Catchfence

MARTINSVILLE, Va. (April 2, 2011) — One of three foreign born drivers in the field for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, Brazilian, Miguel Paludo survived the paper-clipped shape short-track to finish in the 12th position.

“It was a really crazy race,” Paludo said after the race. “We didn’t have a great qualifying spot, but we tried to just stay out of trouble all day. We were running really well at the end of the race, but we had to come to pit road for fuel. I had a lot of fun learning today and I’m really happy with the finish we got. I want to thank my team for all their hard work.”

Paludo started the 250-lap event from the 27th starting position, but slowly began to work his way up through the field at Martinsville Speedway. The first caution of the day waved on lap 18 for an accident in turn three. Paludo and the No. 7 team decided to come to pit road for tires, fuel and to make a chassis adjustment to their Toyota Tundra. By the second caution on lap 44, Paludo had moved his way up into the top-20 taking the restart on lap 49 from the 18th position.

Paludo continued to gain forward progress, when on lap 56 a fellow competitor became extremely loose immediately in front of the No. 7 truck. Paludo made a veteran move to avoid the spinning truck and was able to break into the top-10 with the maneuver. The driver continued to run in the top 10 when the fourth caution of the day waved on lap 73. Many of the leaders came to pit road handing Paludo the top spot for the first time in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career. The No. 7 truck held the lead for five laps earning a valuable bonus point.

The No. 7 truck took the restart on lap 77 as the leader but was quickly over taken by the competition that had fresh tires, however Paludo continued to race within the top 10 until the sixth caution of the afternoon waved on lap 110. Crew chief Rick Gay opted to bring the No. 7 truck down pit road for a scheduled pit stop. Paludo restarted from the 15th position for the restart on lap 115. The Truck Series rookie continued to work his way back toward the lead position returning to the top 10 on lap 142. Paludo continued to mix it up with the race leaders taking over the third position on lap 165.

As the ninth caution of the race waved on lap 176, Paludo followed the race leaders to pit road giving up the third running position to make his final pit stop of the 250-lap event. With only 69 laps remaining the driver of the No. 7 truck was scored in the 14th position. Paludo was hit late in the race by another competitor pushing his truck into the outside lane, collecting trash on his tires. It took a few laps to recover from getting in the marbles, but Paludo was able to hang on and earn his second top-15 finish of 2011 ending the Kroger 250 in the 12th position. The strong run by the Rookie of the Year contender moved Paludo into the top-10 in the Truck Series championship point standings. The No. 7 team is now 10th only 41 markers out of the top spot.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will head to Nashville Superspeedway for the Bully Hill Vineyards 200 on Friday April 22 at ¬8:00 pm, EST on SPEED.

- Red Horse Racing Press Release