Piquet Jr. Returns to NCWTS Competition

Taking Wheel of No. 15 BBM Truck at Las Vegas

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 20, 2010) – Nelson Piquet Jr. will return to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) competition for this week’s Smith’s Food and Drug Stores 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Piquet will be behind the wheel of the No. 15 Qualcomm-ArcSight Tundra fielded by Billy Ballew Motorsports.

Piquet has four previous NCWTS starts, finishing inside the top-10 in three of those events. At intermediate speedways, he has two NCWTS starts, which resulted in a 16^th-place finish at Charlotte and an eighth-place finish at Texas.  Piquet made his Nationwide Series debut this season at Watkins Glen, which he started in 10^th-place and finished seventh.

As a tune up for Las Vegas, Piquet raced at Hickory Motor Speedway last Saturday in Late Model competition. Piquet finished eighth in the Bojangles Late Models 100.

Calling the shots for Piquet this week will be Doug George. George, who worked as crew chief of the No. 15 truck through 2009, will be back on the pit box at Las Vegas.

Piquet will be signing autographs at The Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower on Friday, Sept. 24, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The free session will be located in the casino at 2000 Las Vegas Blvd. South, and will kick off the pre-event festivities for the race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Piquet on Las Vegas:

“It’s great to get back on the track.  It seems like it’s been forever since I’ve raced in the Truck Series.  I can’t wait to be behind the wheel of the Qualcomm-ArcSight Tundra again.

“When I’m not racing with NASCAR or ARCA, I work on my fitness and run local races.  I want to stay sharp and be ready to compete. I want to be ready for any race that I get the opportunity to be a part of. 

“I’ve raced at Texas and Charlotte with Billy Ballew Motorsports. The 15 team has a strong program for the intermediate tracks.  I’ve learned a lot at the races that I’ve done with them.  Hopefully we’ll pick up where we left off and have another good run.

“I’ve really enjoyed racing in the Truck Series. The competition is some of the best in the world.  The races are so exciting. It’s non-stop action from the green flag.  The fans are so passionate. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of and I’m really looking forward to Las Vegas.”

Billy Ballew on Piquet’s Return:

“We’re excited to have Nelson (Piquet Jr.) back in our truck. He’s done a tremendous job in the previous races he’s driven for us. He’s come a long way and continues to get better with each race. He’s shown a knack for the mile-and-a-half tracks and I think he’ll have another good showing this week in Las Vegas.”

Back Where it All Began for Billy Ballew Motorsports

Almirola Looking for Victory at Site of First Win

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 20, 2010) – It is always like a homecoming for Billy Ballew Motorsports when traveling to the 1.5-mile Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway.  It is there where the two-truck team organization recorded its first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) win in 2004. The stable has made 18 additional trips to victory lane since that fateful day. 

Aric Almirola, driver of the No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra, hopes to make it win number 20 when the team returns to LVMS this week to conquer the Smith’s Food & Drug Stores 350.

Almirola has never finished outside the top-10 in NCWTS competition at LVMS. In his two NCWTS starts, Almirola finished 10^th in 2006 and finished eighth in 2009.  He enters this weekend riding a streak of seven consecutive top-10 finishes this season.  The team sits second in championship points.

Comments from Aric Almirola Heading into Las Vegas:

“I think the most fun thing about Las Vegas is obviously not the track, but the extracurricular activities (laughing). Nonetheless, the track is a lot of fun to race on.  It’s really fast, has a lot of grip and it is pretty rough making you able to pass.  You can move around too and run the top or the middle. Some people run the bottom, but it just depends on how you are handling.

“The track allowed us put on a great race last year.  We got a top-10 result and I’m optimistic that we can beat that this year.  I’m looking forward to going back there with some of the notes from last season to apply to the Graceway Pharmaceuticals Tundra.  We’re really looking for wins.   

“It feels like I’ve run a lot better than the finishes show.  The team has had success there and has history there too.  It’s a special place for Billy (Ballew) and the guys. We want to get back in victory lane there. 

“Off the track, when it comes to the casinos, I’ve had some good years where I’ve won some money.  I’ve had some bad ones, too. I hate losing money so I don’t gamble a lot. I’d rather have the money in my pocket than pay the city’s electric bill for the month. I try not to get too carried away, but I do like to go out and have some fun and maybe catch a show as well.”

Loudon, N.H. (September 18, 2010) – It was a long day for Aric Almirola and the No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota team Saturday.  The team, competing in the RaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway, had to overcome both brake and handling issues during the race.  The good news, the team still scored an eighth-place finish.  It’s the team’s seventh consecutive top-10 finish.  The Billy Ballew Motorsports team also remains solidly second in the championship points standings.

