Irwin Tools Night Race
Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
Brett Moffitt | No. 34 NO ESCAPE Ford
“Bristol’s tough. It’s tough to pass. Everyone thinks because it’s a short track it should be easier. But being right up against the wall, it’s not. The big thing there is going to be qualifying decent and to keep pace at the beginning of the race until the groove does move up to the top, which I’m guessing won’t take long.
“Five hundred laps is a lot of laps. You can go 500 miles at some tracks and it feels like you’re in the car for an hour. Where you can go 500 laps at Bristol and it feels like you’ve been in there all day by the end of the race. There’s no place to rest. You’re just turning the entire time. But it will be fun to do it with No Escape on our Ford Fusion. Fans will get to see it flash by 500 times.”
JUST THE FACTS: Saturday night’s race will be Moffitt’s third Sprint Cup start at Bristol Motor Speedway … His best finish at the .533-mile oval is 17th (April 2015) … The movie No Escape is partnering with Moffitt’s No. 34 team as primary sponsor for the Bristol race … The international thriller starring Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan and Lake Bell opens Aug. 26 in theaters.
Cole Whitt | No. 35 Speed Stick Ford
“I do like the night race a little bit better at Bristol. Plus, going back the second time you have a little bit more confidence after having run it once already earlier in the season. But I do like racing under the lights. It reminds me of old-fashioned, Saturday night short-track racing. It’s just a lot longer. We’re looking forward to running our Speed Stick Ford Saturday night.
“I think Bristol has been mad at me the last couple times we’ve gone there. We haven’t had good luck. But I’ve had a couple good runs going there, too. The biggest thing is that it’s so hard to pass there now that the groove’s moved up to the top lane. Even if you push someone out of your way, they just slide up to the wall and it just checks up the whole lane. And you’ve got to be able to clear them, and then hopefully they’re not made enough to wreck you when you go by.”
JUST THE FACTS: Whitt has three prior Sprint Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway … His best Bristol finish is 27th (April 2015) … Speed Stick returns as primary sponsor of the No. 35 Ford … Fans can meet Whitt on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Dollar General at 179 Edgefield Road in Piney Flats.
David Gilliland | No. 38 CashCash Ford
“The Bristol Night Race is probably my favorite race of the year. It’s different when you race under the lights. I think the energy level is up a little bit and it’s more exciting. It’s a tough racetrack, though. It’s physically demanding and you have to be on it for 500 laps. We were fairly happy with our car in the spring, so we will build on that when we go back with our CashCash Ford and see what we’ve got when they turn the lights on.
“It’s always neat to bring a new sponsor into the sport. We’re glad to have CashCash with us for this weekend. They definitely picked a good one on the schedule, and hopefully we’ll be able to get some race fans to check out CashCash.com as a result.”
JUST THE FACTS: Gilliland has 18 Sprint Cup starts at Bristol Motor Speedway … He has one top-10 finish and three top-20 finishes at the .533-mile oval … His best finish is ninth (2008) … Short-term lender CashCash joins the No. 38 team as primary sponsor for the Irwin Tools Night Race.
About Front Row Motorsports
Front Row Motorsports is a race-winning organization competing in NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series, fielding the No. 34, the No. 35 and the No. 38 Fords. The team is owned by Bob Jenkins and is headquartered just outside of Charlotte, N.C. FRM was named to INC Magazine’s “INC 5000” list in 2012, recognizing the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The team’s partnership base is representative of more than $200 billion of the U.S. economy and includes organizations such as Ford Motor Company, Love’s Travel Stops, Colgate-Palmolive, CSX Transportation, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s. Visit teamfrm.com.
