Piquet, in only his third Nationwide attempt, claimed the pole and then the race win at the Wisconsin road course.

“I knew I could do it,” Piquet said in victory lane. “It was just a matter of being with the right team at the right time.”

And, apparently, Trent Owens is the right crew chief with whom to get a Road America win. It was the second-straight Nationwide win at the track for Owens, who guided Reed Sorenson, then driver of the No. 32 Turner entry, to Road America’s victory lane in 2011.

After pitting for the final time on lap 31 of the 50-lap race, Piquet took the lead for good during a caution on lap 34 and drove out to a lead of more than three seconds by the end of the race.

“Struggled a little in the beginning,” Piquet said. “But once I got in clean air, it took off.”

As Piquet drove away from the field, the battle for other top-five positions got physical, especially in the closing laps. On the final lap of the race, Jacques Villeneuve made contact with the rear of Danica Patrick’s No. 7 car, sending Patrck spinning.

After the race, Villeneuve said that Max Papis running him into the grass caused his inability to avoid hitting Patrick. After fighting for position within the top-five, Villeneuve finished sixth and Patrick 12th.

“You all can make a decision for yourself what happened there,” a disappointed Patrick said after the race.

Michaeal McDowell finished second, Ron Fellows was third, Papis fourth and Sam Hornish Jr. rounded out the top-five.

Brian Scott was the highest-finishing Nationwide Series regular, finishing seventh.

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So it was pervectly reasonable that drivers in the final group would claim all five of the top-five starting spots. Camping World Truck Series regular Nelson Piquet Jr., qualifying for only his third-career Nationwide race, claimed the pole with a fast lap of 133.660 seconds.

“I knew we were quick yesterday (in practice),” Piquet said.

Michael McDowell qualified second to join Piquet on the front row of the starting grid.

“I did get it all, maybe a little bit too much,” McDowell said. “Just one spot shy of the pole, but it’s a long race.”

Qualifying third through fifth were road course specialists Ron Fellows, Jaques Villeneuve and Max Papis.

Brian Scott went out in the fifth group and claimed what was, at the time, the provisional pole. By the end of the qualifying session Scott was shuffled back to sixth, the highest spot of any Nationwide Series regular.

Qualifying seventh through 10th were Justin Allgaier, Sam Hornish Jr., Miguel Paludo and Danica Patrick. Series points leader Elliott Sadler qualified 13th.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR

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