Jerry Nadeau
FameRank: 3

"Jerry Nadeau" is a former American Stock car racing/stock car racer from Danbury, Connecticut. He competed in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now Sprint Cup Series). He started racing in karting before moving up to car racing, driving in the 12 Hours of Sebring, the European Formula Ford Festival and the Barber Dodge Pro Series. Nadeau arrived in NASCAR, the highest and most expensive level of stock car racing in the United States, with a limited budget. He started racing part-time in NASCAR, and finished sixth in the 1996 Formula Opel Euro Series.

He started full-time racing in 1998 and came third in that year's NASCAR NASCAR Rookie of the Year/Rookie of the Year award. After Nadeau took his first Top Ten finish at Talladega Superspeedway in 1999, he won his first NASCAR sanctioned race in the Winston West Series (now K&N Pro Series West) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He took his first Winston Cup victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway the following year. Nadeau achieved his top NASCAR season in 2001 when he finished seventeenth in points. His racing career ended in 2003 in a car accident during a practice session for a NASCAR race. He attempted a comeback before moving towards mentoring drivers.

More Jerry Nadeau on Wikipedia.

I'm getting better. I'm not a 100 percent. I would say about 70.

321

I think he has done fine. There were no others cars out there to base him off of, but his speed is there. He is a racer. These [race] cars all have four wheels and a gas pedal. He just needs to gain experience. He will learn a lot more when he comes back here to California to race.

216

It was a 128G (force of gravity) hit, ... It should have killed me. I'm just trying to look at my life now, figure out what's next.

191

I have struggled. If you do racing all of your life, and then all of a sudden it ends, what do you do? Do you go back to school, do you start a business? All we know how to do is race. That's all I've done since my dad put me in a go-kart at 4.

187

My doctors tell me I took a very bad lick, and to be happy I'm still alive, and to go choose some other path with your life.

166

It's like when your arm or leg falls asleep.

148

I have a lot of ideals, I may even go back to school, ... The biggest thing people don't realize is that racing was part of my life since I was 2, and then it all stopped. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do the rest of my life.

134

It's just been two-and-a-half years, and in the racing business you have to move on, ... You obviously can't sit back and say you're going to wait for someone for three years. Joe's the driver and I am giving them space because it's his job now. It's not my car because I can't do it. It's not really something that I'm proud of.

125

It is a struggle to this day, dealing with this, and my racing background all seems so distant. I am having a hard time letting racing go. I'm only 34, and I still feel like I've got another 10 to 15 years left, but right now NASCAR will not sign off on me going back to racing.

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