Turner Motorsports announced today it will field four NASCAR Nationwide Series entries in the upcoming race at Road America. Brazilian drivers Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo will join full-time NNS championship competitor Justin Allgaier (#31) and #38 driver Brad Sweet in the June 23rd race at the 4.048-mile road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis. Paludo, who is slated to drive the #32 Chevrolet Impala, will be making his first career NNS start. A two-time champion in the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Brasil, Paludo has extensive road racing experience, but has only made one start on a NASCAR road course circuit (Lime Rock Park in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, where he started and finished ninth). Piquet Jr., scheduled to pilot the #30 Chevrolet Impala, has two previous career NNS starts. Hailing from the road course circuits of Formula 1, Piquet Jr. made his NNS debut at Watkins Glen International in 2010, earning a seventh-place finish, his best NNS finish to date. The Sargento 200 is scheduled to take place on Saturday, June 23rd and will air live on ESPN at 3:00 PM ET. Piquet Jr. is guaranteed a starting spot in the field by virtue of the #30’s full-time NNS status, while Paludo will have to qualify the #32 into the race on time because it has not accrued any owner points in 2012.(Turner Motorsports PR)(5-31-2012)
UPDATE: Piquet, Paludo To Display Road Racing Skills At Road America: At first glance, it appears Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludohave a lot in common. For example, both are Brazilian natives embarking on their second full season of competition in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Turner Motorsports. But their racing backgrounds could not be more different. Piquet– whose father has 23 Formula One victories — was born into a racing family and spent much of his career in the open wheel ranks before making the jump to stock cars in 2010. Paludo’s first introduction to racing came in the form of go-karts at the age of 14. He later embarked on a successful sports car career before making the journey to North America to compete in NASCAR in 2010. The duo will compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Sargento 200 at Road America on Saturday for Turner Motorsports. It will be Paludo’s first NASCAR Nationwide Series start and Piquet’s third. Piquet finished seventh in his NASCAR Nationwide debut at Watkins Glen International in 2010.(NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications) [For more NASCAR News & Notes for the Open Week beginning June 18, 2012, see the Kentucky Race page.(6-19-2012)
UPDATE 2: Nelson Piquet Jr will make his GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge debut this weekend at Road America, driving the #26 Freedom Autosport Mazda MX-5 with Andrew Carbonell. Piquet will be co-driving the Mazda that Carbonell usually shares with Rhett O’Doski. When O’Doski had to withdraw from this weekend’s race due to charity obligations, Freedom Autosport was able to offer Piquet the chance to race with them in the Street Tuner class. The Road America 200 will present a lot of firsts for Piquet, who is competing in both the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge and the NASCAR Nationwide Series races. In addition to marking his first time in a Mazda and his GRAND-AM debut, this weekend is also Piquet’s first visit to Road America.(NPiquet.com)(6-22-2012)
