Former Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet says he ‘cannot wait’ for his American stock car racing debut in the Daytona ARCA race on 6 February.

The Brazilian confirmed today that he had secured a deal with Eddie Sharp Racing – which took Justin Lofton to the 2009 ARCA title – to race in the season-opener, as revealed by AUTOSPORT earlier this month.

“I’m very excited,” said Piquet. “I can’t wait to reach 200mph side-by-side and rubbing paint. The plans for the season are coming together really well and I am racing with a very strong team. I can’t wait to get out on track.”

Team boss Eddie Sharp is confident Piquet can go a good job for the team in his debut.

“We are excited to have Nelson driving for us in Daytona this year,” Sharp said. “He will represent ESR well, and we believe he will gain some good learning miles in a stock car, especially racing at Daytona.”

Piquet’s first stock car race will come in South Africa this weekend, when he contests the Free State 500 at Phakisa.

SunTrust Racing will start on pole position when the Daytona 24 Hours gets underway on Saturday, after a superb lap by Max Angelelli in today’s qualifying session.

The Italian – who will share SunTrust’s #10 Dallara-Ford with Pedro Lamy, Ricky Taylor and team boss Wayne Taylor – set a time of 1m40.681s, nearly half a second clear of nearest rival Oswaldro Negri Jr.

“It was important to get the pole, I can’t deny that. We wanted pole badly,” said Angelelli.

“I was pretty confident. Our Dallara chassis and Ford engine are always good. Now it is up to us drivers to make it happen.”

Behind Angelelli, less than a tenth of a second covered the next four cars, with the two Michael Shank Racing Riley-Fords lining up ahead of Ganassi’s two Riley-BMWs.

Christophe Bouchut put the best of the Level 5 Riley-BMWs on the outside of row three, while last year’s winning team Brumos will start seventh with Darren Law, Hurley Haywood, David Donohue, Raphael Matos and Butch Leitzinger.

Former Grand-Am champion team GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing missed qualifying completely after NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson crashed its #99 Riley-Chevrolet while avoiding a GT car in practice. After initially thinking it would have to bring in a replacement car, the team is rebuilding the chassis with a new rear end. Johnson, who will share the car with Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty and Jimmy Vasser, is having the new section flown in using his private plane.

SpeedSource took GT class pole for the third straight year, although this time it was Jeff Segal in the #69 Mazda who claimed the top spot, with double class polesitter Sylvain Trembley only third in the sister car, behind the Racers Edge Mazda.

Pos  Drivers                                    Car             Time

 1.  Angelelli/Lamy/Taylor/Taylor               Dallara-Ford    1m40.681s

 2.  Frisselle/Negri/Pew/Wilkins                Riley-Ford      1m41.100s

 3.  Allmendinger/Frisselle/Patterson/Valiante  Riley-Ford      1m41.110s

 4.  Dixon/Franchitti/McMurray/Montoya          Riley-BMW       1m41.147s

 5.  Papis/Pruett/Rojas/Wilson                  Riley-BMW       1m41.164s

 6.  Bouchut/Bourdais/Collard/Maassen/Tucker    Riley-BMW       1m41.463s

 7.  Donohue/Haywood/Law/Leitzinger/Matos       Riley-Porsche   1m41.513s

 8.  Barbosa/Borcheller/Dalziel/Rockenfeller    Riley-Porsche   1m41.603s

 9.  Braun/Jonsson/Krohn/Zonta                  Lola-Ford       1m42.060s

10.  Garcia/Manning/Menard/Rice                 Coyote-Porsche  1m42.074s

Casey Mears will stay in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after securing a deal with new team Keyed-Up Motorsports.

The 31-year-old nephew of IndyCar legend Rick Mears had lost his Richard Childress Racing seat at the end of last season.

Keyed-Up is a new organisation formed by businessman Raymond Key, whose brother Curtis runs teams in the Nationwide and Truck Series.

The Chevrolet-equipped squad intends to run the full 2010 Cup schedule, although it has yet to secure all the funding required to do so. Doug Ribert, who ran Dale Earnhardt to his first title in 1980, will be Keyed-Up’s crew chief.

“We’re a new team, but I feel we have everything in place to race,” said Mears. “It’s going to be a rewarding endeavour.”

NASCAR has announced more relaxed regulations for bump-drafting at restrictor plate tracks, as part of a range of rule changes revealed on Thursday.

Following a controversial finish at Talladega in April 2009, in which Carl Edwards’ car took off and ripped through part of the catch-fencing, officials decided to ban bump-drafting in the turns when the series returned to the track in November.

Fans and drivers were critical of the ruling and blamed it for causing long periods of single-file racing.

In a bid to try to avoid a repeat and improve the spectacle at both Talladega and Daytona, NASCAR will eliminate any bump-drafting restrictions at events held at these two tracks.

