Piquet fired up for ARCA debut - Autosport

[Wanta996Gotta]

Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet says he 'cannot wait' for his American stock car racing debut in the Daytona ARCA race on 6 February.

The Brazilian confirmed today that he had secured a deal with Eddie Sharp Racing - which took Justin Lofton to the 2009 ARCA title - to race in the season-opener, as revealed by AUTOSPORT earlier this month.

"I'm very excited," said Piquet. "I can't wait to reach 200mph side-by-side and rubbing paint. The plans for the season are coming together really well and I am racing with a very strong team. I can't wait to get out on track."

Team boss Eddie Sharp is confident Piquet can go a good job for the team in his debut.

"We are excited to have Nelson driving for us in Daytona this year," Sharp said. "He will represent ESR well, and we believe he will gain some good learning miles in a stock car, especially racing at Daytona."

Piquet's first stock car race will come in South Africa this weekend, when he contests the Free State 500 at Phakisa.

[PabloTeK]

Surely an F1 driver (even one as iffy as Nelsinho) should be able to get a drive in the Camping World series or Sprint Cup? Seems unusual he'd end up in ARCA though after testing in NASCAR. Maybe no-one wants their expensive COT's or trucks plowing into the SAFER at 200mph...