Piquet Perfect At Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The first appearance in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East proved to be more than productive as Nelson Piquet Jr. won the inaugural Widow Wax 125 presented by SealWrap Repair Tape from the pole Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Piquet held off a hard-charging Ryan Blaney for the victory in the season-opener for the series. Ryan Gifford finished third.
This was the first NASCAR victory for Piquet, a regular in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and first win for a Brazilian in K&N Pro Series East history.
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Nelson Piquet Jr. |
| 2 | Ryan Blaney |
| 3 | Ryan Gifford |
| 4 | Andrew Smith |
| 5 | Derek Ramstrom |
Driving for X Team Racing, the native of Brasilia, Brazil was the fastest across a pair of practice sessions on Friday and led the first 35 laps Saturday evening at the “World’s Fastest Half Mile” following his Coors Light Pole-winning run. Piquet inherited the lead from Corey LaJoie – who cut a tire – on Lap 101 and had to come to pit road.
Andrew Smith was fourth, followed by Derek Ramstrom, Ben Kennedy, Chad Finchum, Michael McGuire, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott.
Action sports star Travis Pastrana finished 12th while LaJoie ended up two laps down in 22nd following his late-race misfortune.
The K&N Pro Series East will return to action on March 31 at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway
