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.

"Qualifying number one in the National Day of Prayer car gave us a big lift and we backed that up with a solid performance in the race. But this is Talladega - you can go back and forth in a hurry. The good news for us is that we were running with the lead pack for a good portion of the race. [Crew chief] Jay Guy called a great race and the pit crew also did an excellent job on pit road. It was a solid team effort. We continue to improve and that's what it's all about. We're a team on the move."

The Denver-based team will now look to continue moving at Richmond and, for Nemechek, the next race couldn't come at a better track than the 0.75-mile oval.

"Richmond has always been a special place for me, even before I won there in 2003," he noted, "It's a fun track to race at because you can pass and make things happen on your own. I can't believe it's been five years since my win there - it seems like yesterday I was celebrating in Victory Lane."