BREAKING NEWS: Piquet To Nationwide In 2013

Nelson Piquet, Jr., will graduate to the NASCAR Nationwide Series this season, running for the series championship in a Chevrolet Camaro fielded by Turner Scott Motorsports. Piquet finished seventh in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship standings last season with Turner Scott, claiming a pair of wins at Michigan and Las Vegas, nine Top-5 and 15 Top-10 finishes in 22 events. He also made two Nationwide starts last year, highlighted by a win from the pole at Road America in late June.

A spokesperson for Turner Scott Motorsports declined to confirm the move today, and there is no word on who might replace Piquet at the wheel of the team’s No. 30 Chevrolet Silverado.

In a related story, sources say Turner Scott will continue its longstanding emphasis on fostering young talent in 2013, fielding at least three and as many as five entries on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West champion Dylan Kwasniewski is expected to steer one of the team’s Chevrolets, as is former NASCAR Drive For Diversity driver MacKena Bell, who has spent the last four seasons driving in the K&N Pro and Whelen All American Series for Rev Racing, finishing eighth in the 2012 Late Model standings at Hickory Motor Speedway. Fifteen-year old Brandon Jones is slated to run seven K&N Pro Series East races for Turner Scott, along with a pair of Camping World Truck Series events.