Rain Comes At Perfect Time For Moffitt – Iowa Teenager Claims Rain-Shortened Martinsville Race
MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Brett Moffitt finally has the trophy to go with the fast car. It just happens to be one of the most sought after prizes in NASCAR race: A grandfather clock from Martinsville Speedway.
Moffitt was out front when rain shortened the UNOH Performance 200 to 175 laps Sunday afternoon, giving the 17-year-old Joe Gibbs Racing development driver from Grimes, Iowa, his third career NASCAR K&N Pro Series East win.
Moffitt has had one of the top cars in each of his last three races – leading a race-high 36 laps in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Phoenix, running in the top five in the East race at South Boston, Va., and leading 54 laps in the East-West combination race at Iowa. Each time, however, he was involved in accidents that took him out of contention.
“The guys have been working really hard all season,” Moffitt said. “The last three races, we’ve been running either first or second, and have been taken out by the car behind us. That made this win even more sweet — knowing that all our hard work paid off.”
Defending series champion Ryan Truex finished second and took over the points lead after four races. Darrell Wallace Jr. recorded his second straight third-place finish. Both had to come from the back of the field at the start: Truex for missing driver introductions and Wallace for unapproved changes to the car after qualifying.
“It was a fun race,” said Wallace, who earned the Sunoco Rookie of the Race Award. “You just had to use a lot of patience. I had to work my way up through there.”
“That was my fault,” said Truex of the penalty that dropped him back from his fourth-place qualifying spot to the rear of the field. “We had our work cut out for us. We were fast. Man, I followed Darrell up through there. Pretty much, he’d move them out of the way or get under them and I’d follow him through there. I just kept the fenders on it.
“It was a great points day, but I’d rather have the win.”
Matt Kobyluck and Andrew Ranger made up the rest of the top five. Ranger, the two-time NASCAR Canadian Tire Series champion, was making his second series start.
Jason Patison, Beto Monteiro, Matt Frahm, Cole Whitt and Jeff Anton rounded out the top 10. Monteiro, from Brazil, earned the Coca-Cola Move of the Race Award after qualifying 27th in his series debut. Patison bounced back from an abbreviated run at Iowa to pick up the Featerlite Most Improved Driver Award.
Ryan Gifford won the Coors Light Pole Award Saturday and led the first 99 laps to earn the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award. However, after losing the lead to Jake Crum on a restart, Gifford fell back through the field due to a faulty battery. He was able to get it fixed and work his way back up to a 12th-place finish. Crum had an impressive run in his second series start, leading 16 laps before being caught up in a late wreck that left him 13th. Crum had won the prestigious Late Model race at Martinsville in the fall of 2009.
Truex led until a Lap 161 restart, when Moffitt beat him to the line on the green-flag. When a subsiquent yellow came out, it was Moffitt who was able to take advantage of being in the preferred inside groove.
“I knew I was going to have to get around him,” Moffitt said. “I was just hoping he’d spin his tires or I’d be able to get a little bit of an advantage. Being able to get ahead of him there was what helped us win the race.”
Moffitt’s JGR teammate Max Gresham entered the weekend with the points lead after winning the previous two races. But tire issues took him out of contention early, relegating him to 17th and dropping him to fourth in points.
Truex leads the points by eight over Wallace (631-623). Just 25 points separate third from seventh, led by Whitt with 585 and followed by Gresham (581), Gifford (572), Moffitt (571) and Kobyluck (560). D.J. Shaw, Ty Dillon and Patison complete the top 10.
The UNOH Performance 200 will air on SPEED on Thursday, June 10.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will next race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Friday, June 25.