NEWTON, Iowa (July 17, 2011) — After qualifying in the 10th position, Nelson Piquet Jr. secured a solid eighth-place finish during the Coca-Cola 200 presented by Hy-Vee at Iowa Speedway on Saturday night during his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the Newton, Iowa facility. Piquet Jr. wheeled the No. 8 Bozzano/Jontex Chevrolet Silverado for Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) up to the fourth position in the early stages of the race before settling into the eighth position where he remained as the field raced to the checkered flag.
Piquet Jr. took the green flag running in the 10th position, but quickly worked his way towards the front of the field. The No. 8 team decided to stay on track during the first two cautions of the race which fell on laps 12 and 18. Fifty laps into the 200-lap event, the young Brazilian driver had worked his way to the fourth position. The driver explained to crew chief Chris Carrier that the truck was beginning to tighten up as the sun began to set on the 0.875-mile short track.
Carrier called his driver down pit road on lap 66 after the third caution flag of the night waved on lap 65. On the stop, the No. 8 KHI team made air-pressure and chassis adjustments, in addition to taking four tires and fuel. Piquet Jr. restarted the race on lap 70 in the sixth position and maintained his spot until the fourth caution which fell on lap 77.
Back under green, the young driver slipped back to 10th place by lap 80. Spotter Rick Carelli talked the driver through the turns and navigated him up to the seventh position when caution number five fell on lap 102 for a hard accident on the frontstretch. NASCAR officials brought out the red flag to allow track workers time to fix the inside frontstretch barrier and Piquet Jr. used the down time to speak with his crew chief about the handling of the truck. The driver relayed to Carrier that the No. 8 machine was still tight in the middle to exit of the turns but together they decided no stop was necessary at that time.
Racing resumed on lap 110 with Piquet Jr. running in the seventh position. The driver continued to hit his marks and on lap 134 he was noted as the quickest truck on the track. After moving into the sixth position, Piquet Jr. continued to express to his crew that the truck was tight as he sailed around the track. As the team was preparing for a green-flag pit stop, the sixth and final caution fell on lap 154. Carrier brought his driver down pit road for their final pit stop of the evening for four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment. Many teams selected to take only two tires on pit road which left the Brazilian driver to restart the race in the 13th position on lap 160.
With 40 laps remaining, Piquet Jr. continued to maneuver his way back towards the front of the field, driving the KHI Chevrolet into the seventh position by lap 175. With 10 laps to go, Piquet Jr. had taken over sixth place and began battling for track position with fellow rookie drivers Cole Whitt and Joey Coulter. As the final laps wound down, Piquet Jr. was shuffled slightly back but powered on to the end, grabbing the checkered flag in the eighth position.
The Truck Series will be back on track next Friday, July 22 for the Lucas Deep Clean 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Catch the action live on SPEED at 8 p.m. ET and MRN at 7:45 p.m. ET.
Thoughts from the Driver: Nelson Piquet Jr.
“We ran a great race for my first time at Iowa Speedway. The No. 8 KHI team continues to bring good equipment to the track each week, and these guys work so hard to give me the right setup I need to finish well. My confidence level continues to increase with finishes like these and I can’t wait to get back to the track next weekend at Nashville.”
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