TALLADEGA, Ala. (Oct. 23, 2011) – Nelson Piquet Jr. and the No. 8 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team headed to the deep south for a taste of superspeedway racing. The Brazilian native started the Coca-Cola 250 Powered by fred’s from the outside pole before getting caught up in an early-race accident that left the No. 8 team to finish in the 26th position, 14 laps down from the race leader.
As the field took the green flag to start the race, Piquet Jr. was shuffled to the 10th position. The rookie driver quickly made his way back up to sixth when another competitor made contact with the No. 8 truck in turn three, turning Piquet Jr. sideways and bringing out the first caution of the race on lap 14. Even though the driver made a great save on track, his Chevrolet Silverado sustained extensive front-end damage.
During the caution, Piquet Jr. brought his truck down pit road for the crew to work on the front left-side damage. While on pit road the crew also bolted on ride-side tires and filled the truck with fuel. The time spent on pit road, put the No. 8 machine one lap down for the lap 17 restart. The KHI Chevrolet returned to the track to avoid losing another lap, but came back onto pit road for the crew to continue mending the damage to the front end of the truck. The double pit stop positioned Piquet Jr. one lap down in the 35th position when the field resumed green-flag racing.
As Piquet Jr. made his way around the 2.66-mile track, he informed his team that he had a tire rub. On lap 19, crew chief Jeff Hensley called his driver back to pit road and instructed him to pull into the garage for the crew to make further repairs to the front-end of the truck. The team worked quickly and the young driver returned to the track on lap 26, 10 laps down from the leader.
Back on track, the leaders passed Piquet Jr. putting him 11 laps down, in the 32nd position. The Brazilian driver continued to work his way around the superspeedway when he alerted the team that the truck’s water and oil temperatures were becoming too high. On lap 34 Piquet Jr. brought the No. 8 Chevrolet back down pit road for the crew to work on the overheating issue and fill the truck with fuel. While the No. 8 truck was still on pit road, the second caution waved on lap 37 for a multi-truck accident in turn two. Hensley sent his driver back on track to avoid going further down to the leader, and the team returned when pit road re-opened during the caution.
While on pit road, the team continued to work to alleviate the overheating issue on the No. 8 truck and sent Piquet Jr. back on track on lap 41 to restart in the 31st position, 14 laps down. Just as the field regained full speed, the yellow flag was displayed for a third time when a four-truck accident broke out on the frontstretch on lap 49.
Piquet Jr. wheeled the No. 8 Chevrolet down pit road for the crew to fill the truck with fuel and continue to work on the truck’s front-end damage. Piquet Jr. returned to the track to avoid going down another lap, but returned to pit road for a second time during the caution for the crew to continue repairing the damage and top the truck off with fuel. The driver returned to the track in the 29th position when the race restarted on lap 54.
The caution flag waved for a fourth time for fluid on the track on lap 60. Hensley called his driver to pit road for four tires and fuel. The stop positioned the No. 8 truck 29th when the field returned to green-flag racing on lap 64. Piquet Jr. maintained his track position until lap 85 when the fifth caution of the day fell.
The rookie driver came onto pit road for a final fuel-only stop. The quick visit to pit road placed Piquet Jr. in the 26th position for the restart on lap 88. Piquet Jr. held is position until the field was slowed one last time on lap 90 for debris on the track. The race concluded with a green-white-checkered finish that left Piquet Jr. to cross the finish line in the 26th position.
Piquet Jr. and the No. 8 team head to Virginia for short-track action, as the Truck Series invades Martinsville Speedway on Saturday, October 29. To catch the action live, tune in to SPEED at 2:00 p.m. ET and listen to MRN at 1:45 p.m. ET.
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