Drivers praise new Daytona surface

Sprint Cup series drivers have given their thumbs-up to the new surface at Daytona International Speedway, following the first test since the repaving of the track was completed.

Eighteen teams took to the track during Wednesday and Thursday in a Goodyear tyre test, putting down rubber for the first time on the new dark pavement following the first resurfacing since 1978 and only the second in the track's history.

Driver's consensus was positive on the end result, the track becoming smoother, losing some of its previous bumps and roughness while also gaining a lot of grip. This year's Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray said the new pavement has made the track easier to drive and he also praised Goodyear's job with their tyre selection.

"The amount of steering wheel input required now versus what we had here six months ago is maybe half," said the Earnhardt Ganassi driver. "You're not really having to turn the steering wheel because the car has so much grip.

"We joked around before getting on the track that the tyres were just going to be screaming hot. We made our first 15-lap run. When I saw the tyre sheet, I didn't believe the tyres were so cool, maybe close to 75 degrees less than what we expected. So I don't think you're going to see tyres be an issue."

Veteran Jeff Burton said he expects the new surface to turn Daytona races into more Talladega-like events, having tested in the draft during the two days of running. He also reckons that the chances of seeing more incidents will increase as due to the smoother surface drivers are less afraid of running closer to each other in the draft.

"Everybody is happy with the surface," said the Richard Childress racer. "The tyre combination seems to be really good. It's going to be a Talladega style race for sure versus what we've seen at Daytona. I think it's going to be an exciting Daytona 500. You're going to have to change your mindset a little bit about how to do the Daytona thing. I think it's gone really well.

"...We're, what, 196, 197 (mph), in that range? Pretty consistent. But we're doing it with a smaller restrictor plate than we had here. So it's just going to be doing the same speed, but you're doing it in a completely different way. You don't even think about having to lift unless you're trying to keep from wrecking. In the past it was quite a bit of throttle control to keep your car going around the racetrack.

"Same speed, but basically it's governed by the restrictor plate."

Teams also ran with the new 2011 nose specification, which sees a different shape for the splitter, getting rid of the metal braces used to support the previously flat surface at the bottom of the front bumper.

A few teams also ran with the new E15 fuel with positive results. A 15/16th's of an inch restrictor was used for the two days of running, which is the same ran at Talladega last fall, while slightly smaller than what was used at Daytona last summer.

"So far, so good. I mean, the plan has come together," said NASCAR's vice president for competition Robin Pemberton. "It's something we've all been working on for not just the paving of five months, but it's been a year of getting our thoughts together.

"We knew we had some updates to the car coming. We have fuel. We have better horsepower now because of the E15.

"There's a lot of things that went into it, along with the tyres and the paving process and everything."

Testing went almost without incident as on Wednesday Roush Fenway's David Ragan and RCR's newly-signed Paul Menard made contact in the tri-oval section.

Teams will return to Daytona for pre-season testing on January 21st and 22nd.

Drivers praise new Daytona surface

Speed released by Red Bull

Scott Speed has been released by Red Bull, leaving the Californian out of a ride in the Sprint Cup series for 2011.

According to Speed's twitter feed, he got a termination letter from Red Bull last week, which he claimed to be "not huge surprise".

He recently completed his second full season at NASCAR's top level, starting his year well and ranking as high as 11th in the points while also leading laps in the first three races.

Later he qualified on the front row at Phoenix but only until July in the series' second visit to Daytona he got his first top-ten finish of the year, crossing the line in tenth place.

After that though, 19th-place finishes at Kansas and Charlotte where his best, dropping to 30th place in the championship by season's end.

The 27-year-old, who became the leading driver for Red Bull's Driver Search in the US back in 2002, will no longer be part of the brand's roster of drivers.

Following success in the junior formulae in Europe, Speed was able to reach Formula 1, first as a test driver for Red Bull, then getting a race seat with Scuderia Toro Rosso on the team's debut season in 2006.

Halfway through his second season, he parted ways with Toro Rosso and landed in the US where he switched to stock car racing, making his debut in the ARCA Series at Talladega in 2007.

He followed that with a part-season in the Truck Series in 2008, where he won at Dover in only his sixth race, while he also claimed four wins in ARCA, all of them on oval tracks.

After making his Sprint Cup debut at Martinsville in 2008 and qualifying on the front row for the season-finale at Homestead, he went on to compete full-time in 2009, scoring a best finish of fifth at Talladega, while failing to qualify three times during the year, notably at the Sears Point road course.

Red Bull Racing team has already announced Kasey Kahne as one of its drivers for 2011, while Brian Vickers is expected to return behind the wheel of the outfit's second entry, following treatment for blood clots he was diagnosed last May, which had sidelined him for the rest of the year.

