Successful NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Debut for Moffitt
Grimes, IA – Brett Moffitt made his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) on Thursday, June 27th, in the No. 13 ThorSport Racing AISIN Toyota Tundra. He brought home a very respectable 14th place finish in the UNOH 225 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY, on the notoriously bumpy but fast 1.5 mile asphalt circuit.
ThorSport Racing fields a team of three trucks in the NCWTS, with the No. 13 being under the leadership of Crew Chief Jeriod Prince. The truck was driven by Todd Bodine in the first seven races of the season, and Bodine had it sitting in 17th in the owners’ points standings, which gave Moffitt a guaranteed spot on the starting grid.
Although Moffitt has done considerable testing of Sprint Cup cars, he does not have comparable seat time in the trucks, and he was not familiar with the 1.5 mile track, so there was a steep learning curve going into this first event.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity I’ve been given by ThorSport Racing and Hattori Racing Enterprises (HRE) to drive the No. 13 AISIN Toyota Tundra this week at Kentucky Speedway,” Moffitt commented. “A mile-and-a-half track will be a new experience for me, but I can’t wait to get behind the wheel and start learning.”
Moffitt was clocked 18th during the first practice session, with a fast lap of 170.62 mph (31.64 seconds). He communicated to the team that the truck was too tight to be comfortable, and the crew attempted to adjust it before the second practice. Although he picked up the pace to 172.12 mph (31.37 seconds) during the second session, he was shown in 20th place, just over ½ second per lap off the fast time.
Qualifying was the low point of Moffitt’s debut. Normally considered to be a strong qualifier, Moffitt took to the track, attempting to secure a good starting position for the No. 13 AISIN Toyota, but the truck was what he described as “tight, tight, tight!” Moffitt hit a bump on his first qualifying lap, the truck spun going into turn two, and the back and driver’s side slammed into the wall, causing heavy damage. A dejected Moffitt limped the truck back to the pits, where the team immediately went to work preparing a backup. Moffitt expressed his gratitude to the team for their extraordinary effort on his Twitter account, where he commented that the entire ThorSport Racing team worked to get the backup truck ready in time to go through tech.
Moffitt started in 34th position in a field of 36 trucks, but he steadily moved up, thanks to the impressive work done by the team in preparing the backup truck. By lap 7, he was scored in 24th position, and by lap 13, he was riding behind his teammate, Johnny Sauter, in the 23rd position. Moffitt’s first pit stop included fuel and a track bar adjustment, after the team received feedback from the driver that the truck was very loose getting into the corners. The team’s great work picked up several positions on the pit stop, sending Moffitt back out in 20th position for the restart. By lap 55, the rookie was being scored in the 17th position, and he commented to the team that he was learning that, “Momentum is everything here.” Only 15 trucks eventually finished on the lead lap of this 150 lap, 225 mile race. Moffitt finished on the lead lap in the 14th position, behind his teammates, Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton, who finished 12th and 10th respectively.
“We would like to have finished higher than 14th, but I definitely learned a lot tonight.” commented Moffitt. “These trucks are really aero-dependent, so it is a steep learning curve when you come to a big mile-and-a-half track, because it is all about the air. I definitely learned what not to do in qualifying – I got that down, and hopefully it never happens again. Overall, it was a very good experience. We wish we could have ended up better than we were, but all we could do was unload the backup truck and get it as close as we could before the race. My hat is off to the guys. All three of the ThorSport teams came over to help us get it together, so I want to say thanks to all of them for making tonight possible.”
Moffitt’s next scheduled NCWTS race is the Michigan National Guard 200 at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday, August 17th, when Moffitt will drive for HRE. “I am really looking forward to getting back in the seat at Michigan!” exclaimed Moffitt. “We will be able to use everything we learned at Kentucky when we get to MIS.”