Monday
Miguel Paludo Shows Patience In Earning A Career-Best Fourth Place Finish At Daytona
Press Release“Paludo starts bid for truck series’ rookie-of-the-year on terrific note”
Paciencia means “patience,” and Paludo displayed plenty of it in his fourth-place finish, the best so far of his young career.
“I remembered that right after the race,” Paludo, 27, said. “During drivers introductions, I talked to Timothy, and he said, ‘Man, don’t do anything until lap 50. Don’t do anything.’ Everybody I talked to said the same thing: Be on the yellow line all race long. I knew I had to be patient. That’s why I thought patience would be the word for Daytona.
“I know I’ll have to use patience at all the races, but especially there. I think I did all right, waiting for the last moment.”
Though he believed he could finish in the top 10, Paludo said his true goal for Daytona was a top-five finish. And after racing hard for 200 miles, he got one.
“Right after the second big (crash), I was watching the replay on the big screen,” Paludo said of the red-flag session on lap 97. “I was thinking, ‘Man, we’ve got a shot to win this thing.’ Imagine, first race of the season, Daytona, and I have a shot to win. It was like a movie.
“When I saw (Michael) Waltrip and Elliott (Sadler) in front of me, I thought, ‘It will be tough. They are so good at drafting.’
“Fourth place was like a victory to me because I knew those guys knew what they were doing, and I was learning against the best guys.”
Paludo qualified 14th in the No. 7 STEMCO-Duroline Toyota Tundra after spending time around the famed 2.5-mile track in qualifying and race trim during practice.
Once the race started, however, Paludo wanted to hug the yellow line on the race track, find teammate Timothy Peters and learn all he could about the draft.
“I learned a lot,” Paludo said. “I learned how to draft on the last lap. I can tell you I know how to do it 100 percent, because I did it. I saw what Michael did, and now I have a better idea of what to do. If you asked me 10 days ago about drafting, I could tell you five words. Now I can tell you 50 words.”
Paludo drafted into the top 10 on the first lap and tried to stayed glued to the bottom of the race track as often as he could. Working with spotter Terry Cook and crew chief Rick Gay, Paludo guided the No. 7 truck deftly throughout the race.
Daytona was repaved in the off-season, and the new tire Goodyear brought worked well. Paludo’s first pit stop was for fuel only, and Gay ordered only one right-side tire change during the race.
On lap 75, Paludo barely missed a truck in front of him as it shot toward the wall with a flat tire on the backstretch. Paludo moved up to sixth at that point, with teammate Peters drafting behind him.
Paludo slipped back to 10th before the next caution before working his way back up to seventh when the yellow waved again on lap 98. That’s when Paludo and Peters both snaked their way through a crash that involved 10 competitors along the tri-oval.
“For me, I don’t remember which truck was, but he was sideways in front of me,” Paludo said. “My only choice was inside lane. So I pushed inside and braked a little bit. As I said, I got lucky because I didn’t hit anything. I was watching the replay later. I couldn’t believe it.”
It was under that yellow and red flag that Paludo saw the replay as he sat in the truck on the backstretch. He was scored in third place at the time, behind Sprint Cup veterans Sadler and Waltrip.
But on the restart, Waltrip shoved Sadler ahead of the pack, leaving Paludo to try to fend off others. Waltrip made a last-lap pass for the win, while Paludo held on to fourth place.
Still, it was a solid start to the 2011 season for the Brazilian.
“I think we started building respect,” Paludo said. “Maybe some people knew me because we got a couple top-10s last year. But I know that right after Daytona, they saw I can run with those guys, we are competitive and we are here to win races and get respect. I think we did everything right, and those guys are going to see me in a different light at Phoenix.”
- Red Horse Racing Press Release
Article Tags: Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip, Miguel Paludo, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, NCWTS, NextEra Energy Resources 250, No.7 STEMCO-Duroline Toyota Tundra, Red Horse Racing, RHR, Rick Gay, Terry Cook, Timothy Peters