“Over the past 10 years we’ve dramatically increased safety and that mission continues,” said NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France. “However, it’s time for us to allow the drivers to drive. We don’t want the rules and regulations to get in the way of great racing and fantastic finishes.

“NASCAR is a contact sport – our history is based on banging fenders.”

Talladega Superspeedway president Rick Humphrey welcomed the news, which he expects will please some of the fans who were left frustrated when the series competed at the venue last autumn.

“Certainly race fans have high expectations when they come to Talladega Superspeedway,” said Humphrey. “They expect the tightest racing, the most lead changes, the most passes and the closest finishes. The return of bump-drafting certainly moves us toward meeting and exceeding each of those expectations.”

Additionally NASCAR has announced a larger restrictor-plate size of 63/64 of an inch for the season-opener at Daytona, which is set to increase horsepower.

Officials also confirmed the transition to the new rear spoiler, which was tested for the first time on track this week at Texas, and revealed that changes to the front end of the car are possible and currently under evaluation.

NASCAR also announced that current Sprint Cup Series director John Darby has been promoted to managing director of competition, and will oversee all three national series’ directors, officials, inspection processes and race officiating. Darby will continue to fulfill his previous role until his replacement is named.

Nelson Piquet Jr is set to make his American stock car racing debut in the ARCA season-opener at Daytona next month.

AUTOSPORT has learned that the former Renault Formula 1 driver, who announced last week he would be switching to NASCAR, will drive the #6 Toyota Camry in the ARCA RE/MAX Series for series champion Eddie Sharp Racing at Daytona on 6 February.

The Brazilian will join IndyCar star Danica Patrick in what is expected to be one of the most high-profile ARCA events ever. Multiple Motocross champion turned stock car racer Ricky Carmichael and IndyCar’s Milka Duno are among other notable names entering the race.

Piquet plans to make his debut in NASCAR-sanctioned racing a week later in the Truck Series round at the same track, where he is expected to drive the #1 Toyota Tundra for Red Horse Racing. His full plans for the rest of the season still have to be finalised, but he expects to continue to race in different series throughout the year.

“It’s the first year. It’s a lot of learning for me. I’m going to be doing races here, races there – as many races as I can just to get used to these kinds of cars and the tracks,” said Piquet.

“If it starts going well, then I’ll maybe do even more races or maybe do higher levels, like maybe even Nationwide. It is all going to depend on how quick I learn everything and how well I get involved with the team.”

Before competing at Daytona, Piquet will have a hectic racing schedule, which includes the Interlagos 1000km endurance race in his native Brazil next weekend, followed by the Free State 500 stock car race at the Phakisa Freeway in South Africa a week later.

The new rear spoiler that will be implemented for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series during the 2010 season has been tested on the track for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway.

Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle have been running from Tuesday with the new device during a Goodyear tyre test at the mile-and-a-half oval, giving positive feedback about the new feel of the car.

Initial impressions point at the car shifting the balance slightly towards more front-end grip, although there did not seem to be a dramatic change to its handling on single-car runs.

“It didn’t seem to be a big balance change, which was good,” said two-time Cup champion Stewart. “That means you won’t have to reinvent the wheel necessarily. It was a balance shift, but it wasn’t a big balance shift.”

Former Cup champion Kurt Busch echoed Stewart’s impressions and expects the spoiler to improve racing once the device is used in a race for the first time.

“With the spoiler on, the car had a looser feel to it,” Busch said. “The car was turning better and it felt like the car was sliding a bit more. What we have to do is ultimately put together a better package for drivers to drive on the track, which would create more side-by-side excitement for our fans to enjoy.”

Roush Fenway’s Biffle said the handling of the car reminded him of the old specification, which used to run a spoiler too. He believes more drag has been added to the car with the spoiler, given its four-inch profile and 70-degree angle

“It drove a little bit different on corner exit than the wing did,” Biffle said. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions, but it may have had a little feel like the old car in some scenarios. You can tell it has some more drag because they made it a little bit bigger and wider.”

Red Bull’s Vickers expects the new spoiler to improve the handling of the car while running in dirty air, as he believes the rear wing to be less efficient in that condition.

“Theoretically, from what I’ve been told, the difference between the two is that the spoiler is better in traffic,” said Vickers. “The spoiler is going to be more efficient in dirty air and a wing will be more efficient in clean air.

“Once you get in a lot of turbulence, the spoiler’s not going to lose a lot of efficiency while a wing really will.”

The first official test with the device for all teams will take place at Charlotte Motor Speedway on 23-24 March before it the spoiler is raced for the first time.

McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh says he is pleased to see the squad’s long-time reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa get a chance to return to racing with Sauber.

De la Rosa joined McLaren as a test driver in 2003 and has remained at the team ever since. He contested nine races for McLaren, first substituting for the injured Juan Pablo Montoya in Bahrain in 2005, then stepping in for the second half of the 2006 season when the Colombian left for NASCAR.

