Piquet Jr. Leaves Martinsville with a 19th Place Finish

Making his return to Martinsville Speedway and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Saturday, Nelson Piquet Jr. looked to gain more seat time in the Kroger 250 before heading back to the NASCAR Nationwide Series next Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Piquet Jr. and his No. 30 Wolf Pack Energy Services Chevy team started the weekend strong by qualifying in the top 15 at the 0.526 mile short track. Despite having to start from the rear due to adjustments following impound, Piquet Jr. was able to drive his Wolf Pack Energy Services Silverado to a 19th-place finish.

 

During the nearly two hour practice session on Friday morning, crew chief Chris Carrier and the No.30 Turner Scott Motorsports team worked to help the Wolf Pack Energy Services Silverado find more traction coming off the corners. Their hard work paid off as Piquet Jr. and his team qualified 13th. Following qualifying on Friday, Piquet Jr. reported to his crew that he might have a brake issue. The team took no chances and decided to fix the problem after qualifying which caused the No. 30 Chevy Silverado to start the 250-lap race in the rear of the field.  

 

Shortly after the green flag dropped at the half-mile paper clip, Piquet Jr. quickly worked his way through traffic and found himself in the top 15 after only 55 short laps. Piquet Jr. was happy with his truck and radioed to his crew that they “were in good shape.” During the first caution of the day, on lap 57, crew chief Chris Carrier called Piquet Jr. down pit road to change four tires and add fuel to the No. 30 Wolf Pack Energy Services Silverado. After a quick pit stop by the crew, Piquet Jr. left pit road in the 12th position. A few laps after the restart, the second caution of the day came out on lap 70. Piquet Jr. relayed to his crew that another competitor ran into him from behind, but Carrier radioed to his driver that there was no serious damage to his truck and decided to keep the No. 30 Chevy Silverado out on the track. Working under green-flag conditions after the second caution, Piquet Jr. and team found themselves in the sixth position at the halfway mark of the race.

 

Piquet Jr. worked his way to into the fourth position on lap 145 when the seventh caution of the day came out.. The No.30 Wolf Pack Energy Services team decided to stay out to gain track position and restarted in the second position. It didn’t take long for this strategy to pay off as Piquet Jr. grabbed the lead on lap 152. After battling back and forth for the lead during the long green-flag run, the final pit stop came on Lap 196, after a spin in turn four brought out the final caution of the day. Piquet Jr. brought his Chevy Silverado down to the attention of the crew to add four tires and fuel. After the pit stop was made, Piquet Jr. lost two laps and fell back to the 23rd position when his No. 30 would not restart. During the remaining portion of the race, Piquet Jr. would turn top-10 lap speeds en route to a 19th-place finish.  

 

“I would like to thank everyone at Turner Scott Motorsports for giving me a chance to return back to the Camping World Truck Series,” Piquet Jr. said. “My guys gave me a great truck and we were really dialed in for most of the race. Unfortunately, we had some bad luck towards the end of the race and our finish wasn’t what these guys deserved. I would love to return to the Truck Series again soon.”

 

TSM PR