|
 |
|
|
|
|
Nelson Piquet Jr - Winning Big In Las Vegas
Nelson Piquet Jr took his fourth NASCAR category victory of 2012 last night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway as he overtook Matt Crafton on the last lap to pay a visit to Victory Lane. He hailed it one of the top five wins of his career as he took the spoils under the lights in his No. 30 Qualcomm Chevrolet.
|
|
|
Starting from 13th on the grid, he quickly worked his way up, breaking into the top ten on lap 22 of 146 when he moved into seventh place. By lap 27 he had gained two further places and by lap 48 he was in second position. He took the overall lead of the race at the halfway point and then after a pitstop and a caution period he found himself once again in second. Over the last third of the race the lead position changed several times and Nelson was in second with 13 laps to go on the 1.5mile oval. On the first corner of the final lap, he made a move on Crafton and made it stick, retaking the lead of the race and taking the chequered flag 0.223 seconds ahead of Crafton.
Nelson took his first NASCAR category win at Bristol in March in the K&N East Series. He followed that up with his first national class win in the NASCAR Nationside Series, visiting Victory Lane at Road America in June. He scored his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Michigan in August. The win in Las Vegas is the latest success story in this breakthrough year for the 27-year-old Brazilian.
Nelson Piquet Jr: “I am absolutely delighted. On the last lap I just thought I’ll give it a last try so I stuck it in there, got a bit more grip on the inside and we made it – it was win or wreck. The truck is a bit damaged as on one of the restarts they pushed me into the wall, but I didn’t give up, the only thing that mattered was winning. It is great for the whole team, we really needed this win and I can’t thank Turner Motorsports enough, they work so hard and this is what they deserve. For sure this is one of the top five wins of my career. An amazing night.”
PaddockTalk Perspective
|
|
|
| |
|
