In 1999, going into Daytona, Jerry had a lot more going for him than he did heading into his Rookie year. Not only did he have a year of experience under his belt racing with the big boys, he also had the entire off-season to get ready to go racing, and not worry about where he'd be driving, if anywhere. The 1999 season brought more ups and downs for Jerry, including his first ever Laps Led in the Cup Series, as well as his First Career Top-10, and Top-5 Finishes in Winston Cup. 1999 also brought a TON of new paint schemes, as you can see all of them below. The main paint scheme was the Dexter's Lab Car, but Jerry also ran Goldberg, WCW, Atlanta Braves, TBS Dinner & A Movie, and The Jetsons Paint Schemes throughout most of the 1999 Season.
The season started on a good note, as Jerry finished the Daytona 500 on the lead lap in 11th. A good start, to what turned out to be a decent first-half of the season for Jerry. At Talladega, Jerry got his first career Winston Cup Top-10, finishing 8th. Later in the season, he got his first career Top-5, where he finished 5th at Watkins Glen. He also led his first career Winston Cup laps that same race at Watkins Glen.
| Race | Starting Pos. | Finish Pos. |
|---|---|---|
| Daytona | 25 | 11 |
| Rockingham | 24 | 31 |
| Las Vegas | 8 | 31 |
| Atlanta | 12 | 27 |
| Darlington | 33 | 40 |
| Texas | 21 | 24 |
| Bristol | 19 | 42 |
| Martinsville | 4 | 32 |
| Talladega | 20 | 8 |
| California | 33 | 20 |
| Richmond | 35 | 21 |
| Lowe's | 16 | 20 |
| Dover | 13 | 30 |
| Michigan | 20 | 26 |
| Pocono | 30 | 23 |
| Sears Point | 3 | 34 |
| Daytona | 16 | 37 |
| Loudon | 15 | 36 |
| Pocono | 41 | 38 |
| Indianapolis | 28 | 31 |
| Watkins Glen | 6 | 5 |
| Michigan | 29 | 29 |
After Michigan Jerry Nadeau found himself in a similar "Silly Season" moment, and Melling Racing decided to part ways with Jerry. There was no specific reason behind it, but I'm assuming it was performance related. Anyways, Ernie Irvan was in a horrible accident at Michigan the previous week, and MB2 Motorsports needed a fill-in driver. Nadeau was hired, and he finished the season out driving the #36 M&M's Pontiac.
Jerry raced the #36 M&M's Pontiac for the last 12 races of the season, but never had a run better than 16th, at Dover.
| Race | Starting Pos. | Finish Pos. |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol | 8 | 20 |
| Darlington | 3 | 43 |
| Richmond | 38 | 18 |
| Loudon | 30 | 32 |
| Dover | 2 | 16 |
| Martinsville | 42 | 26 |
| Lowe's | 10 | 34 |
| Talladega | 24 | 40 |
| Rockingham | 32 | 37 |
| Phoenix | 35 | 37 |
| Homestead | 20 | 38 |
| Atlanta | 21 | 20 |
1999 was finally over, and Jerry at least got a few Career Firsts. He ended up 35th in Points, one position better than in his rookie season. The problem was he was basically just a fill-in until Irvan would come back, and left Jerry without a ride going into 2000. That's when he got the phone call that was bound to change his racing career.
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