Kahne to finish 2010 with Red BullNadal set for Mallorca role

Hamlin vows to improve for 2011

NASCAR Sprint Cup runner-up Denny Hamlin believes the 2010 season brought massive improvement to his team, but believes there's plenty of areas where he still has to maximise his potential as he looks forward to challenging for the title again next year.

Hamlin led the championship entering the final race of the season, but an early incident with Roush Fenway's Greg Biffle proved pivotal to his title hopes. Despite recovering later in the race, he was unable to prevent Jimmie Johnson from claiming a fifth consecutive series title.

Leaving aside the disappointment of losing a possible first NASCAR title, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver believes his team made huge strides during the 2010 season.

"I got better as a driver, but we got better overall as a team," said Hamlin. "For me, all I can ask is to show up at a race track any given day and feel like I can win a race, and this year I did that at every track I went to. The flip side of it is to have a championship slip away so close."

The 30-year-old believes his ability and speed to be on a par with Johnson, and reckons that mainly circumstances played into the final outcome of the title battle. At Phoenix, the penultimate race of the season, he seemed on course to his ninth with of the season before fuel strategy became a factor and hampered his chances of arriving at the season finale with a safer points cushion to Johnson.

"I don't feel like we got out-driven," Hamlin said. "I don't feel like Jimmie was just a better driver and that's how he won the championship. The strategy kept us from winning the championship. I did the best that I could, and that's all I could do.

"Phoenix is his best race track and we dominated it until we had to pit. For me, we did a really great job of stepping up to the plate. It's just, unfortunately, our ball hooked foul instead of going fair for a home run in the end."

Hamlin says qualifying and short runs are two areas he has improve looking ahead to 2011, while he also sees plenty of room for improvement within his team on the technical side. As he looks back on his season he says his group can feel proud of what they achieved in their fifth full season together.

"There are several parts of our car and parts of our team that we can improve on, and that's a good thing because of how competitive we are right now," said Hamlin. "I know I need to get better in qualifying. I said that last year at this time. There's lots of things that I could do to be better and there's lots of things we can do as a team to be better. So my focus is what I need to do to execute all of those things.

"I've got to work on my outright speed on the short gos, on restarts," Hamlin said. "Those are the things that I've got to get better at and as a team I'll debrief with them and tell them the things that I feel like our cars need to be better at in the future. I can assure you we're going to hang our heads high because we came close this year. We had a great year - it was just a little short at the end."

Next year Hamlin will return behind the wheel of the #11 JGR Toyota Camry joinning Kyle Busch and Joey Logano in the youngest team line-up in the NASCAR Cup field.

Hamlin aims to rebound at FontanaDi Maria clinches Real deal

Piquet to race for Harvick in Trucks

Nelson Piquet Jr will race full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for former champion team Kevin Harvick Inc in 2011, the Brazilian announced on Monday.

As AUTOSPORT predicted earlier today, Piquet will enter his first full season of racing next year since leaving Formula 1, pushing ahead with his stock car career in the United States after competing in three different series last year and achieving positive results.

Piquet announced that he will drive a Chevrolet Silverado for two-time series champion KHI, a team owned by Sprint Cup series star Kevin Harvick. He is set to enter the 25 points events of 2011, starting the season as a rookie of the year candidate on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway.

KHI won the 2007 and 2009 Truck Series titles with veteran Ron Hornaday at the wheel. Last season the outfit, which fielded two full-time entries, claimed seven victories with four different drivers including three wins from team-owner Harvick. The team also fields a car in the Nationwide Series, where Harvick drove to three victories in 2010.

"It's a great opportunity to be able to race for Kevin Harvick," Piquet said during a press conference on Monday afternoon in Sao Paulo. "I want to become the first Brazilian to do a competitive season in NASCAR. I think it's important to open that door for Brazilians in the United States... It's going to be an interesting season next year.

"I'm looking forward to the first race already. In 2010 I had the opportunity to do some Truck races and I became really passionate for the series. I'm glad to be able to do a full season again in this new chapter of my career in the United States."

Piquet competed in five truck series races in 2010, scoring a sixth-place finish on his debut at Daytona. He also scored top-10 finishes in the ARCA RE/MAX and Nationwide Series, where he drove a few races while finding his feet in stock car racing.

The 25-year-old hopes to take his time to go through the NASCAR rankings in the next few years and eventually reach the Sprint Cup series with the aim of being competitive at the top level.

"I don't know how it will unfold," said Piquet about the NASCAR career that lies ahead of him. "This is a long-term plan. Our idea is to remain in Trucks for two years and after than, depending on my performance, we would move up to Nationwide and then to Cup. But my goal is to get there very well prepared, with a good team that gives me the chance to fight for victories."

