CLERMONT, Ind. (July 31, 2011) — Nelson Piquet Jr. and the No. 8 Bozzano/Jontex Chevrolet Silverado fought an increasingly tight-condition at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis on Friday night, leaving the young driver with a 14th-place finish at the 0.686-mile facility. The Brazilian native qualified the Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) entry in the 11th position for the AAA Insurance 200, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie’s first appearance at the short track.
The green flag waved starting the 200-lap event and before one lap could be completed, the yellow flag waved after three trucks connected heading into turn one. Back under green-flag conditions, Piquet Jr. was shuffled from his 11th starting spot back to 15th. As he started to fall back, the driver radioed to his KHI crew that the truck was too tight throughout the track, especially in the middle of the corner. Crew chief Chris Carrier encouraged Piquet Jr. that he was running quick lap times and that he was beginning to close in on the competition ahead of him.
As green-flag racing continued, Piquet Jr. relayed to his KHI team that he was getting better on the long runs. The No. 8 machine maintained the 15th position until the second caution fell on lap 41 for a light rain shower. During the caution period, Carrier called Piquet Jr. down pit road for their first scheduled pit stop of the night on lap 53 with the team taking four tires, fuel, and both air-pressure and chassis adjustments. Piquet Jr. restarted the race in the 18th position as the field went back to green on lap 59, and he quickly worked his way up to 14th by lap 60. The young Brazilian driver continued his charge toward the front, taking over the eighth position on lap 79.
NASCAR brought the field under caution for the third time on lap 81 for an accident in turn four. The No. 8 Bozzano/Jontex crew opted to stay on track during the caution, which allowed the rookie to restart in the second position after the majority of the front runners visited pit road. During the restart, Piquet Jr. was shuffled back into the third position. As the laps wound down, the driver continued to battle for position as his Chevrolet developed a tight-handling condition. By lap 170, the No. 8 machine had slipped back to the 16th position.
With 30 laps remaining in the event, the team knew they would not be able to make it to the end of the race on fuel. Carrier called his driver down pit road on lap 173 under green-flag conditions for two right-side tires and fuel, quickly returning Piquet Jr. back to the track. With 25 laps remaining in the race, the rookie was running two laps down in the 23rd position, but steadily picked off positions moving into the 15th spot with three laps to go. Piquet Jr. powered to the checkered flag, finishing in the 14th position.
The Truck Series heads to Pocono Raceway for the Good Sam Emergency Road Service 125 next Saturday, August 6. Watch the action live on SPEED at 1:00 p.m. ET and listen to MRN at 12:45 p.m. ET.
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