The Holy Grail Of Jerry Nadeau Sites!

Over the course of the off-season heading into 2000, Jerry Nadeau got a call that changed his racing career.  That call was from Rick Hendrick.  Hendrick wanted to hire Nadeau to drive his #25 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, because Hendrick had faith in Nadeau's abilities, if he could just get in a good car.  Well, you can't get much better than Hendrick Motorsports!  So Jerry would take over driving duties for the #25 Michael Holigan Homes Chevrolet Monte Carlo for Hendrick Motorsports.  It all appeared to be coming full circle for Nadeau in May, when he won the Winston Open, to transfer into The Winston, where he drove all the way from last place to finish 4th in the event.  The next weekend, everything was going as planned, as Jerry and his US Coast Guard Chevy was driving away from everybody in the Coca-Cola 600.  He led close to 200 laps, and was the car to beat.  Then, his engine blew.  Later on that season, Jerry also had two other races almost in the bag, at the fall Dover race and again at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he was again the car to beat, before getting caught up in wrecks.  Well, his luck finally changed for the better once the season finale hit at Atlanta.  Jerry knew he'd have a chance to win there, as the track races a lot like Lowe's.  He led 155 laps in the race, but with 25 to go, found himself in 2nd place, 8.5 seconds behind Ward Burton.  He was gaining, but it looked like Jerry would come up short again.  Then, the Caution flag came out.  Everyone took 4 tires, except Burton and Nadeau, and Jerry restarted the race with 8 laps to go in 2nd place, seemingly at a disadvantage to those behind him who took 4 fresh tires.  It didn't matter.  Jerry flew past Ward, and went on to win his First Career Winston Cup race, the Napa 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, by over 2 seconds.  Below you will see Jerry's regular car for the 2000 season, as well as the Coast Guard one.

So Jerry finally got into some good equipment, and it paid off.  He won his first ever race, and was a big contender in quite a few other ones.  Below you will see his entire 2000 Season stats.

The 2000 Season was over, and Jerry finally got that long awaited First Career Winston Cup Victory.  He finished a very decent 20th in points.  Now, he was heading into 2001 with not only the best team in the business, his first career win, and a ton of confidence, but he was also heading into 2001 as a darkhorse Championship contender.