Miguel Paludo, who ran four truck races in 2010, will make it two Brazilians competing full-time in the Truck Series in 2011.

Piquet to race for Harvick in TrucksNadal set for Mallorca role

Drivers praise new Daytona surface

Sprint Cup series drivers have given their thumbs-up to the new surface at Daytona International Speedway, following the first test since the repaving of the track was completed.

Eighteen teams took to the track during Wednesday and Thursday in a Goodyear tyre test, putting down rubber for the first time on the new dark pavement following the first resurfacing since 1978 and only the second in the track's history.

Driver's consensus was positive on the end result, the track becoming smoother, losing some of its previous bumps and roughness while also gaining a lot of grip. This year's Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray said the new pavement has made the track easier to drive and he also praised Goodyear's job with their tyre selection.

"The amount of steering wheel input required now versus what we had here six months ago is maybe half," said the Earnhardt Ganassi driver. "You're not really having to turn the steering wheel because the car has so much grip.

"We joked around before getting on the track that the tyres were just going to be screaming hot. We made our first 15-lap run. When I saw the tyre sheet, I didn't believe the tyres were so cool, maybe close to 75 degrees less than what we expected. So I don't think you're going to see tyres be an issue."

Veteran Jeff Burton said he expects the new surface to turn Daytona races into more Talladega-like events, having tested in the draft during the two days of running. He also reckons that the chances of seeing more incidents will increase as due to the smoother surface drivers are less afraid of running closer to each other in the draft.

"Everybody is happy with the surface," said the Richard Childress racer. "The tyre combination seems to be really good. It's going to be a Talladega style race for sure versus what we've seen at Daytona. I think it's going to be an exciting Daytona 500. You're going to have to change your mindset a little bit about how to do the Daytona thing. I think it's gone really well.

"...We're, what, 196, 197 (mph), in that range? Pretty consistent. But we're doing it with a smaller restrictor plate than we had here. So it's just going to be doing the same speed, but you're doing it in a completely different way. You don't even think about having to lift unless you're trying to keep from wrecking. In the past it was quite a bit of throttle control to keep your car going around the racetrack.

"Same speed, but basically it's governed by the restrictor plate."

Teams also ran with the new 2011 nose specification, which sees a different shape for the splitter, getting rid of the metal braces used to support the previously flat surface at the bottom of the front bumper.

A few teams also ran with the new E15 fuel with positive results. A 15/16th's of an inch restrictor was used for the two days of running, which is the same ran at Talladega last fall, while slightly smaller than what was used at Daytona last summer.

"So far, so good. I mean, the plan has come together," said NASCAR's vice president for competition Robin Pemberton. "It's something we've all been working on for not just the paving of five months, but it's been a year of getting our thoughts together.

"We knew we had some updates to the car coming. We have fuel. We have better horsepower now because of the E15.

"There's a lot of things that went into it, along with the tyres and the paving process and everything."

Testing went almost without incident as on Wednesday Roush Fenway's David Ragan and RCR's newly-signed Paul Menard made contact in the tri-oval section.

Teams will return to Daytona for pre-season testing on January 21st and 22nd.

Drivers praise new Daytona surface

Piquet set for full season in Trucks

Nelson Piquet Jr is set to announce a full assault on the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series today, as he continues to move forward with his stock car racing career in the United States.

AUTOSPORT has learned that the Brazilian will compete full-time in NASCAR next year after taking part in a number of outings this season in the Nationwide, ARCA and Truck Series.

Piquet competed in five Truck series events during the year, kicking off with an impressive performance on his debut at Daytona in February where he finished sixth driving for Red Horse Racing. He did four further outings, scoring two more top-10 finishes at Texas and Michigan, while racing a Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports.

In the ARCA series he made his stock car debut in February at Daytona but his highlight came at Texas where he finished ninth after starting from pole position, racing a Toyota Camry for series frontrunner Eddie Sharp Racing.

In August Piquet raced in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series for the first time, making good use of his road-course experience at Watkins Glen to claim a seventh-place finish at the wheel of a Ford Fusion from Baker Curb Racing.

Piquet will be one of two Brazilians competing in the series next year as his countryman Miguel Paludo, a former Porsche GT3 champion in Brazil, will be driving for Red Horse Racing.

Italian Max Papis, who ran a partial season this year, will also race full-time in trucks in 2011 for Germain Racing, while Indian Narain Karthikeyan is also expected to return after starting nine races this year for Starbeast Motorsports, taking an 11th-place finish at Texas as his best result.

The limited number of outings Piquet did this year in the Trucks will allow him to remain eligible for Rookie of the Year honours in 2011.

