Nelson Piquet Jr has definately ruined his reputation for good in the glamorous world of Formula One so a comeback to Formula One is very nearly impossible. But while his co-conspirator and boss Flavio Briatore will never again be able to come back to any FIA sanctioned race and Pat Symonds must see out his five-year ban, Piquet Jr walked away scott-free as part of the whistle-blower deal brokered with the FIA.
While crashing in Formula One is taken very seriously, especially if it is done on purpose, it is not that big of a deal in America as stock cars crash all the time, it’s just part of the spectacle. So while Piquet Jr may never race in Formula One again, he may – like Juan Pablo Montoya, Jacques Villeneuve and Scott Speed, just to name a few – try his hand at stock car racing. Well, stock truck racing to be more specific.
According to new reports, Piquet is scheduled to test a Toyota Tundra race truck fielded by the Red Horse team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series over the next couple of weeks. The report, originating from Brazil’s Globo television, further suggests that Piquet has a strategy in place to spend one year in trucks and another year in the second-tier Nationwide Series before graduating to the top-tier Sprint Cup in 2012. The question is, how will American racing drivers – and just as importantly, American racing fans – greet the embattled grand prix driver? We can only wait and see.
