Despite a hard crash that took Nelms out of the W&M Manufacturing / Pier-Mac Plastics 100 Presented by JEGS.com, which was part of the 40^th annual Winchester 400 Weekend at the legendary ½ (0.500) mile high-banked paved oval of Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana, on lap nine of the century grind, Nelms had built up enough of a cushion to maintain his fifth place standing by just a single point over 2011 Rookie of the Year, Cody Coughlin.

"We were hoping to close the season out on a high note. Practice went well, we got the car adjusted and balanced. In final practice we were sixth quick and had high hopes for qualifying." Explained the 36-year-old Prairie State standout. "In Qualifying, I was the last car to go out and just screwed up and only did one lap so we started 18^th and we were moving up when I got into some oil on the track slid up into the 101 (Lauren Bush) car and we both got sideways. I got it corrected, but then I got hit in the right rear by someone, no idea who, and that put us into the wall ending our night."

The Lockport, Illinois driver then added; "We were disappointed and definitely not a good way to end the season, but we’re very happy to finish fifth in the first season with JEGS/CRA/GM. A huge Thanks to Trgovich Racing, Phil Harper Motorsports, Port City Racecars, and all of our sponsors. It really was a good year for us and we’re looking to improve on that for next season and be in contention for a JEGS/CRA/GM Championship run." He ended.

Nelms finished just ahead of Coughlin (883-882) to secure the final top five position in the points and despite the crash at Winchester; he still finished only 37 markers behind fourth place finisher, Brent Downey. In the 11 races conducted within the JEGS/CRA/GM in its’ inaugural season, Nelms has scored four top five finishes with a season high of a second at Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan on September 3^rd. He also registered six top 10 showings.