final drive - Mundo Motorizado

PICS: MILLER/LAT, TILTON/GETTY
Flying flag for
Brazil in States
international companies have backed his
American foray, it hasn’t come easy for
the son of a three-time world champion.
Last season he started to prove he
belongs in NASCAR in only his second
year running full-time in the Truck
Series. He scored two victories, both on
ovals, first at the ultra-fast Michigan,
where he combined speed with strategy
and fuel-saving tactics. Later he drove
to Victory Lane again at Las Vegas
following a last-lap pass for the win,
true NASCAR-style.
Before all that he had won from pole
at the tough Bristol half-miler in the
regional NASCAR K&N East Series and
then in June he made the most of his
road-racing background to claim victory
in the Nationwide Series at Road
America. All added, Piquet won in
every series he competed in last year.
“I couldn’t be happier,” says Piquet
convincingly. “We’re winning races, I’m
with a great team, living in a great place
– really, really happy. Considering
everything I’ve done before, coming
over here I think I’m doing OK.”
Last year Piquet drove for Turner
Motorsports, the squad that eventually
went on to win the Truck title with
James Buescher, the team owner’s
son-in-law. It was Buescher’s fourth
season in the series, and four victories
along with a very consistent display
gave him and team owner Steve Turner
their first NASCAR title.
Piquet’s numbers were not that far
off Buescher’s, only that he had more
bad days than his team-mate, counting
five non-finishes. As far as speed goes,
nobody matched Piquet for pole
positions: four times during the year he
led the field to the green flag at the start.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who was a title
Fittipaldis in NASCAR
Although Nelson Piquet Jr was the first Brazilian to
win a national NASCAR-sanctioned race, he wasn’t
the first from his country to compete in NASCAR.
Fellow ex-F1 racer Christian Fittipaldi raced in 16 Sprint Cup
events between 2002 and ’03, most of them driving for ‘The
King’ Richard Petty. Miguel Paludo, a team-mate for Piquet
at Turner, has also competed in NASCAR since 2010.
Now a new generation of Fittipaldis – both of them
Emerson’s grandsons – has tackled the NASCAR ladder
from its very roots, racing Bandoleros and Late Models.
Piquet takes up their story: “There’s two Fittipaldis
coming along – Pietro and Enzo. They’re still in Late Models
and stuf, but they’re my neighbours and we get along very
well. I’m sure Enzo is going to have a bright future. He’s
going to be the first Brazilian to start from the ground,
from the roots of NASCAR.”
Both Pietro (16) and Enzo (11), sons of Emerson’s daughter
Juliana, have been winners at their respective levels already.
Juliana’s sister Tatiana is married to racer Max Papis, who
works for Richard Childress Racing.
Pietro Fittipaldi (1)
in action at Richmond
INTERVIEW
NELSON PIQUET JR
contender during the 2009 Chase for
the Sprint Cup, has yet to win on an oval
in NASCAR, although besides a short
spell in the Nationwide Series in his
rookie season, the Colombian has only
raced at Cup level. Despite having won
at three different ovals, Piquet knows
well where his achievements stand
when put into perspective.
“In a certain way, the level that I’m at,
it suits me,” says Piquet. “I’m sure that if
Juan Pablo would’ve done a few seasons
in Trucks he would’ve won a few races.
But I think I’m the kind of driver who
wants to be winning; I want to be in a
good team, I want to have the chance to
win every race I enter… I know when
you reach Cup it’s a bit different.”
This year Piquet hopes to move
another step up the NASCAR ladder and,
although his credentials are already good
enough to at least attempt a Sprint Cup
debut, he doesn’t see the need to rush it.
“I want to be in Cup when I’m ready,
when I’m prepared, when I have a good
opportunity with a team,” he says. “I
don’t want to force my way in with a
sponsor. I want a Hendrick or a Joe
Gibbs or a Roger Penske to say, ‘Hey,
we’re interested in you, come up.’
That would be my dream.”
A drive with a team capable of at least
winning races in the Nationwide Series
is Piquet’s immediate goal, and recent
changes in his management team have
opened some doors. Looking beyond, he
wants to let his roots grow in NASCAR.
“I would like to spend my life over
here,” he says. “I want to be in the sport
for a long time. I want to establish
myself, I want to win races, win
championships, be the first Brazilian
to be really successful over here
and make a life out of it.”
January 31 2013 autosport.com 49