After registering a respectable 16th-place finish in his Truck Series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon last September, Quiroga had a disappointing first visit to Homestead-Miami Speedway in his second start. After moving from his 27th starting position into the 20th spot early in the race, the Mexico City native was sent spinning sideways when another truck got loose underneath him. Although he avoided contact with the wall, his Tundra sustained two flat tires and slowly limped to the pits. The three-time Mexico Series champion went a lap down and ended the night with a disappointing 26th-place finish.
The NET10 Wireless driver has shown progress over his first three races this season. His 2012 debut came at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where after learning the nuances of drafting, he made a late charge towards the front of the field and ended the day with his first Truck Series top-10 finish. In his second event, he tackled the blistering fast Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, but experienced a terminal engine failure near the halfway mark of the race and finished 28th.
Last week at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway, Quiroga started 18th but with just over 40 laps remaining had put himself in a position for a top-five finish. Then, he was involved in an accident, which caused severe damage to his NET10 Wireless Tundra and ended his promising run.
The talented driver will look to continue his progress Friday night at the 1.5-mile oval that is located just over 30 miles from NET10 Wireless’ corporate headquarters in Miami, Fla. With many employees of his sponsor expected to be in attendance for the race, Quiroga is hoping to net his second helping of a Truck Series top-10 finish and end the 2012 season on a positive note.
Germán Quiroga, Driver of the No. 51 NCWTS NET10 Wireless Tundra:
What positives can you take out of last week’s race at Phoenix?
“It was really the first time that I felt very comfortable racing in the Truck Series -- I felt like I was in contention to have a solid top-five run until the accident. I learned so much about how the tires change over the course of a run and where the Net10 Wireless Tundra likes to ride on the track. I’m expecting to take everything I’ve learned -- not only last week, but over the first three races -- and have a good result for NET10 Wireless, KBM and everyone associated with this No. 51 Toyota.”
Are you looking forward to your first repeat visit to a track?
“Yes, I think I’m going to be able to give more information to my crew chief, Rick Ren. Not only because it’s my second time there, but also because I have learned so much in the three previous races this season.”
Is there any added pressure racing so close to NET10 Wireless headquarters?
“Not really -- the pressure has been around for months. First working on securing sponsorship for these four races and then once that was in place, working to improve my on-track performance to give Net10 the results they deserve for trusting in me. I will give my 100% as always.”
Rick Ren, Crew Chief of the No. 51 NCWTS NET10 Wireless Tundra:
Despite the end result, did you see continued improvement from Germán last week at Phoenix?
“I think that things went really well at Phoenix. We had productive practice sessions because he gave us good feedback and that allowed us to adjust the truck for him. Then, he did a better job in the race and showed a lot of progress. I think going into this weekend at Homestead he will have more confidence in his own ability. Combine that with the fact that he is going back to a race track that he has already been to before and I think this weekend will turn out to be a really good one.”
What setup will you be running on the truck this weekend?
“We are going to put the setup underneath him that we won with in 2010 with Kyle and if it hadn’t have been for the rain last year, we would’ve won with Denny Hamlin. It’s a proven, race-winning setup and we are on the same tire, so nothing has really changed. Germán just needs to get more comfortable on the race track like he did last week -- he kept getting faster and faster the more laps he turned.”
Germán Quiroga’s No. 51 NET10 Wireless Tundra:
Chassis KBM-3: KBM-3 will be making its second start of 2012 and eighth overall start in Friday’s Truck Series finale. It is the same Tundra that Quiroga drove to a 26th-place finish in the 2011 event at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway last season. He also piloted the same truck two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, where a terminal engine failure resulted in a 28th-place finish. The trucks best career result, a seventh-place finish, came with Brian Ickler behind the wheel in its debut race at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway in September of 2010.
