The Holy Grail Of Jerry Nadeau Sites!

In 1998, Jerry Nadeau finally got his break into the big leagues.  He teamed up with Dan Marino and Bill Elliott to drive the #13 First Plus Loans Ford Taurus.  This was Nadeau's first crack at the Winston Cup Series.  He had one of the nicer paint schemes of the year, driving basically Dan Marino's Jersey.  The car was painted in Miami Dolphin Orange and Teal, and also had the #13, which was Marino's Jersey Number.  It was a brand-new, single-car operation, so time would tell if it would be a successful one.

The first few races for this new team saw many ups and downs.  Jerry made the Daytona 500, and finished decent, but failed to make 3 of the first 12 races of the season.  He missed the show at Las Vegas, Texas, and Dover.  Below you will find his stats for the first half of the season, while he was driving the #13 First Plus Loans Taurus.

After Loudon, Jerry Nadeau and Elliott/Marino Motorsports decided to part ways.  The whole operation never really got going off the ground, and closed up shop shortly after.  Well, Melling Racing had let go of their driver later in the week, and offered Nadeau the ride for the rest of the season, and possibly beyond.  Not exactly a huge step up from where he was in the 13 car, but at least Melling Racing had an awesome sponsor in Cartoon Network, and the operation has won races in the past.  Nadeau's debut with Melling Racing was the very next race, at Pocono.

Jerry raced those two paint schemes for the remainder of the 1998 season, and below, you will find the rest of his 1998 Stats. Pocono through the season finale at Atlanta.

Well, the 1998 Season was over, and Nadeau's best finish was a mere 15th place at Watkins Glen.  He did start on the outside pole at Sonoma, and had a few other Top-10 Qualifying efforts, but the end result didn't set the world on fire.  Nadeau finished 36th in Points for the 1998 Season, and at the very least, knew he still had a car to race in come Daytona in 1999.