A bizarre incident caused Joe Nemechek to retire early from Sunday’s Nextel Cup race at New Hampshire International Speedway. He was credited with a 41st-place finish.
As Nemechek’s No. 13 Chevrolet was entering Turn 3 on Lap 197 of 300, his right-rear tire broke off and flew high in the air before returning to earth at the 1.058-mile oval.
The spectacular incident didn’t sit too well with the veteran Ginn Racing driver.
“I had very little warning before I spun and crashed into the wall, ” explained Nemechek. “I felt a slight vibration and it (the tire) just let go. I hit the wall pretty hard and there was just too much damage to the car to get it repaired. It was a very disappointing and frustrating way to end the day. “
Nemechek’s crew chief, Peter Sospenzo, said it will take some further evaluation to find the cause of the tire incident.
“It was a weird deal, ” offered Sospenzo. “There are a number of reasons why this occurred, so right now I am not going to speculate. We need to look over everything and make sure it doesn’t happen again. “
Before the tire separated, Nemechek was running in the lows 30s. “We started off passing cars but then we had handling issues, ” noted Nemechek. “We were getting better when the tire let go. “
The next race for Nemechek and the No. 13 Ginn Racing team will be Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
The spectacular incident didn’t sit too well with the veteran Ginn Racing driver.
“I had very little warning before I spun and crashed into the wall, ” explained Nemechek. “I felt a slight vibration and it (the tire) just let go. I hit the wall pretty hard and there was just too much damage to the car to get it repaired. It was a very disappointing and frustrating way to end the day. “
Nemechek’s crew chief, Peter Sospenzo, said it will take some further evaluation to find the cause of the tire incident.
“It was a weird deal, ” offered Sospenzo. “There are a number of reasons why this occurred, so right now I am not going to speculate. We need to look over everything and make sure it doesn’t happen again. “
Before the tire separated, Nemechek was running in the lows 30s. “We started off passing cars but then we had handling issues, ” noted Nemechek. “We were getting better when the tire let go. “
The next race for Nemechek and the No. 13 Ginn Racing team will be Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway.
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