In recent years former Formula 1 racers Scott Speed and Jacques Villeneuve have used the Truck series as a stepping stone into NASCAR, Speed actually winning at Dover in his debut year.

Piquet will announce on Monday the team he will be competing for in 2011. His management has held talks with several outfits over the past few months, including some affiliated to well-established Sprint Cup squads.

Piquet set for full season in TrucksNadal set for Mallorca role

Piquet to race for Harvick in Trucks

Nelson Piquet Jr will race full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for former champion team Kevin Harvick Inc in 2011, the Brazilian announced on Monday.

As AUTOSPORT predicted earlier today, Piquet will enter his first full season of racing next year since leaving Formula 1, pushing ahead with his stock car career in the United States after competing in three different series last year and achieving positive results.

Piquet announced that he will drive a Chevrolet Silverado for two-time series champion KHI, a team owned by Sprint Cup series star Kevin Harvick. He is set to enter the 25 points events of 2011, starting the season as a rookie of the year candidate on February 18 at Daytona International Speedway.

KHI won the 2007 and 2009 Truck Series titles with veteran Ron Hornaday at the wheel. Last season the outfit, which fielded two full-time entries, claimed seven victories with four different drivers including three wins from team-owner Harvick. The team also fields a car in the Nationwide Series, where Harvick drove to three victories in 2010.

"It's a great opportunity to be able to race for Kevin Harvick," Piquet said during a press conference on Monday afternoon in Sao Paulo. "I want to become the first Brazilian to do a competitive season in NASCAR. I think it's important to open that door for Brazilians in the United States... It's going to be an interesting season next year.

"I'm looking forward to the first race already. In 2010 I had the opportunity to do some Truck races and I became really passionate for the series. I'm glad to be able to do a full season again in this new chapter of my career in the United States."

Piquet competed in five truck series races in 2010, scoring a sixth-place finish on his debut at Daytona. He also scored top-10 finishes in the ARCA RE/MAX and Nationwide Series, where he drove a few races while finding his feet in stock car racing.

The 25-year-old hopes to take his time to go through the NASCAR rankings in the next few years and eventually reach the Sprint Cup series with the aim of being competitive at the top level.

"I don't know how it will unfold," said Piquet about the NASCAR career that lies ahead of him. "This is a long-term plan. Our idea is to remain in Trucks for two years and after than, depending on my performance, we would move up to Nationwide and then to Cup. But my goal is to get there very well prepared, with a good team that gives me the chance to fight for victories."

Miguel Paludo, who ran four truck races in 2010, will make it two Brazilians competing full-time in the Truck Series in 2011.

Piquet set for full season in TrucksNadal set for Mallorca role

Piquet set for full season in Trucks

Nelson Piquet Jr is set to announce a full assault on the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series today, as he continues to move forward with his stock car racing career in the United States.

AUTOSPORT has learned that the Brazilian will compete full-time in NASCAR next year after taking part in a number of outings this season in the Nationwide, ARCA and Truck Series.

Piquet competed in five Truck series events during the year, kicking off with an impressive performance on his debut at Daytona in February where he finished sixth driving for Red Horse Racing. He did four further outings, scoring two more top-10 finishes at Texas and Michigan, while racing a Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports.

In the ARCA series he made his stock car debut in February at Daytona but his highlight came at Texas where he finished ninth after starting from pole position, racing a Toyota Camry for series frontrunner Eddie Sharp Racing.

In August Piquet raced in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series for the first time, making good use of his road-course experience at Watkins Glen to claim a seventh-place finish at the wheel of a Ford Fusion from Baker Curb Racing.

Piquet will be one of two Brazilians competing in the series next year as his countryman Miguel Paludo, a former Porsche GT3 champion in Brazil, will be driving for Red Horse Racing.

Italian Max Papis, who ran a partial season this year, will also race full-time in trucks in 2011 for Germain Racing, while Indian Narain Karthikeyan is also expected to return after starting nine races this year for Starbeast Motorsports, taking an 11th-place finish at Texas as his best result.

The limited number of outings Piquet did this year in the Trucks will allow him to remain eligible for Rookie of the Year honours in 2011.

In recent years former Formula 1 racers Scott Speed and Jacques Villeneuve have used the Truck series as a stepping stone into NASCAR, Speed actually winning at Dover in his debut year.

Piquet will announce on Monday the team he will be competing for in 2011. His management has held talks with several outfits over the past few months, including some affiliated to well-established Sprint Cup squads.

Nadal set for Mallorca rolePiquet set for full season in Trucks

Drivers praise new Daytona surface

Sprint Cup series drivers have given their thumbs-up to the new surface at Daytona International Speedway, following the first test since the repaving of the track was completed.