Date | Site | Driver | Start | Finish | Laps | Laps Led | Status |
11/2/12 | Texas | Quiroga | 24 | 28 | 64/147 | 0 | Engine |
11/18/11 | Homestead | Quiroga | 27 | 26 | 118/119 | 0 | Running |
10/1/11 | Kentucky | Richards | 11 | 34 | 4/150 | 0 | Accident |
9/2/11 | Atlanta | Richards | 9 | 21 | 128/130 | 0 | Running |
7/7/11 | Kentucky | Richards | 24 | 29 | 74/152 | 0 | Accident |
5/20/11 | Charlotte | Räikkönen | 31 | 15 | 134/134 | 0 | Running |
9/25/10 | Las Vegas | Ickler | 9 | 7 | 146/146 | 0 | Running |
Notes of Interest:
Germán Quiroga 2012:
- Was running in the top-10 with just over 40 laps remaining when his involvement in an accident ended his race and relegated him to a 24th-place finish (11/9/12)
- Suffered an engine failure on lap 64 at Texas Motor Speedway and finished in 28th place (11/2/12)
- Came from the 23rd starting position to finish eighth in the fred’s 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (10/6/12)
- Made two NASCAR Camping World Series Truck Series starts for KBM in 2011, including a 16th-place finish in his series debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon
- Captured his third consecutive NASCAR Mexico Series championship behind the strength of three wins, 11 top-five and 12 top-10 finishes across 14 starts
- Three-time NASCAR Mexico Series Champion (2009 – 2011); only driver in series history to win multiple championships
- Collected 16 wins, 52 top-five and 60 top-10 finishes over 70 starts after the Mexico Series became officially sanctioned by NASCAR in 2007
- Led 12 laps before being relegated to a 28th-place finish in his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in 2007 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico
- Posted runner-up finishes in the final NASCAR Mexico Series point standings in both 2007 and 2008
- 2005 Formula Renault 2000 Series Champion and Rookie of the Year
- 1999 Mustang Series Rookie of the Year
- 1998 Reto Neon Series Champion
- 1996 Reto Neon Series Rookie of the Year
- KBM’s second entry has produced top-10 results in two of its four starts this season; Denny Hamlin drove the No. 51 to victory in the Kroger 200 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Germán Quiroga finished eighth in the fred’s 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway
- Quiroga was running in the top-10 last week at Phoenix (Ariz.) International Raceway before his involvement in an accident with just over 40 laps remaining relegated him to a 24th-place finish
- In 2011, the team posted four top-20 finishes over nine starts with three different drivers
- In 2011, the team registered a season-best finish of 13th with Josh Richards at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and a season-best qualifying effort of ninth with Richards at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga.
- All three drivers to make a start for the team last season were champions in another series before making their Truck Series debut with KBM –Quiroga (Three-Time NASCAR Mexico Series champion), Kimi Räikkönen (2007 Formula One Champion) and Josh Richards (Two-Time World of Outlaws Late Model champion)
This weekend’s Truck Series finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway will be a home race for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ sponsor NET10 Wireless®. The prepaid wireless provider, which is available at over 90,000 retail locations, is headquartered just over 30 miles from the track in Miami, Fla. Quiroga visited the headquarters on Tuesday to Meet & Greet and sign autographs for employees. The race-used No. 51 NET10 Wireless Tundra that he drove at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway was also on display during the visit.
The Ren File:
KBM General Manager Rick Ren, who with 28 victories is the winningest crew chief in Truck Series history, will be calling the shots for the No. 51 NET10 Wireless team this weekend in The Sunshine State. Ren’s drivers have posted an average finish of 11.0 across 12 starts at Homestead-Miami, including one win, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. The Illinois native guided Andy Houston to victory in the 2000 race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Kyle Busch Motorsports No. 51 2012 NCWTS Box Score:
Date | Site | Driver | Start | Finish | Laps | Laps Led | Status |
10/6/12 | Talladega | Quiroga | 23rd | 8th | 94/94 | 0 | Running |
10/27/12 | Martinsville | Hamlin | 5th | 1st | 200/200 | 6 | Running |
11/2/12 | Texas | Quiroga | 24th | 28th | 64/147 | 0 | Engine |
11/9/12 | Phoenix | Quiroga | 18th | 24th | 109/153 | 0 | Accident |
11/16/12 | Homestead | Quiroga |
-KBM-
Contenido generado, publicado y difundido por el departamento de prensa del piloto de la NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Germán Quiroga.
Contacto prensa: Martín Caño.
Email: prensa@germanquiroga.com
Contacto prensa: Martín Caño.
Email: prensa@germanquiroga.com
