practice speeds, showing Nemechek's No. 08 Dodge 42nd out of the 49 cars in attendance -- and even more importantly, 12th of the 13 cars currently outside of the top 35 in owner's points.

Nemechek, wearing a blue driver's suit bearing the name of a previous sponsor, never blinks as he stares at the image, perhaps hoping that the numbers will change before his eyes.

Welcome to the land of "go or go home."

Until he was released by Bobby Ginn Racing earlier this month in a move that resulted in the eventual merger with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Nemechek thought he had left this view in his rear-view mirror.

Now for the first time since he replaced Jerry Nadeau in the No. 25 at Hendrick Motorsports in 2002, Nemechek stares at a future without certainty. Little-town E&M Motorsports came calling this week, but there's no guarantee of anything past Indianapolis.

"Right now, it's disappointing," Nemechek said. "I'm very, very happy to be here at the racetrack and drive for somebody. I'm a racecar driver, and all these guys here, they want to drive something.

"This is a really small team, last-minute deal and I don't think this car's been run since last year. We're just trying to do the best job we can. They definitely have high hopes."

Starting the season with no safety net and missing one of the first five races of the year, Nemechek had strung together enough solid finishes to sit 33rd in the points, good enough for a guaranteed start. But following a crash at Chicagoland that left him with five consecutive finishes of 29th or worse, Nemechek -- along with Sterling Marlin -- was the odd man out when Ginn went with a planned youth movement.

It's deja vu for Nemechek, who last faced unemployment when the impending Kmart bankruptcy forced Travis Carter's team to close its doors five seasons ago.

Still, Nemechek realizes, just like then, opportunities can pop up in the most unusual ways.

"It's definitely not good, but you never know what's going to happen, so you've got to make the best of every situation," he said.

The car he's driving this weekend was fast enough to make the field here last season, so there's some hope. And when practice began, Nemechek's name was near the top of the charts.

"When we started out, we were pretty good, making decent time on the track and making good gains," Nemechek said. "Then at some point during practice, something happened electronically and the motor started missing and sputtering and it seems like ever since then, we've lost a little bit. I don't know what happened; we just lost a little bit of speed."

So now, just like Nemechek's immediate future, it's make a few changes and hope for the best.

"We've got to make some guesses here on our adjustments and if we hit it, it could be good," he said.