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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
NEMECHEK: A Racer’s Mom
My mother, Martha Nemechek, has been a huge supporter of my career from the very first day and has been instrumental in it...
Joe Nemechek  | http://www.FrontRowJoe.com  |  Posted May 06, 2010   Charlotte, NC
The 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season marks the 17th year of competition for veteran driver and team owner Joe Nemechek. (Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images for NASCAR)
As we reflect on our mothers on Mother’s Day this Sunday, I am thankful to my mom for not only being a terrific mother but also for always being a cornerstone of my racing career.

My mother, Martha Nemechek, has been a huge supporter of my career from the very first day and has been instrumental in it. Even to this day, she keeps me on the right track and is the first person to remind me if I start to step out of bounds and forget the main reasons why I’m doing this.

You’ve probably seen her on TV at one of the races at some point. She’s usually either decked out in our team’s crew shirt or some shirt with my name and number on it. When I was driving for the U.S. Army team, mom always wore a full camouflage fatigue uniform and a drill sergeant’s hat to each race in support of our military men and women. And don’t forget the camera that is permanently attached to her.

I’m proud to say she’ll be at Darlington Raceway Saturday night to help the other drivers’ mothers give the command to start the engines. This is a great tradition the track started when it began hosting the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Mother’s Day weekend.

She always has stood behind me and my passion for racing, even when it was hard for her to do. My family went through an excruciatingly painful time when my brother was killed at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 1997. His death was very hard on my parents, and for a time, my mother didn’t know if she wanted me to continue behind the wheel. But once she realized I love the sport, despite what had happened, she lent me her full support and has ever since.

Mom always has been my biggest cheerleader. The coolest thing about my mom is that she has documented my entire racing career through photographs and newspaper clippings. Her friends tape all our practices, qualifying sessions and races. Not many other drivers have everything they’ve ever done in a race car memorialized in photos. You should see the pile-upon-pile of photo albums, scrapbooks, videotapes and DVDs. Now she does a lot of this work digitally, but she sure kept Kodak in business before the digital age with the staggering amount of money she spent on film and development.

And she’s still at it. When she’s at the track, which isn’t every week nowadays, she takes more pictures than any fan in the grandstands.

Another of the cool things about my mom is that when she gets the chance to jump in a race car, she takes it. She ran a street stock race in Florida a couple of years ago and did really well. Someone spun her out and she then returned the favor. If my memory serves me correctly, she won the race and was being interviewed afterward. While the announcer was talking to her, her car caught fire right there in Victory Lane. We’ve got photos of her in Victory Lane with her car burning up in the background. I thought that was quite fitting because the woman is a fireball and full of energy.

But she also is one of the most giving and selfless people I’ve ever known. Mom still spends a lot of time helping out families who have lost children or loved ones because she can so readily relate to them. She also formed numerous contacts with our military men and women when I was driving the U.S. Army car and still supports many of them through daily emails and constant contact.

It’s nice to see that so many hundreds of people across the world have benefitted from knowing her. I know I have. Happy Mother’s Day to mom and all the mothers out there.

Joe Nemechek, driver of the No. 87 Nemco Motorsports Toyota, celebrates his 17th season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2010. In 2009, he climbed behind the wheel of his own Cup car for the first time since 1996, making him one of a small number of current independent owner/drivers in NASCAR’s top division. Since his 1989 debut in the sport, the 1992 Nationwide Series champion has claimed four Sprint Cup and 16 NASCAR Nationwide Series victories. His uncanny knack for snagging pole positions earned him the nickname “Front Row Joe” years ago, and he has proven its validity by collecting 10 Sprint Cup and 18 Nationwide Series pole positions. Nemechek, 1990 Nationwide Series Rookie of the Year, was voted Most Popular Driver in ’92 and ’93. The Florida native cut his racing teeth in motocross at age 13, claiming more than 300 wins in six years, and since has gone on to post victories in every series in which he has competed. For more information on Nemechek, please visit www.frontrowjoe.com.

2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Week • The Stars Come Out. The Gloves Come Off. • Saturday, May 22nd at 7 pm ET
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Joe Nemechek

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