CONCORD, N.C. (August 6, 2012) – Rookie Brett Moffitt started 10th and kept his No. 99 ToyotaCare Camry inside the top 10 for much of his NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in front of his hometown crowd at Iowa Speedway en-route to recording a ninth-place finish.
Making the second of two trips to the Iowa Speedway during the 2012 season, Moffitt and RAB Racing recorded the 13th and third-fastest times, respectively, in the two scheduled NASCAR Nationwide Series practices leading up to the Saturday night event. After his qualifying attempt on the .686-mile oval, Moffitt posted a speed fast enough to slot into the 10th-place starting position.
The rookie had quite the learning curve to overcome as Saturday’s U.S. Cellular 250 got underway. From the drop of the green flag, Moffitt expressed concerns over his tight-handling racecar. A pit stop on Lap 50 remedied the situation and Moffitt’s growing comfort level was evident as his laps times began to improve.
Though the Iowa-native logged laps at the track during the K&N Pro Series race earlier in the day, Moffitt found out quickly how aero loose the Nationwide Series cars are as he saved his Camry from a near-spin with Michael Annett. But a combination of lightning-fast pit stops and Moffitt’s swift adaptation to the car had him within the top 10 as the laps wound down and he took the checkered flag in the ninth position.
The second consecutive top-10 for RAB Racing allowed team owner Robby Benton to advance two positions, to 19th, in the owner point standings.
“There was so much I learned tonight,” said Moffitt. “Learning pit stops was big and then learning the aero — these cars race so much different than the East (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) car. Learning what gets your aero loose and how to tuck a fender to get downforce on it when you’re racing right behind a car, that was the big lessons and I think I learned a lot tonight. I accomplished what I set out to tonight and it was a great race for RAB Racing and me as well.”
The next stop for the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be Watkins Glen International on Saturday, August 11th, 2012.