Almirola lined up on the outside of the third row for the 175-lap affair Saturday afternoon.  After having a strong practice session on Friday and a fast qualifying lap, the team had high hopes for the race.  A caution came out early on Lap One, but once the field went green for consecutive laps Almirola settled into 10^th.  The truck was very “loose” getting into the turns and “tight” coming out.  Almirola fought that condition as the race went green from Lap 18 to Lap 60 before the second caution waved allowing them to come down pit road.

The team made air pressure adjustments on their first stop as the Graceway Toyota gained track position on pit road. A series of cautions slowed the field on laps 70, 79 and again on Lap 84.  The team had climbed to fifth during those cautions and started another long stretch of green laps on Lap 92.  Almirola was still “loose” entering the turns, but only fell back to seventh.

The sixth caution came on Lap 127 allowing the team to make their final pit stop and adjust on the truck one last time.  Almirola came down pit road and quickly found that he had lost his brakes.  He slid through his stall and the team immediately started to diagnose the problem.  Almirola radioed that he had lost his brakes.  The team had to pit twice under the caution to fix a problem with the right-front brake.  It forced Almirola to restart 15^th with only 35 laps left in the race.

Almirola was able to pick off slower trucks, and a caution on Lap 158 helped him close the gap on the top 10.  On the restart, Almirola was able to get back into the top-10 and on a final restart Almirola passed to finish eighth.  It was a strong comeback picking up seven positions late in the race.  The team beat Todd Bodine by one spot and barely missed out beating Johnny Sauter by one position.

“Well, we just didn’t have a good day after having some high hopes,” Almirola said.  “We’ll come back to the shop and figure out what happened with the brakes.  That really cost us because I think we may have had something for those guys near the end. We were fifth going into that last pit stop, but that’s when our problems with the brakes started.

“I’m proud of the guys on this Graceway Toyota for staying with it and fighting back at the end.  We were able to get back into the top 10 and beat some really tough teams.  It’s just a disappointing finish because we were a lot better yesterday.  We felt good about contending for a win, but at least we stayed focused for another top 10 result.”

The team will now prepare for a trip west.  The next race is the Smith’s Food and Drug Stores 350 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.  It is scheduled to be televised live on SPEED Channel beginning at 9:00 p.m. local time.

Almirola Aims to Return 51 Truck to Victory Lane at NHMS

Six Consecutive Top-10 Finishes Keep Team in Hunt for Championship

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (September 13, 2010) – The No. 51 Zyclara by Graceway Pharmaceuticals team anxiously await Saturday’s  TheRaceDayRaffleSeries.com 175 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS).  That is because, last season, Kyle Busch drove the Billy Ballew Motorsports-fielded Tundra to victory at NHMS.  This year, driver Aric Almirola hopes to repeat the performance and give the team its third win of the 2010 Camping Word Truck Series campaign.

At tracks one mile in length or less in 2010, Almirola has scored three top-10 finishes in five starts, including a win at Dover International Speedway and a second-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway.  He has several starts at New Hampshire including a top-10 in the Camping World Truck Series and a pair of top-25 finishes in the Sprint Cup Series.

Almirola has scored six straight top-10 finishes in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition, four of which were top-five finishes. He is currently second in the championship standings, 261 points behind leader Todd Bodine.

Almirola Comments on New Hampshire:

“I love going to Loudon.  New Hampshire Motor Speedway is so much fun to race at. It’s really tough to get your truck to handle well there because the corners are so flat and so long. I think you spend more time in the corners than you do in the straightaways.

“We’ve got a really good baseline and package for New Hampshire. We just did some testing to prepare for the race.  It was a really good test session, so I’m really looking forward to the event.  I think we’ll have a good run there.  We tested at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia and learned a lot there.  We all feel good heading to the track.

“We’re second in the points now. Todd (Bodine)’s built up a good lead, but that doesn’t change our game plan. We’ve got to go and keep trying to win races every single weekend.  We can’t ride around and hope to get good finishes. We’ve got to win.  That’s how you get the most points. Our focus every single weekend is to do everything in our power to win races.   

“There are so many good trucks in the Camping World Truck Series garage that you can never go into a defensive mode in the points hunt.  If you try and protect your position in the standings by riding around in the top-10, you’ll fall in the standings. It’s just too competitive. There are so many good teams that show up each week.  There’s no other way around it.  You have to compete for wins if you want to catch the drivers ahead of you, and to keep the guys behind you from passing you by. That’s the only way to compete in the championship standings.”