TRILHA CURTA LIGADO (SHORT TRACK BOUND): Nelson Piquet Jr. and the No. 8 Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI) team head back to Martinsville Speedway this weekend with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series to try their hand at the Virginia short track for a second time this season. Back in April, the rookie driver earned a top-10 starting position at the paperclip-shaped track but finished 30th after getting caught up in an early-race incident.
SHORT-TRACK DOMINATION: Over the past 10 seasons, KHI has made a total of 29 starts at Martinsville and collected three poles, three victories, 13 top-five and 18 top-10 finishes. KHI Chevrolets have also led a total of 537 laps at the 0.526-mile track.
CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 8 team will unload chassis No. 050 at Martinsville Speedway. Used twice in competition so far this season, Piquet Jr. has earned one top-10 finish at Iowa Speedway in July and was relegated to a 24th-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after getting caught up in a late-race accident.
MOST POPULAR DRIVER: Voting is still open for the NASCAR Truck Series Most Popular Driver. NASCAR fans can log onto www.nascar.com to cast their vote for Piquet Jr. as the 2011 Truck Series Most Popular Driver. Voting is underway and will continue until November 17. Fans can vote once daily until the end of the contest.
PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Piquet Jr. and the No. 8 KHI team headed to the deep south for a taste of superspeedway racing on Saturday October 22. The Brazilian native started the Coca-Cola 250 Powered by fred’s at Talladega Superspeedway 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.
THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Nelson Piquet Jr.
What are your thoughts on racing at Martinsville Speedway?
“I’m excited to head back to Martinsville Speedway. I have learned so much as a driver since the last time I raced there and the team has picked up such momentum during the season. Martinsville is your typical short track, so there will be a lot of beating and banging on the track and anything can happen. We just need to focus on racing clean and staying out of trouble and we should be there at the end to earn another good finish.”
Media Access: Members of the media can now log on to www.kevinharvickinc.com to gain access to press kit information online. For more information, please email Jill Frischmann at jfrischmann@kevinharvickinc.com.
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