Monday, March 17, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
It was a day that Joe Neme chek would just as soon forget.
The NASCAR Winston Cup veteran began Sunday with high hopes, as he lined up third for the inaugural Las Vegas 300 Busch Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
But the Flor ida driver's enthusiasm was dampened before the race even began. Minutes before the cars rolled away from the pit lane, Nemechek learned that his brother, John, had been involved in a terrible accident in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead, Fla.
Nemechek was told of the accident by his wife, Andrea.
"My brother John is a strong kid. I really appreciate the concern that everyone has expressed and would like for everyone to keep him in their thoughts and prayers," Nemechek said in a statement.
At the time, the extent of John Nemechek's injuries were not known. It was later learned that the younger Nemechek had suffered a severe brain injury and was hospitalized in very critical condition.
Joe Nemechek spoke by telephone with his father, Joe, in Miami following Sunday's race and learned the grim news.
On the track, Nemechek dominated early, jumping from the second row to lead the first lap and the ensuing 37 before developing an engine problem. But he managed to stay on the lead lap and was working his way back into contention when he was collected in a wild turn 4 crash triggered by Mike Wallace and Todd Bodine on lap 122.
"In that wreck, I don't know. A slow car (Wallace) was up front and everybody was kind of monekeying around," Nemechek said. "Cars all of a sudden got sideways ... Jason Keller slid up in front of me and didn't have anywhere to go."
Bodine still on top
Busch Series points leader Todd Bodine led his first laps of the season en route to a solid third-place finish and added to his championship point lead.
After five of 30 races, the youngest of the three racing Bodine siblings leads Phil Parsons 777-742 atop the Busch leader board.
Bodine said his Stanley Tools Pontiac was pushing all day.
"It was just too tight," he said. "We kept adjusting it, and the last set of tires was the tightest we had all day. Right when you don't need them to be tight, they were."
Bodine, who led five times for 20 laps, also was involved in two skirmishes while dueling for the lead. The first eliminated Elliott Sadler and the second removed four cars from competition, including those of contenders Joe Nemechek and Jason Keller.
"This place is so fast, but it feels flat. There's no banking to hold you," Bodine said, explaining the fender-banging at the front. "When the air gets off the car, the car gets loose."
Phil 'er up
With his seventh-place finish Sunday, Phil Parsons kept alive a pair of impressive streaks. Parsons now has finished in the top 10 in each of the first five races this season and is the only Busch Series driver who has run every mile of every race in 1997.
Nevertheless, the pilot of the No. 10 ChannelLock Tools Chevrolet was hoping for a better result in the first Busch event in Las Vegas.
"We were here to win the race and we weren't able to do that," said Parsons, who moved from fourth to second in the series points race. "We weren't quite as good as we needed to be. But five top-10s ... if we do that all year long, we'll be in good shape."
Famous visitors
Several NASCAR luminaries were spotted in the garage area prior to Sunday's race, including NASCAR president Bill France Jr., Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway owner Bruton Smith and driving legends Bobby Allison and David Pearson.
Allison, a guest of LVMS management, gave the command to start engines prior to Saturday night's NASCAR Southwest Tour event at LVMS. Pearson's son, Ricky, is crew chief for Busch Series driver Buckshot Jones.
Between them, Pearson (105 wins) and Allison (83 wins) combined for 188 Winston Cup victories. Pearson's total is second only to Richard Petty.
Winston Cup veteran Brett Bodine also was on hand, working the pits for brother Todd.
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