Eighteen teams took to the track during Wednesday and Thursday in a Goodyear tyre test, putting down rubber for the first time on the new dark pavement following the first resurfacing since 1978 and only the second in the track's history.

Driver's consensus was positive on the end result, the track becoming smoother, losing some of its previous bumps and roughness while also gaining a lot of grip. This year's Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray said the new pavement has made the track easier to drive and he also praised Goodyear's job with their tyre selection.

"The amount of steering wheel input required now versus what we had here six months ago is maybe half," said the Earnhardt Ganassi driver. "You're not really having to turn the steering wheel because the car has so much grip.

"We joked around before getting on the track that the tyres were just going to be screaming hot. We made our first 15-lap run. When I saw the tyre sheet, I didn't believe the tyres were so cool, maybe close to 75 degrees less than what we expected. So I don't think you're going to see tyres be an issue."

Veteran Jeff Burton said he expects the new surface to turn Daytona races into more Talladega-like events, having tested in the draft during the two days of running. He also reckons that the chances of seeing more incidents will increase as due to the smoother surface drivers are less afraid of running closer to each other in the draft.

"Everybody is happy with the surface," said the Richard Childress racer. "The tyre combination seems to be really good. It's going to be a Talladega style race for sure versus what we've seen at Daytona. I think it's going to be an exciting Daytona 500. You're going to have to change your mindset a little bit about how to do the Daytona thing. I think it's gone really well.

"...We're, what, 196, 197 (mph), in that range? Pretty consistent. But we're doing it with a smaller restrictor plate than we had here. So it's just going to be doing the same speed, but you're doing it in a completely different way. You don't even think about having to lift unless you're trying to keep from wrecking. In the past it was quite a bit of throttle control to keep your car going around the racetrack.

"Same speed, but basically it's governed by the restrictor plate."

Teams also ran with the new 2011 nose specification, which sees a different shape for the splitter, getting rid of the metal braces used to support the previously flat surface at the bottom of the front bumper.

A few teams also ran with the new E15 fuel with positive results. A 15/16th's of an inch restrictor was used for the two days of running, which is the same ran at Talladega last fall, while slightly smaller than what was used at Daytona last summer.

"So far, so good. I mean, the plan has come together," said NASCAR's vice president for competition Robin Pemberton. "It's something we've all been working on for not just the paving of five months, but it's been a year of getting our thoughts together.

"We knew we had some updates to the car coming. We have fuel. We have better horsepower now because of the E15.

"There's a lot of things that went into it, along with the tyres and the paving process and everything."

Testing went almost without incident as on Wednesday Roush Fenway's David Ragan and RCR's newly-signed Paul Menard made contact in the tri-oval section.

Teams will return to Daytona for pre-season testing on January 21st and 22nd.

NASCAR to use E15 fuel from 2011

Speed files lawsuit against Red Bull

Former Red Bull driver Scott Speed has filed a lawsuit for US $6.5 million against Red Bull's NASCAR team after being released from his contract last month.

The Californian, who competed in his second full season at NASCAR's top level this year, having switched from Formula 1 where he raced for Scuderia Toro Rosso until the middle of 2007, is claiming breach of contract in a suit filed this week in a North Carolina Superior Court in the United States.

Although Red Bull had initially picked up an option it had on Speed's services this year, the team's general manager Jay Frye had said back in October that there were performance clauses that Speed needed to meet in order to keep his drive, with the 27-year-old claiming at the time that he had a signed contract for 2011.

In his first full season in the Sprint Cup Series in 2009, Speed finished 35th in the drivers' standings while this year, despite a solid start that saw him break inside the top 12 in the points, he slid down to 30th in the championship by the end of the season.

Speed and Brian Vickers were both candidates for the remaining seat in the team for 2011 alongside Kasey Kahne, who will drive one of the team's Toyota Camrys before he moves on to Hendrick Motorsports in 2012.

Kahne drove the team's # 83 car in the last five races of the year, taking a sixth-place finish in the season finale at Homestead, where he started from pole position. Speed finished 23rd in that same race, his best result over the last five races of 2010.

Vickers, who has been sidelined from racing since May after being diagnosed with blood clots, will be Kahne's team-mate next season following successful treatment. Vickers gave the team its maiden and only victory in the Sprint Cup thus far by winning from pole at Michigan last year.

Speed is expected to remain in NASCAR despite not having any firm plans for 2011.

Kahne to finish 2010 with Red BullPalop commits to Sevilla

Hamlin hopes title race down to speed

Denny Hamlin hopes Sunday's Sprint Cup series season-finale doesn't turn into a fuel-saving race to victory and the title, following last week's event at Phoenix.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver currently leads the Chase by 15 points over reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, heading into the title showdown at Homestead this weekend.

