Joe Nemechek has a couple of good reasons for feeling proud about this weekend's Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway, as he prepares to celebrate the fifth anniversary of his win there coming off the back of his best showing of the 2008 season.
The Furniture Row Racing driver enjoyed a successful outing in last weekend's Cup event at Talladega, capturing a surprise pole in the #78 Chevrolet Impala and running strongly until being collected in a twelve-car wreck on the final lap. The accident was costly for Nemechek, who saw a potential top ten finish turn into 25th place.
"What's important about Talladega is that our performance was very encouraging," he reflected, "Yeah, I am disappointed about the last lap pile-up because it cost us a strong finish and tore up a good superspeedway car. But winning the pole and running up front were a great morale boost to this single-car team."
Nemechek was in the lead draft as the race wound down on the ultra-fast 2.66-mile Talladega oval.
"After the white flag waved, we were in good position to get into the top ten," he continued, "But then came the big wreck. I thought I had missed it but, at the last second, the #48 came across my hood. We had a lot of damage to our car and I could barely get it to the finish line."
Though Nemechek was naturally disappointed with the result, he remained proud of the effort put in by the Furniture Row team.
"Yeah, we're a little frustrated right now," he confirmed, "but, looking at the big picture, we had a great weekend of racing.
![Joe Nemechek. [Pic Credit image.net]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405822.jpg)
