The original car in the NEMCO stable, the No. 87 car debuted in 1989 at North Carolina Speedway as the No. 88 Buick with Nemechek finishing 33rd after an engine failure. The car switched to the No. 87 and ran full-time in 1990 with sponsorship from Master Machine & Tool. Nemechek had five top-tens and was named NASCAR Busch Series Rookie of the Year. After jumping to sixth in points the following year, Nemechek and the team won two races and the Busch Series championship in 1992.