Piquet tested for the aforementioned team a couple of times since November last year, while also doing some stock outings in his native Brazil over the winter. Last weekend, he drove for Eddie Sharp Racing in the season opening round of the ARCA Series, where he qualified in 7th place for the race (he eventually finished in 27th place).
The guys at Red Horse Racing therefore decided it was time for him to step into a NASCAR truck, but only confirmed the former F1 driver for the first race of the season. His part-time schedule for the rest of the 2010 Truck Series is likely to be announced after the Daytona outing.
As reported by several media in the US, the Brazilian driver is still trying to secure sponsorship money for a decent Truck programme.
“We have closely observed Nelson in our testing and believe he has a great future in NASCAR. He exhibits excellent car control, gives good feedback, but needs the side-by-side experience. He'll get plenty of that in Daytona. Nelson has a huge international following which hopefully will attract a race partner for the team,” said Tom DeLoach, managing partner of Red Horse Racing.
“I'm very excited. The size of the Daytona track is amazing. I can't wait to reach 200mph side-by-side in a tight drafting pack of trucks. The plans for the season are coming together really well. I can't wait to get out on track and start my NASCAR career,” added the Brazilian driver.
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