Nemechek stepped into Hendrick Motorsports' No. 25 Chevrolet in midseason, after the team and then-driver Jerry Nadeau decided to split in May. Nemechek worked through two crew chiefs before settling in with Peter Sospenzo, who has led the team since September.

Nemechek posted a fourth-place finish at Kansas four weeks ago and added a runner-up finish in Sunday's rain-shortened NAPA 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the team's best performance of the season.

"I told everybody back at Dover that when we get to Kansas things are going to turn around. We cut up a whole bunch of cars up to get them aero-balanced the way I liked," Nemechek said. "That has been the single biggest thing to help.

"It's a different car than what Jerry Nadeau had; different crew chief, setups are different. We ran good and it's great to finally be able to do that."

Nemechek, who has two Winston Cup wins, has not formally been told he will remain with the No. 25 in 2003, but his recent strong performances and good relationship with Sospenzo make him a logical choice to stay in the car.

"The biggest thing is having been able to give Joe what Joe Nemechek needs to drive this car, not what Jeff Gordon or Jimmie Johnson or Terry Labonte needs, but what Joe Nemechek needs," Sospenzo said. "Our relationship has been clicking real good."

Nemechek, race winner Kurt Busch and series points leader Tony Stewart appeared to have the best cars Sunday.

Nemechek led 57 of the 248 laps completed before rain ended the race early. Busch, who led 84 laps, was the only driver to lead more.

"On the (long) runs, I took off and used everything I had and wore my tires out and Stewart got by me, but under the last green-flag (pit) stop, (Busch) got ahead of us," he said. "I think I could have gotten back around him, but I need more laps."