Nemechek Looking to Snap Recent Accident Jinx

September 17, 2008

DOVER, Del. (Sept. 17, 2008) -- When it comes to avoiding accidents, Joe Nemechek has been on the wrong end of the luck meter since the beginning of August.

The Furniture Row Racing driver was running at the finish in his first 17 Sprint Cup races of the season. But in the last seven events, Nemechek has not finished four of the races due to an accident. His most recent wreck was last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when he got turned around by another driver.

Other accidents for Nemechek in the seven-race stretch were at Pocono (Aug. 3), Watkins Glen (Aug. 10) and California (Aug. 31).

Nemechek is looking to reverse the misfortunes in this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover International Speedway.

"It's not that we're accident prone, it's just a streak of bad luck and being in the wrong place at the wrong time," explained Nemechek. "However, Dover doesn't offer the best odds of coming away from the race unscathed."

Indeed. The all-concrete one-mile surface, known as the Monster Mile, hasn't been that kind to Nemechek over the years.

"I am well aware of my past history at Dover, but I still like the track," noted Nemechek. "It seems like I run pretty well there or crash hard."

The June race at Dover didn't snap any Monster Mile jinxes for Nemechek. He was running in the low 20s, when he got hit from behind and scraped the wall. The incident knocked in the front-end splitter to the No. 78 Furniture Row Chevy, and from that point of the race, Nemechek drove a crippled race car.

"We really had a good car at the last race in Dover," said Nemechek. "If we can avoid the wrecks and find the same balance I am confident that we'll have a strong finish. I really liked the way the car handled there in June."

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