Catchfence

Mooresville, N.C. (08-02-2010) – Brazilian racer Miguel Paludo was expecting quite a rough battle at Lee USA Speedway. The 125-lap race turned out to be exactly that. Paludo put the No. 77 Stemco Duroline Camry into the top-ten during the race, and after many bumps, bangs and a couple spins, the Porsche GT3 Champion brought his Toyota Camry home in 11th place.

“Lee USA Speedway was a very exciting race for our team. Short track racing is very intense. When the race began, we were running between 11th and 13th. There was a crash in front of us and I banged up the front of our Stemco Duroline Camry by hitting the car in front of me. The whole race was like that. I would gain a few positions, then get hit from behind or bump into something. It was a tough race, but it was very fun and I’m happy we were able to finish 11th in our Hattori Racing Enterprises car,” said Paludo.

Leading into the racing action at Lee, Paludo and his team, led by crew chief Jeff McClure, had two strong practice sessions and a solid qualifying effort earning 13th-place on the starting grid.

“We were very good in practice with old tires. We stayed in the top ten for most of the first practice, and we worked with old tires because we knew the length of the race would not allow us to change tires. We qualified thirteenth, which was good because I could be on the inside line at the start of the race,” said Paludo.

Team owner Shigeaki Hattori said the race was very exciting and felt his team and driver handled the challenge of the 3/8-mile short track very well.

“This race track was very tough. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East starts fewer race cars at Lee than at other race tracks because it is such a short track. There were many, many laps with race cars competing side-by-side. Miguel and Jeff did a really good job figuring out how to setup the Stemco Duroline Camry for the race and they ran competitively in the top-ten. It was a great race for the HRE team, and a good opportunity for Miguel to continue to develop his oval-track skills,” said Hattori, a former NASCAR and IndyCar racer who has built HRE as a team to showcase up and coming driving talent in highly competitive racing equipment.

Looking ahead, Paludo is anxious to get to Gresham.

“I’m confident in our team and I am looking forward to better results at Gresham. Racing in the traffic at Lee, doing the restarts, it is very good preparation for Gresham,” said Paludo. “The guys have worked very hard on our Stemco Duroline Camry. We are all very excited to race at Gresham on August 28th.”

Watch Paludo’s race at Lee USA Speedway on Thursday, August 5th, at 6:00 PM Eastern on SPEED.

The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East races next at Gresham Motorsports Park on August 28th.

Keep up to date on Paludo by visiting www.MiguelPaludo.com.

For more information on Hattori Racing Enterprises, visit www.HRE.US.com.

- Hattori Racing Enterprises / Germain Racing Press Release