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No. 7 STEMCO / Duroline Toyota Tundra (Miguel Paludo) - Photo Credit: Chris Graythen / Getty Images for NASCAR

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: This Tuesday, July 26th, Miguel Paludo will celebrate his 28th birthday. The soon-to-be first time father will spend his day with friends and family. One thing that is certain: a trip to Rita’s ice cream shop in Mooresville, North Carolina, one of Paludo’s favorite sweet treats to commemorate the day.

EXPERIENCE FROM ABOVE: This weekend’s event at Lucas Oil Raceway will mark Paludo’s first laps around the 0.686-mile speedway. Luckily for Paludo, he will have experience in his ear guiding him. Spotter and Red Horse Racing General Manager Terry Cook is a former winner at Lucas Oil Raceway. Cook scored his fifth career Truck Series win at Lucas Oil raceway in 2002. Cook joined Red Horse Racing at the end of 2010.

SHORT-TRACK ACE: Paludo heads into Lucas Oil Raceway with an average finish of 13.0 at short-track races in 2011.

COUNTDOWN: Paludo and his wife Patricia are counting down the days until they become first time parents. The Paludo’s are expecting their first child Oliver anytime now. Patricia’s official due date is August 29th.

MOST POPULAR DRIVER VOTING: The voting is now open to cast your ballot for this year’s most popular NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver. Fans can visit www.nascar.com in order to cast your vote for this year’s winner.Fans can vote once per day every day for their favorite driver.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 7 team will unload chassis No. 132 this week at Lucas Oil Raceway. This will be the first on-track appearance for chassis No. 132 this season.

PREVIOUS RACE RECAP: Last week at Nashville Superspeedway, Paludo and the No. 7 team brought home a 14th-place finish. With the run Paludo gained 13 positions from the No. 7 team’s finish at Nashville Superspeedway in Apirl.

Miguel Paludo

You have been very successful at short-track racing thus far in 2011. What do you like most about it?

“I like the speed. The tracks are very fast. I like that you can run your own line and that you have to outsmart your competitors. Sometimes at short-tracks the fastest truck doesn’t win, but the smartest driver does. The one who takes care of their equipment the best wins the race.”

What are your plans to celebrate your birthday? Do you have any family traditions?

“My family and I are going to go to the zoo. My mother is going to make my favorite meal from Brazil then we are going to go out on the lake. I have a new boat that we have not used yet. We are going to spend the night on the boat. I’m a pretty simple guy. I really don’t care for huge parties with a lot of people. Something simple and quite with family is what I prefer.”

Red Horse Racing (RHR)

Founded in 2005 by former Mobil Corporation executive Tom DeLoach and NASCAR veteran Jeff Hammond, Red Horse Racing aims to be a professional racing team that strives for excellence on and off the race track. Red Horse Racing hopes to build and maintain solid, mutual relationships with its partners to win races and championships and to represent itself in a professional manner. The team has four victories and five poles in its brief existence. DeLoach and Hammond also own Performance Instruction Training (PIT), the number one pit crew training center in the world that also has many corporate training options that include team-building, lean manufacturing, motorsports demonstrations and more.

- Red Horse Racing Press Release