A good day for Jeremy Clements is when he gets back to the hauler at the end of the race with his car all in one piece. That's because when you're the owner as well as the driver of the No. 51 Chevrolet, you're the one having to write the checks when something gets bent or broken.

On Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Clements was all smiles because not only is he having more good days than bad in 2012, his good days are also slowly being replaced by great ones. He scored his first top-10 finish of the year at Dover in June, and followed it up with an 11th-place finish at Daytona last weekend.

"It's just about equipment. Most of these guys here can drive. ... If you put Kyle Busch in my car, he ain't going to run no better than I am. I fully believe that."

--JEREMY CLEMENTS

"We stayed out of trouble and tried to keep the motor from overheating the whole race," Clements said. "Luckily, it made it and survived, and we missed three or four wrecks. We salvaged what we could. I was trying for a top 10 really hard but that 11th was great."

It's a double-edged sword when your racing budget is in the tens of thousands rather than the millions. Not only is everything second- or third-hand, but it's usually on the verge of wearing out.

That's certainly the case for Clements, who blames mechanical failures for much of the early season issues which have left him 14th in the points heading into Saturday's F.W. Webb 200 in the Nationwide Series.

"That's from running old parts, over and over," Clements said. "That stems back to sponsors and getting money to buy the stuff you need to run better. We've bought a couple of things that I think have helped the cars handle better. It helped us, starting at Dover. Now we're working on getting better engines."

This is a team which had exactly one car at the beginning of last season and now has enough rolling stock to plan out several weeks in advance. And things are continuing to look up.

Clements is excited to have a deal in place to get top-notch equipment for Indianapolis. It's one more small step in the development of a team that knows what it's like to pinch pennies.

"We're trying to put it all together and keep surviving," Clements said. "And when we get money, we're trying to improve our stuff. And when we don't, we're going to run about 20th."

Clements wants to make one thing clear -- he races as hard as he can every lap. But at the same time, he's always cognizant of one thing -- if he wrecks it, he'll eventually pay for it.

And that mindset requires a driving style that isn't usually found in someone who only turned 27 in January. So Clements has to balance the risks and rewards every moment he's on the track.

"We've been fortunate this year not to tear up stuff too much," Clements said. "And we've got to keep that way if we want to be able to come. I try to keep the cars clean and [in] one piece, but still race hard. I just don't put myself in those types of positions.

"That's an every-week thing. You can't do something stupid. You might be battling with a guy and know you need to try and get that spot. But you decide you'd better not because you have to try to get to the end. It's a shame it's like that, but you've got to do what you've got to do."

Cup regulars have won the past six Nationwide races at New Hampshire, a track which requires a strong engine, stronger brakes and the ability to accelerate hard off the long, wide corners at each end of the mile oval.

"The cars here have got to be able to rotate [through the corners]," Clements said. "You have to have good brakes. You've got to get in the corner hard. The Gibbs cars are some of the best out there, if not the best.

"It's just about equipment. Most of these guys here can drive. There's no doubt about that. If you put Kyle Busch in my car, he ain't going to run no better than I am. I fully believe that, because I've been in their equipment and run as good as him."

Clements finished 19th in his only previous trip to Loudon and admits the track doesn't particularly rate highly on his personal list of places he can't wait to revisit. However, the weather may play into Clements' hands on Saturday, as a hot and slick track should be more conducive to a guy who cut his teeth on dirt.

"I'm not going to lie, it's not my favorite," Clements said. "It's flat. It's got long corners. You've got to have good brakes and got to be able to get hard on the throttle coming off the corners. That's what it takes to run good here. Last year, we had a good run going and got caught up in a wreck on the frontstretch."

So what's the plan for the rest of the year?

"Run like hell," Clements said. "When we finished 10th at Dover, it wasn't like we drove any different; it's just that things worked out. It's about driving hard every race, staying out of trouble, keeping the cars in one piece and building our equipment up to run better. We can be a top 15 team. I want to make that next step."

Clements cares where he finishes every weekend, but what he's most looking for is consistency. Not only will that guarantee that he'll move up the standings, but he'll also have a better chance at catching the eye of a potential sponsor down the road.

Finishing 11th at Daytona was a nice dividend for a team that hopes this eventually will pay a healthy return on a financial -- and emotional -- investment. But for Jeremy Clements right now, it's all about getting to the show, and then making it back to the hauler afterward.

"If you're not here, you're forgotten -- so we want to stay here."