DEMOLITION DERBY; Joe Nemechek takes his first win of the year.(Motorsports)(Joe Nemechek wins an automobile race)

Byline: AL PEARCE

There was a time during the Pontiac 400 when Joe Nemechek (above) wanted to choke crew chief Peter Sospenzo. They had fumbled their pit strategy, an embarrassing gaffe that sent Nemechek from first place to 25th well past halfway at Richmond International Raceway.

When last seen, Nemechek and Sospenzo were kissing and making up in victory lane.

Nemechek rallied to lead the final 64 laps of the rain-shortened (by seven laps) Winston Cup race that more often resembled a demolition derby. The race included a track-record 15 cautions for 91 laps and two red-flag interruptions until rain finally stopped it after 393 of 400. By then, Nemechek was so strong it wouldn't have mattered if they'd run the last seven laps or another 700.

"When you have a car this good, a car that can go high or low or anywhere you want, it's a great feeling,'' Nemechek said after his first win this year, the third of his career. "We knew the car was good when it came off the trailer. We didn't have to touch it all weekend. Other than not winning the pole [that went to Hendrick teammate Terry Labonte], it was a perfect weekend.''

Perfect, but not altogether uneventful. Nemechek ran well from the start and led 87 of the first 224 laps when the caution waved for a Tony Stewart/Elliott Sadler incident. Rather than pitting for four tires and gas, Nemechek was talking with Sospenzo when he should have been turning onto pit road. By the time they got their act together and ...