Miguel Paludo and the No. 7 team came home to Charlotte Motor Speedway looking to turn their luck around. After a strong final practice session, Paludo put the No. 7 Stemco/Duroline Toyota Tundra in the 12th starting position, marking his second highest qualifying effort of the 2011 season. Crew chief Rick Gay and team felt that they had a truck to contend with.
As soon as the race began Paludo began his charge toward the front of the field moving into the ninth position. The first caution of the evening waved on lap seven for a spin. The team felt it was too early to come to pit road and remained on the race track. Restarting from the ninth position, Paludo held his own maintaining his spot in the top-10 until the second caution of the evening waved on lap 20.
Paludo was called to pit road for four tires and fuel. He felt the truck was well balanced and liked the way it drove on the track. Many of the leaders chose to come to pit road under the caution. Differing pit strategies throughout the field placed the No. 7 team in the 17th position for the restart on lap 24.
As the race restarted, Paludo did not take off as he had before reporting to the team he felt that something was wrong internally with the truck. Smoke began to billow from the rear of the No. 7 machine. The team came to the garage area and assessed the issue. Damage to the engine made it impossible for them to return to competition. The early departure from the event relegated Paludo to a 35th-place finish.
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