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Fourth Time is the Charm for Brett Moffitt and his Joe Gibbs Racing Team 

GRIMES, IOWA (June 8, 2010) – After dominating performances in each of the past four events, Brett Moffitt, Joe Gibbs Racing development driver, finally celebrated in Victory Lane on Sunday in Martinsville, VA.  Moffitt also had dominant cars in the previous three races, leading a race-high 36 laps in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Phoenix, running in second during the East Series race at South Boston, VA., and leading 54 laps in the East-West shoot out at Iowa Speedway, only to be taken out of contention by cars behind him each time.  Luck finally turned his way on Sunday, with some help from Mother Nature during the rain-shortened UNOH Performance 200 at the Martinsville Speedway. 

Moffitt and his JGR team have flexed their muscles from the time they unloaded at recent events, and last weekend was no exception.  During the first practice session, Moffitt’s times kept him in the top ten, and in the second session, he moved up the speed chart to hold the fifth fastest time.  Moffitt held the provisional pole through most of qualifying, until Ryan Gifford took the pole with a lap time of 20.561 seconds and an average speed of 92.097 mph.  Moffitt’s time held for a solid second place in the starting order, with only .009 seconds separating the two drivers on the front row. 

At the drop of the green, Gifford edged Moffitt for the top spot, and Moffitt followed as Gifford maintained the lead.  Lap 31 was scored under the first yellow.  On the restart, Gifford jumped to the lead, and MacDonald slipped past Moffitt on the inside, putting him back to third.  When MacDonald scraped the wall on lap 57, Moffitt took advantage and reclaimed second place.  On lap 63, the yellow flag flew for the second time as MacDonald spun, which was the first lucky break for Moffitt, who found himself in some trouble, too, with a cut right front tire.   The JGR team got Moffitt back out of the pits in 14^th place without losing a lap, after changing right side tires and taking on fuel.   By lap 81, Moffitt had moved up two spots to 12^th, and by the time the caution came out again, he had taken back two more spots, moving up to 10^th.  On a lap 99 restart, Moffitt was back on the move, using the cool and calm demeanor he is known for to march toward the front.  By the time the yellow flag flew again thirteen laps later, Moffitt had worked himself back into the top five and was in the preferred bottom line for the restart.  Only three laps were run before the next caution, but Moffitt was able to move up another spot to restart in fourth.   

Yellow flags were becoming contagious at that point, as caution came out again for debris on lap 131, but in only two laps of green flag racing, Moffitt had advanced to third position.  He restarted inside the second row and set his sights on the leaders.  After yet another caution on lap 149, Moffitt shot into second on the restart.  The leader, Ryan Truex, had a mirror full of the JGR #20 Toyota for the next two laps.  The yellow flag returned again on lap 155, as the 8^th place car of Cole Whitt spun, and by the time caution returned again on lap 161, Moffitt led by a nose at the line. 

On the restart, Moffitt ran through the gears perfectly and stayed in the lead.  The final yellow of the race came on lap 170 for a multi-car pile-up, and on lap 173, while the field was still running under yellow, the rain came.  The teams were told to bring the cars onto pit road and cover them, and the red flag was displayed as rain drenched the Martinsville Speedway.  Thirty minutes later, NASCAR called the race due to the wet track conditions, and Brett Moffitt had won his first race of the 2010 season. 

Commenting after the race, Moffitt said, “We are excited and happy that our luck has finally turned around.  The guys have been working really hard all season, and I have been doing what I need to do behind the wheel, too.  In each of the past three races, we were running either first or second in a dominating car and were taken out by the car behind us.  The bad luck we’ve had makes this win even sweeter, knowing that our hard work has finally paid off.”  Moffitt concluded, “Finally, I have another trophy to go with the fast car, and this trophy is one of the most sought-after prizes in NASCAR racing - a grandfather clock from Martinsville Speedway.  It’s going into my bedroom, right next to last year’s Monster trophy from Dover.” 

Brett Moffitt only led 15 laps, but he led the most important one - the last one.  With this win, Moffitt jumped from 14^th in points up to 6^th and is now only 60 points behind series leader, Ryan Truex. 

Looking ahead, Moffitt and the JGR team will travel to the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH, for the New England 125 on Friday, June 25, 2010.  After Loudon, the next NASCAR K&N Pro Series East event will be on Sunday, July 4^th, at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. 

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.  

For information on sponsorship opportunities with Brett Moffitt Racing, contact Michele Scaglione at:  515.419.8357 or michele@brettmoffitt.com, and Dick Moffitt at:  515.202.2310 or rmoffitt@destinyhomesusa.com.