Nelson Piquet Jr.
No. 30 Qualcomm Autotrac Chevrolet
Martinsville Speedway – Kroger 250 – March 31, 2012
Nelson Piquet Jr. NCWTS at Martinsville Speedway
Date
Start
Finish
LC/TL
Status
Winnings
April 2, 2011
9
30
207/250
running
$9,075
Oct. 29, 2011
19
13
200/200
running
$9,900
History has been made… – This weekend’s race at Martinsville Speedway will not be the first time Nelson Piquet Jr. has taken to a short track in 2012. During the recent break in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) schedule, Piquet Jr. both tested and raced, putting in over 500 laps on multiple tracks across the southeast. To top it all off, Piquet Jr. headed to Bristol Motor Speedway to run the season opener for the K&N East Series where he walked away with a pole award and the first ever victory for a Brazilian driver in a NASCAR series race. If you missed the action live from Bristol you can tune in to SPEED on April 19th, 2012 at 3:00pm EST to watch a replay.
This week’s Silverado – The No. 30 Qualcomm Autotrac team will take Chassis TMS-211 to Martinsville Speedway for the NCWTS Kroger 250. TMS-211 is a brand new Chassis for the Turner Motorsports team.
Like father like son- On March 30th, 1980 Nelson Piquet Sr. took the pole, recorded the fastest lap and won his first career Formula 1 race in Long Beach, California. Fresh from his first NASCAR series win, Nelson Jr. is celebrating his Dad’s first Formula 1 win with a feature decal on the bed of his No.30 Chevrolet. The decal is an outline of the two-mile Long Beach street course Nelson Sr. won on in 1980. After this impressive victory, Nelson’s dad went on to capture three Formula 1 World Championships.
Move over Brad Keselowski – on Twitter that is. Piquet Jr. has a Twitter following of over 260,000 fans, surpassing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Brad Keselowski. Follow Piquet Jr. at @NelsonPiquet for all the latest news and updates.
Come say “Hi” – The NCWTS will hold an open autograph session at Martinsville Speedway on Friday March 30th from 4:00 – 5:00pm outside the main ticket office.
Watch LIVE – Coverage of the Kroger 250 will be live from Martinsville Speedway on March 31, 2012 at 1:00pm EST on SPEED or tune in to MRN Radio or SiriusXM Satellite NASCAR channel 90.
Nelson Piquet Jr. on returning after a five week break-
“We took advantage of the down time to prepare as much as possible for Martinsville. My background does not include a lot of grassroots short track racing in a stock car, or really any short track racing at all. Since we left Daytona the focus on this type of racing has been 100% and we managed to get as much testing and racing in as possible in the last few weeks. Leaving Bristol Motor Speedway with the first ever NASCAR series win (K&N series) for a Brazilian driver was definitely a confidence booth as well. I’m ready for Martinsville!”
Crew Chief Chris Carrier on Martinsville Speedway –
“I always look forward to Martinsville. For one reason, just the surrounding area and the drive up there is always beautiful. It’s a historic racetrack. There has been a lot of NASCAR history at Martinsville. It’s the epitome of short track racing at its best. There is a lot of rubbing, beating and banging and unfortunately a lot of sheet metal gets torn up. It’s a big test on the vehicle as a whole. It’s a challenge for the driver because he has to use some judgment to make sure he has some brakes left on his truck at the end of the race. I don’t know anyone, either crew chief or mechanic, that doesn’t look forward to going to Martinsville, it’s different than anything we do.”
Nelson Piquet Jr. NCWTS Career Statistics
Races
Wins
Poles
Top-Fives
Top-10s
DNFs
Earnings
31
0
0
6
13
6
$458,523
Nelson Piquet Jr. 2012 NCWTS Season Totals
Starts
Wins
Poles
Top-Fives
Top-10s
DNF
Money
1
0
0
0
0
1
$13,000
Nelson Piquet 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results
Date
Start
Finish
LC
TC
Status
Money
2/24/2012
Daytona International Speedway
2
22
107
109
Accident
$13,000
3/31/2012
Martinsville Speedway
4/15/2012
Rockingham Speedway
4/21/2012
Kansas Speedway
5/18/2011
Charlotte Motor Speedway
6/1/2012
Dover International Speedway
6/8/2012
Texas Motor Speedway
6/28/2012
Kentucky Speedway
7/14/2012
Iowa Speedway
7/21/2012
Chicagoland Speedway
8/4/2012
Pocono Raceway
8/18/2012
Michigan International Speedway
8/22/2012
Bristol Motor Speedway
8/31/2012
Atlanta Motor Speedway
9/15/2012
Iowa Speedway
