After returning from racing in Europe in 1997, Nadeau moved to the Winston Cup Series and signed a five-race contract with Precision Products Racing to replace Morgan Shepherd in the No. 1 Pontiac Grand Prix. During the first races, Nadeau was Shepherd's spotter, and worked on maintaining Shepherd's car before the races. Nadeau also built his own cars for Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) and Busch Series events. Nadeau made all five races, including a ninth-place qualification at New Hampshire International Speedway, but failed to finish higher than thirtieth and was let go at the end of his contract when the team's sponsor expressed no interest in retaining him. In five races, he had no Top Ten finishes, two Did Not Finishes (DNF) and finished fifty-fourth in season points. He also took part in one race in the Busch Series at Talladega Superspeedway but failed to qualify. He made his first appearance in an ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series car and finished fourth and second in the races he entered. Nadeau's performances during the season caught the interest of 1988 Champion Bill Elliott and quarterback Dan Marino, and they offered him the chance to become their second driver.