Jeremy Clements’ 2009 Nationwide Season

By Jessica Jenkins

Jeremy Clements’ 2009 season was full of ups and downs, new experiences and a few disappointments. He started his season off by running the Nationwide race at Nashville in April, where he was sidelined by mechanical problems, and followed it up by running in Charlotte. With plans to run the second race at Nashville for his family’s team, he got the call from Joe Gibbs Racing to practice and qualify Kyle Busch’s car while he was in Pocono with his Cup team. Due to rain in Pocono, Kyle was able to be in Nashville and Jeremy’s services were not needed. Again planning on running his own car in Kentucky, JGR asked him to stand as back up to Joey Logano since Brad Coleman was in Kyle’s car. Once again, the car’s primary driver was available and Jeremy was left to watch Joey win the race as he had done the previous week with Kyle. So he moved on to Chicago but was forced off the track again, this time by steering problems. He came back strong and well prepared to Gateway where he qualified a solid 22nd and finished an impressive 16th, then headed to Iowa where he practiced and qualified Kyle Busch’s car, but was not allowed to run a competitive qualifying lap. From there he headed to Michigan and finished a decent 25th before heading to Atlanta the next month where the team was once again unable to finish.
With Kansas fast approaching, a deal was signed with Johnny Davis Motorsports to put their #0 on the car and to use the owner points they had acquired to get in the field if it rained. He had a solid race going until a piece of debris knocked the oil pump belt off, putting them out of the race. They headed straight out to California where he easily placed into the race and finished a spectacular 12th place behind winner Joey Logano. Over the next two weeks he finished 22nd at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and 29th in Memphis. The race at Memphis did not go very smoothly as he was spun out twice before going to the garage with another oil pump problem. The next two races were also very rough, getting caught up in other people’s problems. He finished in 33rd and 29th, respectively. With the season almost over, he had run the most consecutive Nationwide races of his career. Next up was Homestead where the 52 cars attempting to make the race proved too much, and he missed the field by one position. It was a disappointing close to a season that saw it’s struggles, but also experienced soaring heights.
Despite the struggles, the team brought competitive equipment each week, ready to compete against teams with much larger budgets and employing drivers with years of Cup experience.
Now 2010 looms large and with a newly signed deal, Jeremy and his team have their sights set on Daytona. It will be very exciting to see him race again at California and follow that up by running in Las Vegas. He is stepping up, and owners and sponsors had better take notice of this talented driver from South Carolina. Don’t miss a lap…this season will be one to remember!