Hamlin's margin to the Hendrick driver though could have been a lot healthier had his dominance transpired in the final results of last week's event at Phoenix, where he led nearly two thirds of the distance before fuel efficiency came into play and cost him a bundle of points.

Hamlin wound up finishing only 12th last week and lost out to Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, who both closed the gap on him in the driver standings as a consequence.

The 30-year-old hopes next Sunday's finale allows performance and speed to be the deciding factors rather than fuel economy tactics, as he cherishes his first real shot at NASCAR's top trophy.

"Realistically we'll probably have the worst fuel mileage of these other two guys [Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick] but we'll have to take the speed," said Hamlin. "Hopefuly things work out for us and if they don't, we'll work on our whole program next year.

"I'm in a good situation because if we go out there and do what we've done all year and perform, then it's up to them to go out there and better us. We don't have to beat one of these guys by a certain ammount of positions. We have to just stay ahead and that's it. That's not going to be an easy fit, we know that, but we have the speed to do that."

Last year Hamlin took victory in the season-finale at Homestead, which means he has won nine out of the last 36 points races, a quarter of the events held over the past 12 months in the Sprint Cup series.

He believes his record at the mile-and-a-half track, shows he's got what it takes to defend his position in the standings and claim his first Sprint Cup title on Sunday.

Hamlin has three top-five finishes in five starts at Homestead, finishing down in 33rd place on his first race at the track, while two years ago he was only 13th at the finish-line as Carl Edwards won by saving enough fuel in the last stint, just as he did last week at Phoenix.

"I think for us, it's about going out and performing like we have every Homestead race I've ever ran," said Hamlin. "The two bad finishes I do have is my very first start at Homestead in 2005. I got caught up in someone else's wreck.

"The other was a fuel mileage race. Every other time we've been in the top three.

"I actually remember just about every year Kevin [Harvick] is right there with us at the end of the race. So I know he runs well there. So for me, just go out there and pretend that I got to win the race. That's all there is.

"I'm in a good spot knowing that I just have - I can control my own destiny and not have to worry about anything else. If we win the race, it's a moot point."

Hamlin may become the first driver to win a Sprint Cup title for a foreign manufacturer, as Toyota has still to win a championship at NASCAR's top level, having won already both in the Trucks and Nationwide series.

Di Maria clinches Real dealHamlin hopes title race down to speed

Piquet set for full season in Trucks

Nelson Piquet Jr is set to announce a full assault on the 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series today, as he continues to move forward with his stock car racing career in the United States.

AUTOSPORT has learned that the Brazilian will compete full-time in NASCAR next year after taking part in a number of outings this season in the Nationwide, ARCA and Truck Series.

Piquet competed in five Truck series events during the year, kicking off with an impressive performance on his debut at Daytona in February where he finished sixth driving for Red Horse Racing. He did four further outings, scoring two more top-10 finishes at Texas and Michigan, while racing a Toyota Tundra for Billy Ballew Motorsports.

In the ARCA series he made his stock car debut in February at Daytona but his highlight came at Texas where he finished ninth after starting from pole position, racing a Toyota Camry for series frontrunner Eddie Sharp Racing.

In August Piquet raced in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series for the first time, making good use of his road-course experience at Watkins Glen to claim a seventh-place finish at the wheel of a Ford Fusion from Baker Curb Racing.

Piquet will be one of two Brazilians competing in the series next year as his countryman Miguel Paludo, a former Porsche GT3 champion in Brazil, will be driving for Red Horse Racing.

Italian Max Papis, who ran a partial season this year, will also race full-time in trucks in 2011 for Germain Racing, while Indian Narain Karthikeyan is also expected to return after starting nine races this year for Starbeast Motorsports, taking an 11th-place finish at Texas as his best result.

The limited number of outings Piquet did this year in the Trucks will allow him to remain eligible for Rookie of the Year honours in 2011.

In recent years former Formula 1 racers Scott Speed and Jacques Villeneuve have used the Truck series as a stepping stone into NASCAR, Speed actually winning at Dover in his debut year.

Piquet will announce on Monday the team he will be competing for in 2011. His management has held talks with several outfits over the past few months, including some affiliated to well-established Sprint Cup squads.

Keselowski wins Nationwide titleNadal set for Mallorca role

Johnson says fifth title most special

Jimmie Johnson said he regarded his fifth straight Sprint Cup Series title - achieved on Sunday at Homestead - as the most special following a three-way fight for NASCAR's top trophy.

The 35-year-old now sits behind only Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in the all-time NASCAR champions list, although his title successes have been achieved across consecutive years, something that seven-time champion Petty and Earnhardt did not manage.

Johnson's five titles have also been claimed in a shorter number of races than Petty and Earnhardt's. While the Hendrick driver had to compete in 327 races before winning a fifth crown, Earnhardt entered 390 events and Petty 654 to achieve the same number of titles.

