Nelson Piquet Jr. Set For Daytona Truck Race

Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. has landed another ride at Daytona in his attempt to recreate himself as a NASCAR driver. On Saturday afternoon the former Renault team driver competed in his first stock car race and finished a disappointing 27th – even if he was overshadowed by another stock car debut (you might have heard of Danica Patrick).

Despite his relatively poor performance over the weekend, on Monday the Orlando Sentinel reported that Piquet Jr. had signed a deal with Red Horse Racing to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Daytona on Friday, driving a yet-unsponsored Toyota Tundra.

After the ARCA race – which saw Piquet Jr. charge from the back after a mid-race mechanical problem only to have a late incident with another driver knock him out of the Top Ten finish – Piquet Jr. told Autosport that he was pleased with how his first career stock car race went.

“It was great racing and I had a lot of fun and learned a ton,” said Piquet about his first stock car outing. “It was unfortunate that my car didn’t restart after the red flag, but I still managed to have a good fight.

“ARCA is good racing, I look forward to doing more of it and now I can’t wait for next Friday’s Camping World Truck race at Daytona.”

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• Newcomer Piquet to enter Daytona trucks race (cbssports.com)
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• SPOILER ALERT: Danica Patrick impresses in stock car debut, confirms NASCAR debut in Daytona (autoblog.com)