“I really liked the track,” Moffitt said. “It has tons of grip and is really fast, so it was a blast to race here.”
After a successful test session, the entire #20 JGR Game Plan for Life Toyota team unloaded fast off of the truck, recording the fourth fastest time in the first practice session.
Moffitt qualified a conservative fourteenth for the race, having the car set up for the cooler temperatures for the night race. “The car was loose during qualifying, but we were hoping for it to tighten up after the sun went down during the race,” Moffitt said.
On a track where it is tough to pass, Moffitt took off from the start; cracking the top ten by lap eight. Moffitt then made a daring three wide pass on lap 12 to take the seventh position.
Later in the race on lap 55, Moffitt reported the car as “wrecking loose” and decided to make a pit stop under caution to tighten it up. The crew noticed that the right rear tire was coming apart. NASCAR officials approved a tire change, but this forced Moffitt to restart near the end of the field.
“The car was so loose that I thought I was going to wreck in every turn,” Moffitt said. “Once we changed the tire, the car handled so much better that we were able to run back up through the field.”
By the time the field was stopped on lap 91 for cleanup from an accident, Moffitt had moved up through the field and was back in the top ten.
On lap 132, Moffitt was running inside the top five when Eddie MacDonald spun in front of him. As Moffitt was trying to avoid the spinning car, MacDonald clipped him, sending him head-on into the wall. Moffitt’s and the #20 team’s night was over.
“That was definitely one of the hardest hits I’ve ever taken,” Moffitt said. “It was just a tough night. We were sitting in a good spot with twenty to go, and I really thought we had something for the leaders. It’s disappointing to lose it all at the end.”
Moffitt moved back to fourth in the point standings, but is only two points behind Cole Whitt, who is in third.
The season’s next stop is September 17, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. “I am excited to return to NHMS,” Moffitt said. “We got the pole in June and have always run well there, so it should be a good race for us.”
Officials from Brett Moffitt Racing are excited to announce the launch of the new website, www.brettmoffittracing.com. Although, it is still being finalized, the goal is to make it much more interactive and to provide fans with a more personal, behind the scenes look.
For additional information and to follow Moffitt’s racing career, log on at: www.brettmoffitt.com, and for information about Joe Gibbs Racing, log on at: www.joegibbsracing.com.
- Brett Moffitt Racing Press Release
