CORNELIUS, N.C. — No. 55 Aaron’s Dream Machine driver Brett Moffitt races in the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond International Raceway Saturday night. The .75-mile, D-shaped oval is one of Moffitt’s favorite tracks and the site of his 2012 K&N East Series victory.
The 22-year-old has never raced a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series car at the Virginia track, but Moffitt hopes his past success, that also includes three top-10 finishes in K&N races, will lead to a fifth consecutive rookie of the race award.
Moffitt, who is substituting for Brian Vickers as he recovers from blood clots, finished 17th Sunday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. It marked the Iowa native’s second best career performance only bettered by an eighth-place finish at Atlanta in March.
MOFFITT ON RICHMOND: “Our short track program at MWR has been really strong and I hope we show that again Saturday night. Atlanta showed the garage we have the potential to get it done. Richmond has just about everything I like in a race track. It’s fast, but not so fast you can’t lean on each other. It’s still a short track so you really have to think about setting up the cars in front of you to make the pass and you have to think about managing your tires and brakes throughout the race. As a fan, I don’t know if there is a better track to visit. Everything about Richmond is cool.”
SURVIVAL AT SHORT TRACKS: “Going into Bristol we knew we had a fast car and we wanted to make sure we were there at the end. For me, that’s something I always have to work on in these long races. It was mayhem at the end of the race Sunday night and we were fortunate to miss a lot of wrecks. My spotter did a really good job helping me through the carnage. In short track racing like we’ll see this weekend at Richmond, avoiding trouble can be really tough though especially in those final laps.”
NOTES:
· CHASSIS: Primary: 803 – Brian Vickers finished 41st at Phoenix in 2015. In 2014, Vickers finished fourth at Texas in April, eighth in All-Star Race, 19th at Indy and 24th at Chicago. Backup: 813 – Clint Bowyer drove chassis to 17th at Charlotte in May,10th and sixth at Michigan and ninth at Dover in September
· MOFFITT AT RICHMOND: He’s finished first, second and sixth in three K&N Pro Series East races at Richmond.
· ROOKIE AWARD: Moffitt has earned NASCAR’s rookie of the race award for four consecutive races.
· 2015: Michael Waltrip finished 26th at Daytona and Brett Moffitt finished eighth at Atlanta. Brian Vickers finished 15th and 41st at Las Vegas and Phoenix before Moffitt returned to the seat and finished 22nd at Fontana, 28th at Martinsville, 29th at Texas and 17th at Bristol.
· K&N CAREER: Moffitt is a nine-time winner in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition and currently serves as a test driver for Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and Michael Waltrip Racing. In 63 career NASCAR K&N Pro Series races, Moffitt has earned 10 poles, 34 top-five finishes and 45 top-10 finishes.
· CAREER: In his 2012 NASCAR XFINITY Series debut at Iowa Speedway, Moffitt finished ninth. The following year, he also made his first start in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition, where he finished 14th at Kentucky Speedway and 17th at Michigan International Speedway.
Additional Moffitt stats:
XFINITY Series: 1 start, 1 top-10
Camping World Truck Series: 2 starts
K&N Pro Series: 63 starts, 9 wins, 34 top-5s, 45 top-10s, 10 poles
· AARON’S: The Atlanta-based company, with more than 2,100 stores across the country, helps customers own the life they want. Aaron’s carries only the best brand names in furniture, electronics, and appliances with a variety of flexible payment options. It’s really easy to “Own It” at Aaron’s with customers who are now pre-approved for up to $2,500 in merchandise – no credit needed.
· CREW CHIEF BILLY SCOTT: Scott began racing motorcycles as a 5-year-old and stock cars when he turned 15. He worked in the truck series as a mechanic before he returned to college to obtain an engineering degree. After graduating in 2005 Scott worked at Robert Yates Racing and began as an engineer at MWR in 2008. The 36-year-old served exclusively as the No. 55 team’s lead engineer before taking over crew chief duties in 2014.
· 55 CREW:
Billy Scott
Crew Chief
Ryan Langley
Front Tire Changer
Chris Hall
Front Tire Carrier
Shannon Myers
Rear Tire Changer
Blake Haugland
Rear Tire Carrier
Wes Evans
Jack Man
Jeff Kerr
Gas Man
Steve Channing
Car Chief
David Cropps
Interior Mechanic
Roman Pemberton
Spotter
Brandon Pope
Race Engineer
Joe Bisson
2nd Engineer
Jeremy Sharpley
Shock Specialist
Kevin White
Front Mechanic
Joe Zanolini
Rear Mechanic
Scott Swift
Tire Specialist
Kirk Butterfield
TRD
Tim Bruce
TRD
Stump Lewis
Truck Driver
Al Nelson
2nd Truck Driver
· FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:
@brett_moffitt
@brianlvickers
@mw55
@mwrteam
@aaronssports
@aaronsinc
@toyotaracing
· TELEVISION:
Friday, April 24
11 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice, FOX Sports 1
1 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series final practice, FOX Sports 1
3:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
5:30 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light Pole Qualifying, FOX Sports 1
7 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: XFINITY, FOX Sports 1
7:30 p.m., NASCAR XFINITY Series: ToyotaCare 250, FOX Sports 1
Saturday, April 25
5 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: FOX Sports 2
7 p.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Toyota Owners 400, FOX
11 p.m., NASCAR Victory Lane, FOX Sports 1
