LEBANON, Tenn. (July 23, 2011) — Nelson Piquet Jr. returned to Nashville Superspeedway for his second-career appearance at the 1.33-mile facility in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and scored a fourth-place finish. The event serves as his second top-five finish of the season after a second-place finish at Nashville in April.
Piquet Jr. rolled to the green flag in the eighth position for the start of the Lucas Deep Clean 200. Not long after the field roared to full speed, the first caution of the 150-lap event waved on lap five for a spinning truck in turn two. As green-flag racing resumed on lap seven, Piquet Jr. ran consistent lap times, holding him securely in the seventh position. Thirty laps into the race, the rookie driver radioed to crew chief Chris Carrier that his No. 8 Chevrolet was beginning to develop a tight-handling condition. Carrier instructed his driver to utilize the brake fans to help loosen up the truck’s handling. Piquet Jr. used his crew chief’s advice, and he was able to take over the sixth position 50 laps into the race.
As Piquet Jr. settled into the sixth position, Carrier called his driver to pit road for the team’s first scheduled pit stop of the night on lap 56. The No. 8 crew quickly bolted on four tires and filled the KHI Chevrolet with fuel. The team’s stop allowed their driver to resume racing in the seventh position after the field had cycled through the green-flag pit stops.
The driver set his sights on the front of the field and cautiously began working his way in that direction, moving into the top five by lap 88. Piquet Jr. alerted his crew that the truck was becoming a little loose on entry, tight in the middle and extremely loose on exit of the turns. Carrier reminded his driver to utilize the brake fans and encouraged him to continue hitting his marks. On lap 95, Piquet Jr. powered his way into the fourth position.
The second caution flag of the event waved on lap 103 for debris on the track. During the caution, the KHI team took the opportunity to come to pit road for their final stop of the evening. Piquet Jr. rolled onto pit road running fourth as the No. 8 crew jumped over the wall for four tires and fuel. The Bozzano/Jontex Chevrolet returned to the track to restart the race in the sixth position on lap 106 after select teams elected to only take two tires. Piquet Jr. wasted no time as the field returned to green-flag racing, and he moved back into the fourth position. The third and final caution fell shortly after the field resumed green-flag racing on lap 108 for fluid on the track.
Piquet Jr. held his ground on the restart and continued working toward the front of the field, moving into the third position with 30 laps remaining in the 150-lap event. Carrier informed his driver that he was the fastest truck on track, and encouraged the rookie to be smooth. On lap 123, Piquet Jr. slid back to the fourth position after a door-to-door battle with the No. 17 truck. In the final laps, the driver continued to run a steady line around the superspeedway and held on to the fourth position as he crossed the finish line. The young driver’s top-five finish earned him honors as the highest-finishing rookie driver in the race.
The Truck Series heads to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis for the AAA Insurance 200 on Friday, July 29. Watch the action live on SPEED at 7:30 p.m. ET and listen to MRN at 7:15 p.m. ET.
Thoughts from the Driver: Nelson Piquet Jr.
“Our team did really well tonight. I was hoping for a win this weekend, but the team worked hard and we ran well so I can’t be upset with finishing fourth. I had confidence coming into this race after earning my career best Truck Series finish here back in April, and I think that mindset helped prepare me for the race tonight. The team continues to work hard each week and bring great equipment to the track and if we continue in that direction we are sure to get a win this season.”
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