Hattori Racing Enterprises driver, Brett Moffitt, won the K&N Pro Series East Blue Ox 100 at Richmond International Raceway, led the most laps and earned the Coors 21 Pole position.
“Our weekend could not have ended better,” said an ecstatic Moffitt from victory lane. “From where we were when we unloaded, which was not very good, to winning the race is just unbelievable. My team is awesome. They never gave up trying to make the car better so I wasn’t about to give up behind the wheel.”
Moffitt put the #11 Kobe Toyopet Camry on the pole and led all but six of the 103 laps. His car got a little loose at the end of the race and he had to hold off several challenges for the win.
A late race wreck led to overtime and a green, white, checkered finish. Moffitt beat the #9 of Chase Elliott to the line by a foot.
“The #9 got outside me coming off two on the last lap, but I was good on the inside and just kept my foot in it,” explained Moffitt. Chase (Elliott) got loose coming off four and we touched a little but I was able to keep the momentum. This is just awesome!”
“I am so proud of this team,” stated Team Manager, Andy Santerre. “Neither car was good when we unloaded, but the crew chiefs didn’t panic, they keep working hard and making good changes, the drivers stayed focused and gave good feedback and together they made the cars better. Brett (Moffitt) got the win and Sergio (Pena) finished 9th.”
Pena, driving the #1 JMS Toyota Camry, qualified 13th but struggled during the early stages of the race.
“I was so tight,” Pena said. “From the drop of the green I just couldn’t move forward. I came in and pitted about half way through the race and we made some adjustments. After that I was able to pass cars and gain positions.”
Pena restarted 28th after pitting, and raced to 9th in less than 50 laps.
The Blue Ox 100 was Moffitt’s 8th career K&N Pro Series East win and Hattori Racing’s first ever win in NKNPSE.
“I am so proud of this team,” commented team owner, Shige Hattori . “They worked hard all day and overcame adversity. Neither car was good early in practice, but we felt by the end of practice we were competitive. This is our first win at HRE and the first win for Kobe Toyopet. The weekend could not have gone much better. “
Hattori Racing Enterprise’s is in their first season on the K&N Pro Series East. This was their third race.
Moffitt jumped from 16th in points to 6th. Pena sits 19th.
HRE will enjoy a break in the schedule until the Iowa 150 presented by Graham Tire Company at Iowa Speedway on May 19, 2012.
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