The Californian also became the first driver in the short history of the Chase to overcome a points deficit in the final race, fighting back from a 15-point disadvantage to Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, with a second-place finish in the season finale to Hamlin's 14th spot.

"I've always told you guys that the first championship, first win, that stuff has meant the most to me," said Johnson. "This one, I think this takes the lead. Just [because of] the circumstances, it's not that the other Chases weren't competitive.

"We were stronger I think in the previous two Chases, at least. Maybe all four. But this one, I'm just so proud, because there were times on Saturday nights when we would get together and discuss our race car after practice, and we would have some tough conversations, and just struggled to get what we needed.

"Some races, like Kansas, we had a tough practice session, came out, had it right, went up and finished second or third. Martinsville, we thought we were going the right direction, started the race a little out of our norm with the set-up and didn't have the performance we wanted.

"So we have had the highs and lows of the Chase, but to have it all come around, and to look every single one of my crew guys in the eyes on that stage tonight there's a different feeling about it. It is so cool.

"I think we were very relieved for the first one, and it was super, super special. But this has a different feel. And even coming in, even through the race, the final races of the Chase, I've been saying all along, I've had a good time with this. This has been fun.

"I was, one, so happy to be a part of three guys racing for the championship, then obviously going for five in a row. I have really soaked in this experience and enjoyed it and just so happy to come out on top."

Johnson is already looking ahead to winning yet another title as he sets his sights on matching the sport's greatest. He believes Sunday's achievement only places him closer to achieving that goal.

"I would love to tie them," said Johnson. "I would love to surpass them. I don't know how realistic that is. I mean, I never thought that I would get to this point. So we'll enjoy five for the off season and come back and start working on six next year.

"We are a hell of a lot closer now than we were before the day started. I'm now looking at those marks that the greats have put out there and hopeful to get up there to them."

Many NASCAR pundits consider Johnson has yet to be given due credit for his achievements, instead being blamed by some as a factor for dropping television ratings and falling crowds in the grandstands due to the shadow that his dominance has cast over rivals for the past five seasons.

Johnson still believes he has gained the respect of many although he admits it may take some time for NASCAR fans to understand the extent of his accomplishments. He says though that he does not need everyone's approval to feel proud of what he has done in his career thus far.

"I feel like I have received a tonne of respect for what we have done," said Johnson. "I've watched our fan base grow leaps and bounds. People tell me they hate me, but they respect me, and that's always cool. A guy that had an 'I hate 48' T-shirt on when I was on the stage, but was giving me a thumbs up and said congratulations.

"In the moment, I think it's tough for fans to maybe look at what we have accomplished, because they want their guy to win and I understand that. But I know what they have done today is respected sports-wide, not just in our little bubble we live in, but sports-wide, and it's something I'm very proud of, and I feel great for what we have accomplished and I feel that we have been very well respected for what we have done.

"If this it takes it to the next level, then right on. But I don't need it to make me feel better about what we've done. I'm totally content based on our performance."

Johnson's fifth consecutive title with Hendrick Motorsports matches a benchmark set in motorsport by former Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher, who claimed five back-to-back titles between 2000 and '04 with Ferrari.

Nadal set for Mallorca roleJohnson claims fifth NASCAR title

Petty vows to continue with two cars

NASCAR legend Richard Petty says he is confident that his team will continue into 2011 despite its recent problems, but it will only run two cars compared to this year's four-driver line-up.

Richard Petty Motorsports has had well-publicised funding troubles in recent weeks. The team was formed by a merger of Petty's Petty Enterprises operation and the Gillett Evernham squad at the start of last year, but its future had been in doubt following financial issues for co-owner George Gillett.

Petty has now announced that it will continue running its #9 car for ex-JTG Daugherty driver Marcos Ambrose and the #43 for existing driver AJ Allmendinger. Ambrose had already been signed to replace Red Bull-bound Kasey Kahne, whose seat was temporarily taken by Aric Almirola after Kahne made his team switch early.

The #19 and #98 cars, driven by Elliott Sadler and Paul Menard this year, will not be retained for 2011. Sadler is stepping down to the Nationwide Series with Kevin Harvick's team, while Menard will switch to Richard Childress Racing next year.

"Richard Petty Motorsports has completed its restructuring process and is now in the process of moving forward," said Petty in a statement.

"RPM will shift from running four cars to two in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and that is never an easy process for the people involved.

"Currently, we are concentrating on building two solid programmes with AJ Allmendinger behind the wheel of the #43 entry and Marcos Ambrose in the #9 Ford.

"We are very fortunate to have an extremely loyal family of partners and are looking forward to the future."