He has been linked with race seats at various teams as the grid expanded for 2010, and was announced as Kamui Kobayashi’s team-mate at Sauber yesterday.

Whitmarsh said de la Rosa was joining Sauber with McLaren’s blessing and best wishes.

“Pedro has never made any secret of his continued ambition to race in Formula 1, so we were never going to stand in his way should an attractive opportunity come his way,” said Whitmarsh.

“On the contrary, we wish him well. He’s been a fantastic team player for the past seven years, has contributed a huge amount to our successes in that time, and will remembered by all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes as not only an esteemed colleague but also as a good friend.”

IndyCar racer Milka Duno will make her stock car debut next month at Daytona.

The Venezuelan is set to drive the #90 Toyota Camry for Braun Racing, following a successful first test with the outfit at the same track in December.

Duno had told AUTOSPORT last month that a deal was dependent on sponsorship money, but an agreement has finally been struck for the female racer to compete at Daytona.

“For the first time in a while I fell I have a competitive car,” said Duno following the test. “In IndyCars that had not been the case recently. I hope I can make the most of it at Daytona and back up my performance from the December test.”

Duno plans a further ARCA test at Talladega next week, before heading to Daytona for the race, where she will join IndyCar rival Danica Patrick, who is set to make her stock car debut in the same event, driving for JR Motorsports.

Plans for further stock car outings for Duno are still in the works, including the possibility of entering NASCAR Nationwide Series races.

Nelson Piquet claims he could have made a return to Formula 1 this year if he wanted, after revealing that he had a firm offer for a drive in 2010.

The Brazilian, who was at the centre of the Renault race-fix controversy that marred the end of last season, is now chasing opportunities to race in NASCAR – having recently tested a Toyota Tundra truck.

Piquet is adamant that his move to NASCAR is not because he had no chance of getting back into F1 but was because he did not want to get involved in the politics that surround grand prix racing.

“I could’ve been there (Formula 1) if I wanted to,” Piquet said. “A team offered me to be there.

“I just thought I was sick and tired of all of the stuff over there. I just took a decision of starting a new step in my career and a new challenge in coming to NASCAR.

“For a lot of people who are outside of America, it’s a downgrade. But for people that really understand – maybe it’s a downgrade in technology of the car — but in terms of career, of how big the sport is in a lot of ways it’s even a tougher step than F1.

“For me, I compare it side by side. It’s just two different types of cars. The level of competition and the seriousness and the business of both series are very, very high. I was just sick and tired of things over there. I got a very, very good opportunity over here to start my career here and I’m here.”

It is not clear which team made the offer to Piquet, but the Brazilian was strongly linked at one point with the new Campos Meta team – which has already signed his compatriot Bruno Senna for 2010.

Piquet said many things factored in his decision to switch to NASCAR besides the professional opportunities he had available. He says he feels supported by good people in his new venture in the US, which is set to start next month at Daytona.

“I had to balance a lot of things,” Piquet said. “I had to balance my happiness. I had to balance my opportunities. I had to balance a lot of things and I think the best thing that I came up with – that I thought would be better for me – was the NASCAR route.

“I think the biggest factor point is that I’m having a lot of people behind me helping me, wanting me to be here. A lot of people that I trust and I’m liking. So, all of that has been very good for me. I think that’s what has played a big factor into the decision.”

This week Piquet has had a seat fitting for his stock car debut and has spent time in the Red Horse Racing factory.

He plans to make his NASCAR debut with the team in the Truck Series season-opener on February 12, but a deal has been in the works for him to enter the ARCA event at the same track a week earlier.

Piquet will be the first Brazilian to compete in NASCAR after Chtistian Fittipaldi drove for Petty Enterprises at Charlotte in the Sprint Cup series in 2003.

Former grand prix driver Nelson Piquet will this weekend make his return to competitive action in a car for the first time since last year’s race fixing controversy when he takes part in the famous ‘Mil Milhas’ endurance event at Interlagos.

The Brazilian, who is a former winner of the 1000 kilometre race, will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X alongside Leandro de Almeida and Eduardo de Souza Ramos. He will be hoping to add to his tally of victories, having triumphed in 2006.

Straight after the event in Brazil, Piquet will fly to South Africa for the inaugural Free State 500 stock car race at the Phakisa Freeway near Welkom that takes place the following weekend. The event will be South African’s first race for NASCAR-type American stock cars on the country’s only banked oval track.

Speaking about his schedule, Piquet said: “It’s going to be a really great couple of weeks, I can’t wait to start racing again.

“Both weekends will be very different but both will be a test of endurance and will be really competitive. The event is South Africa will give me some good experience of oval racing in a NASCAR-type car ahead of my programme this year in the USA. It would be great to start the year with a couple of wins.”