Grimes, IA – Brett Moffitt, driver of the Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) #11 Kobe Toyopet Toyota Camry, scored another top-ten finish at Greenville-Pickens Speedway on Saturday, October 27th, in the rain-delayed Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 140, crossing the finish line in 8th place after getting caught up in a last lap wreck.
Crew Chief Dave McCarty and the #11 HRE team unloaded a strong car on Saturday morning. During practice Moffitt radioed the team, “The car is amazing off. It’s a little snug in the middle, but the bite off is wonderful, and it should be great at the end.” By the conclusion of the practice session, Moffitt was very satisfied with his car. “We were really balanced by the end of practice. We were actually very good on the first run, and the team kept making small changes to fine-tune the car, so we know we have a fast car for the race,” he stated.
Moffitt started on the pole and jumped out to an early lead. The #11 was running a slightly different set up than they had run at Greenville in the past, and the car was so fast that McCarty continually advised Moffitt he could back it down a little. On lap 80, Moffitt told the crew, “No pressure. Lifting at the flag stand and working lapped traffic.”
Caution flag number 6 of the evening flew on lap 138, forcing a green-white-checkered finish. Moffitt continued to lead until the last half of the final lap, when he was hit and spun by Corey LaJoie coming out of turn three to take the checkered flag. The contact happened directly in front of the rest of the 22 car field, so the track quickly became blocked, and a number of cars were heavily damaged in the melee. The #11 Camry was completely destroyed on the frontstretch. It was hit several times after the initial impact with LaJoie and was propelled across the finish line sideways by the successive impacts. Moffitt’s car would not even roll on its own, but sliding across the line resulted in an 8th place finish, rather than a DNF. Moffitt was evaluated and released from the infield care center. He was a little sore, but he was ok.
After his release from the care center, Moffitt remarked, “It is unfortunate that we ended the night on a roll back, when we had the dominant car all evening.” Moffitt and LaJoie had been racing side by side for several laps. It appeared that when LaJoie was not able to accomplish a clean pass by the last lap, he overdrove the corner in order to take Moffitt out in turn three.
When asked for his comments, Shige Hattori, owner of Hattori Racing Enterprises stated, “I am disappointed in the ending of the race. The #07 of Corey LaJoie could not pass Brett (Moffitt) on the outside, so he got in behind the #11 going down the back stretch and purposely hit him going into turn three. It was no accidental contact. It was blatant and intentional. Brett had to catch the car and lost enough momentum that the 3rd place car made contact and spun Brett and half the field, including the #1 car (Sergio Pena). We have two wrecked race cars and motors because of it. That was not a win; that was dirty racing and HRE is paying the price.”
During post-race inspection, LaJoie’s car was found to be in violation of three sections of NASCAR’s rulebook, and penalties were assessed accordingly. Although the team appealed, the original penalties were unanimously upheld and were made effective immediately. Penalties included the loss of 25 car owner points and 25 championship driver points. As a result Moffitt will arrive at Rockingham Speedway in Rockingham, NC for the season finale in second place in the championship point standings, only 10 points behind the current leader.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will run the 100 lap Inaugural Classic 3 Championship weekend presented by RCR Racing Museum on Saturday evening, November 3rd at Rockingham, a 1.017 mile asphalt oval.
Moffitt is the most accomplished active driver in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East on speedways of .75 miles and larger, with 5 career wins, 5 poles, and an average finish of 6th. During the 2012 racing season, he has led 768 of the 1,859 laps run to date or 41.31% of the total laps run this year, leading laps in 9 of the 13 races this season. Moffitt has recorded 9 wins, 8 poles, 21 podium finishes, and 34 top-10 finishes in his 46 career starts. With his proven ability to adapt to new tracks and changing conditions, Moffitt has a legitimate shot at the title with one race remaining.