Nadal set for Mallorca rolePetty takes back control of RPM

Hamlin hopes title race down to speed

Denny Hamlin hopes Sunday's Sprint Cup series season-finale doesn't turn into a fuel-saving race to victory and the title, following last week's event at Phoenix.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver currently leads the Chase by 15 points over reigning champion Jimmie Johnson, heading into the title showdown at Homestead this weekend.

Hamlin's margin to the Hendrick driver though could have been a lot healthier had his dominance transpired in the final results of last week's event at Phoenix, where he led nearly two thirds of the distance before fuel efficiency came into play and cost him a bundle of points.

Hamlin wound up finishing only 12th last week and lost out to Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick, who both closed the gap on him in the driver standings as a consequence.

The 30-year-old hopes next Sunday's finale allows performance and speed to be the deciding factors rather than fuel economy tactics, as he cherishes his first real shot at NASCAR's top trophy.

"Realistically we'll probably have the worst fuel mileage of these other two guys [Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick] but we'll have to take the speed," said Hamlin. "Hopefuly things work out for us and if they don't, we'll work on our whole program next year.

"I'm in a good situation because if we go out there and do what we've done all year and perform, then it's up to them to go out there and better us. We don't have to beat one of these guys by a certain ammount of positions. We have to just stay ahead and that's it. That's not going to be an easy fit, we know that, but we have the speed to do that."

Last year Hamlin took victory in the season-finale at Homestead, which means he has won nine out of the last 36 points races, a quarter of the events held over the past 12 months in the Sprint Cup series.

He believes his record at the mile-and-a-half track, shows he's got what it takes to defend his position in the standings and claim his first Sprint Cup title on Sunday.

Hamlin has three top-five finishes in five starts at Homestead, finishing down in 33rd place on his first race at the track, while two years ago he was only 13th at the finish-line as Carl Edwards won by saving enough fuel in the last stint, just as he did last week at Phoenix.

"I think for us, it's about going out and performing like we have every Homestead race I've ever ran," said Hamlin. "The two bad finishes I do have is my very first start at Homestead in 2005. I got caught up in someone else's wreck.

"The other was a fuel mileage race. Every other time we've been in the top three.

"I actually remember just about every year Kevin [Harvick] is right there with us at the end of the race. So I know he runs well there. So for me, just go out there and pretend that I got to win the race. That's all there is.

"I'm in a good spot knowing that I just have - I can control my own destiny and not have to worry about anything else. If we win the race, it's a moot point."

Hamlin may become the first driver to win a Sprint Cup title for a foreign manufacturer, as Toyota has still to win a championship at NASCAR's top level, having won already both in the Trucks and Nationwide series.

Di Maria clinches Real dealHamlin hopes title race down to speed

Hendrick reshuffles crew chiefs

Hendrick Motorsports will change the crew chiefs for three of its drivers, with Jeff Gordon ending his long-term partnership with Steve Letarte - who will now work with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Just days after winning its 10th NASCAR Cup title, the team has announced a major reshuffle for 2011.

Letarte will move to Earnhardt's car, following another disappointing season for the crowd's favourite driver. In three years with Hendrick, he has won just one race and made the Chase only once - both in 2008.

Gordon will team up with crew chief Alan Gustafson, who was with veteran Mark Martin for the last two years. Lance McGrew will be Martin's chief next year, having had two win-less seasons with Earnhardt.

Team owner Rick Hendrick said: "This will improve us as an organisation across the board. We had a championship season [in 2010], but we weren't where we wanted and needed to be with all four teams. We've made the right adjustments and I'm excited to go racing with this line-up."

Gordon's team will move to another building within the Hendrick factory, to sit alongside the team for Martin's car - with Earnhardt's going the other way - meaning Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, and Letarte will continue to work alongside one another.

The changes announced have taken effect immediately, while Johnson and Knaus will continue to work together in their aim to win a sixth consecutive title in 2011.

Crew chief says Johnson under-ratedNadal set for Mallorca role

Petty takes back control of RPM

Richard Petty has taken back full control of his NASCAR team, through buying out former partner George Gillett.

Petty, now 73, will serve as chairman of the team and will oversee the daily running of two Fords for AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose in 2011.

"This is a great day for me, my family, our fans and our wonderful sponsors," Petty said. "They have supported me through thick and thin and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.

"Our partnership with Andy Murstein and Doug Bergeron will help take us to a whole new level and I could not be more excited about our future."

A team statement added that it will still get chassis and engines from Roush and will remain in its Concord, North Carolina headquarters.

Gillett had previously merged the Petty Enterprises outfit with his Gillett-Evernham Motorsports team to run four cars for the past two seasons.

Nadal set for Mallorca roleAmbrose concerned about RPM