Carlos Contreras, who was the first Hispanic driver to run full time in one of the three NASCAR national touring series, will attempt to qualify for the season-opening Camping World Truck Series race next week at Daytona International Speedway, the team announced today.

Contreras will drive the No. 00 Chevrolet truck fielded by the new Daisy Ramirez Motorsports team. He will have to qualify on speed for the NextEra Energy 250.

Contreras, who ran the full Truck season from 2000-2002 and has 70 career starts in the series as well as 16 in what is now the Nationwide Series, will be sponsored by Potencia Energy Blast, a product of Bebida Beverage Company, of which Ramirez is the chief operating officer. He will also have sponsorship from Alpina Bottled Water.

“His popularity and prestige among Latin American racing fans made him a perfect fit,” said Ramirez, who plans on fielding two trucks in the event.

The Contreras deal is just for Daytona, but more races could be added pending sponsorship.