Piquet to race Nationwide and Truck Series doubleheader

Nelson Piquet Jr will compete in both the Nationwide Series and the Camping World Truck Series as the 2011 NASCAR season comes to a close at the 1.5-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida this weekend. Nelson has excelled at the intermediate-style tracks on the circuit this season, earning five top-five and seven top-10 finishes in 12 starts on 1.5-mile tracks.

Nelson will close off his first full season of the truck series in the Kevin Harvick Inc #8 Piquet Realty Chevrolet Silverado. After 24 of 25 races Nelson sits 10th in the championship and is ready for an all out battle on the oval with Joey Coulter for the rookie of the year honors, The 134 lap Ford 200 truck race will take place at 8pm Eastern Time this Friday 18 November.

Saturday will see him take the wheel of the #30 Turner Motorsports car for the 200 lap Nationwide race, which will take place at 4.30pm ET. It will be his first Nationwide event of the 2011 season, but will not be his first experience of the series. He made his debut at the 2010 Watkins Glen race, immediately impressing with a seventh place finish first time out.

Nelson Piquet Jr: “I am so looking forward to this weekend at Homestead. I seem to do quite well at this style of track and I’ve learned so much during the course of the season. I’m heading into the truck race with a lot of confidence in myself and my team. We are only five points behind Joey Coulter for the Sunoco Rookie of the Year award, and I'm hoping that after the race this weekend we'll be able to take over the lead. A solid finish will also help me achieve my primary goal of the season, finishing within the top-10 in the Driver Point standings. I’m excited to be getting in a Nationwide car again. Last year I got a good result at Watkins Glen so if I can get another result like that it will be fantastic."