Nelson Piquet Jr., Vitor Meira to test NASCAR Truck
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Monday, October 05, 2009
Nelson Piquet Jr., whose Singapore crash was central to a recent Renault Formula One scandal, and IndyCar Series driver Vitor Meira will test trucks next Monday at the short track at Rockingham Speedway.
The 24-year-old Piquet, son of three-time F1 champion Nelson Piquet, drove for Renault in 2008 and for most of 2009 before parting ways with the team. His 2008 crash in the Singapore Grand Prix set up a scenario where teammate Fernando Alonso went on to win a race and then, once Piquet had parted ways with the team, it sparked an F1 investigation and recent sanctions. After the investigation, Piquet issued an apology on his Web site.
“Now that I am out of that situation I cannot believe that I agreed to the plan, but when it was put to me I felt that I was in no position to refuse,” Piquet said in a statement on his Web site last month.
Meira, the Indianapolis 500 runnerup in 2005 and 2008, has driven for Team Menard, Rahal Letterman and Panther Racing in the Indy Racing League.
Both Brazilian drivers plan to use this test with Red Horse Racing to evaluate a future career among the NASCAR ranks, according to the news release. Pacific Mobile will be a sponsor of the test as it is also evaluating racing in the Truck series.
“We look forward to helping Vitor Meira and Nelson Piquet make the transition into NASCAR,” said Red Horse Racing owner Tom DeLoach. “It’s not an easy thing to do to go from an open wheel background to racing stock cars but they are both immensely talented and have the ability to be successful in any series they chose to race in”
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9 responses to "Nelson Piquet Jr., Vitor Meira to test NASCAR Truck ". Post a Comment.
amalycke said:
Oct 6, 2009 at 1:41 PMI thought that those 3 new F1 drivers were going to test a Gunselman Cup car somewhere.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportPhoenix987 said:
Oct 6, 2009 at 3:47 PMOh god, you've finally gotten off the Donnie Neuenberger fix and now it's Gunselman. It's seriously out of hand. Neither one of them is anything special.
Report as AbuseAs for Nelson Piquet and Vitor Meira, I think both have shown what they can do in an F1 or IRL car. Meira's never been with the championship caliber team in IRL, and yet managed pretty good runs. Piquet's a good driver, he was just always playing second fiddle. Neither of them have been in a series where your equipment isn't everything, that your talent is also a big factor.
I'd love to see both of them eventually get to Cup. Apparently Piquet is already planning for a 2012 Cup ride. Considering the lack of any Cup ROTY candidates so far for 2010, I wouldn't be surprised to see either one of them hit Cup at least part-time in 2010.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportbthompson133 said:
Oct 6, 2009 at 6:24 PMmore snobs, not what nascar needs
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» Confirm Abuse Reporttony098765 said:
Oct 7, 2009 at 5:07 AMAnother garbage drivers who failed be successful in F1 coming to Nascar. It's humiliated for Nascar.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportwood_brothers21 said:
Oct 7, 2009 at 12:38 PMWhat a joy to see a couple of "old hands" attempt to start in the NCWTS! Guess ABC route has become TNC. Ha!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportfronto said:
Oct 8, 2009 at 4:37 PMis this team really need a CHEATER? Shame on them. Nascar should say no right away.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportdaviclar38 said:
Oct 12, 2009 at 6:20 PMRemember back in the day when you could watch the Indy 500 and most of the names were American not all of them but most of them. As years went on more and more foreigners were driving in the Great American Race,and then interest started to dwindle. Oh yeah, one other thing, it seemed like the same car owner always won the race. Does anything seem familiar here as far as dwindling?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportrskirkpatrick said:
Oct 12, 2009 at 9:10 PMWhat is humiliating for NASCAR is the Dumb A** Redneck mentality of many of its fans. JPM a snob in the garage, I don't think so. Why don't we just call it the good ole boy racing league. There is a reason the International media dosen't think NASCAR is legitamite racing and its that kind of attitude. Give Francitti decent equipment and welcome him back. Give Danica a fair chance and welcome the attention she will bring. And give Piquet Jr. and Mera a fair shake and I am sure they too will impress. No other major sporting league in the world has had or will ever have a 50 YO athlete competing for the championship. Get off the front porch, get some dental work done and get away from the D.A.R.N attitude many NASCAR fans have. I for one welcome the diversity the new drivers will bring.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportNickDizzle7 said:
Oct 12, 2009 at 9:27 PM#8, "I for one welcome the diversity the new drivers will bring."
Report as AbuseAmen. That about sums it up right there.
I like the state that the sport is in, but I don't see what the problem is with adding diversity to it. Some fans act like it's the end of the world.
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