Nelson Piquet Jr. Captures His First Career NASCAR Victory

     

         After earning his first career NASCAR Nationwide Series pole, Nelson Piquet Jr. was able to capture his first win in NASCAR at Road America. After a hard-fought 50 laps, he was able to stand tall with the Brazilian flag in Victory Lane. It was not an easy victory at all. With all the wrecks, all the surprises, and all the drivers being dumped in the corners, this race was one for the books.

        Nelson Piquet Jr. started on the pole for the Sargento 200. As usual at the road courses in the Nationwide Series, the qualifying rules were different than normal, but that did not bother Piquet as he won the pole. Piquet was able to lead the first two laps before being passed by Michael McDowell on the third lap. The oddest thing at the beginning of the race did not involve the racing.

       Based on the qualifying rules, drivers could not put tires on their cars or refuel their cars after qualifying. Because of this, the majority of the drivers decided to stop in the first ten laps of the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Michael Annett pulled into pit road on lap 1, Sam Hornish Jr. pitted on lap 2, Jacques Villeneuve and Kurt Busch pitted on lap 4, and Michael McDowell, Nelson Piquet Jr., Max Papis, Elliott Sadler, and Austin Dillon pitted on lap 5. Those were the more notable drivers who pitted, but a vast majority of other drivers pitted before lap 10.


The first caution came out on lap 13 when T.J. Bell spun out in turn 14. Matthew Bell, who finished 34th, received the lucky dog. After a two lap green flag run, debris was spotted on the frontstretch on lap 18. This resulted in the second caution of the race. T.J. Bell, who brought out the first caution, received the lucky dog. After the longest green flag run of the race, 13 laps, Kenny Habul ran off track and hit the tire barrels in turn 5 on lap 32. Eric McClure, who was making his return to the series after a hard crash at Talladega in May, received the lucky dog. At this point in the race, most drivers felt that they could stop and go the rest of the way, but nobody knew for sure. Would anybody run out of fuel?


After one circuit around the road course, T.J. Bell went off track and got stuck in the gravel trap in “The Carousel” on lap 34. Kenny Habul, who brought out the third caution of the race, received the lucky dog. The fifth and final caution came out on lap 38 when Justin Allgaier ran off track in turn 5 because of a locked-up tire. Bill Prietzel, who finished 27th, received the final lucky dog of the race. This set up a 12 lap run to the finish that was filled with surprises, shocks, and very close calls.


With three laps to go, the race looked like it would finish under green, but John Young almost changed all that. As Young was driving along, he began to slow and realized that he had ran out of fuel. He had to coast the car across a straightway and make it to the turn 3 turnoff before the car completely stopped. He was able to make it and NASCAR did not have to throw a caution. The next incident shocked the NASCAR world.


On the final lap of the race, Jacques Villeneuve got into turn 5 hard and dumped Danica Patrick.  Patrick slid off the racetrack and into the gravel trap. She was able to get the car going again, but the damage had already been done. Patrick went from a sure top 5 finish to a 12th place finish. It did not seem like a major loss, but Patrick is running for a championship unlike Villeneuve, who was running to win the race. Through all of these things, Nelson Piquet Jr. was able to get away and win the race. It was his first win in 3 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. He also led 19 of the 50 laps, the most of the race.


To mention it once again, Nelson Piquet Jr. was able to earn the pole for and win the Sargento 200 at Road America. The NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to Kentucky next week for the Feed The Children 300. Tune in to ESPN 2 at 7:00 P.M. on June 29th for complete coverage of the race.
(More Stats Down Below!)


Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 13- T.J. Bell spun out in turn 14.


2nd Caution: Lap 18- Debris was spotted on the frontstretch.


3rd Caution: Lap 32- Kenny Habul ran off track and hit the tire barrels in turn 5.


4th Caution: Lap 34- T.J. Bell went off track and got stuck in the gravel trap in “The Carousel”.


5th Caution: Lap 38- Justin Allgaier ran off track in turn 5 because of a locked-up tire.


Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Matthew Bell
2nd Caution: T.J. Bell
3rd Caution: Eric McClure
4th Caution: Kenny Habul
5th Caution: Bill Prietzel


Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Nelson Piquet Jr.
2nd: Michael McDowell
3rd: Ron Fellows
4th: Max Papis
5th: Sam Hornish Jr.


Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Jacques Villeneuve
8th: Kurt Busch
11th: Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
12th: Danica Patrick
15th: Elliott Sadler
18th: Austin Dillon

Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics: http://racing-reference.info/race/2012_Sargento_200/B
-Photo: http://www.nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/news/120623/npiquetjr-wins-road-america/index.html