TOYOTA NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS)
Brett Moffitt and Darrell Wallace Jr. — Notes & Quotes
Iowa Speedway – August 3, 2012
BRETT MOFFITT, No. 99 RAB Racing Toyota Camry, RAB Racing with Brack Maggard Are you excited to make your Nationwide Series debut? “Coming in here with the points lead (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) is great. We’ve been running really strong lately. Had a great race at Columbus (Motor Speedway) with Darrell (Wallace Jr.) a couple of weeks ago and that was a lot of fun. Hopefully we can keep running like we have been. That’s what it’s going to take to hold onto this championship and just hope nothing bad happens. I get to do double duty this weekend, so I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be my first Nationwide start and hopefully we can just run good in that as well.”
What does it mean to make your debut in your home state? “This is huge. I love racing here in the East Series just because the fan base is amazing here. They’re so energetic, so I can only imagine it’s going to be twice or three times as much on Saturday night. The fans here are just crazy. It’s so much fun getting to race in front of my friends and family and it’s just a huge step up in my career and I’m glad I could do it here.”
What are your goals for your debut? “Basically what Darrell (Wallace Jr.) said — it’s all about getting top-10s and top-fives and it’d be great to go out there in my first Nationwide race and get a top-five and that’d be the goal.”
Do you have any extra jitters racing in front of your friends and family? “There definitely is, but it’s definitely not put on by them. Everyone is so supportive of my career around here that it’s amazing. That gives me more confidence, but I want to win here so bad. Looking at this picture in the back of the room reminds me of a couple of years ago when we won, so I just want to get back to there and it’s great being able to win in front of my friends and family.”
Does Rusty Wallace’s statement that you can win this race add pressure? “I wouldn’t say that changes the pressure at all. I want to come out here and win a race. That’s what we’re all three (Ryan Blaney and Darrell Wallace Jr.) out here to do is win. RAB Racing has been putting together really good race cars recently and we’re running the car that Kenny (Wallace) recently got fourth at Chicago with, so it’s a great car. Hopefully we can come out here and contend for a win.”
Will running the K&N Series race aid your Nationwide Series debut? “Really more than anything, it’s just knowing the track. It’s great being able to run tonight because we’re going to run tomorrow night at the exact same time basically, so you’re going to know how the track is going to change as we progress through the race and hopefully that will be enough to carry me over. There’s obviously going to be some things I need to learn during the Nationwide race like live pit stops, different tire, but hopefully what we’ll learn tonight will carry over to make adjustments for the car for tomorrow.”
DARRELL WALLACE JR., No. 20 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing What did you learn in Nationwide Series debut at Iowa in May? “The top-10 felt like a top-20 for me. I wasn’t too happy with it, but it was a good run for the team and myself. We’ll take it and move on. I was comparing myself to (Ryan) Blaney over here and his debut at Richmond and I come up short, so that’s the main reason I was really upset, but we come back with a brand new car. Adam (Stevens, crew chief) and the guys worked their tail off to get ready and it’s rolling through tech now, so I’ve been over there hanging out with them. Like Ryan said with his crew chief, we get along just great. The relationship factor there is pretty high, so that’s really important going into this weekend. So, really looking forward to it. Practice is after the East (NASCAR K&N Pro Series East) qualifying and I’m looking forward to getting back in that thing.”
What are you expectation for the race? “Well, for me it’s definitely better than ninth. Like I said, we’ve got a brand new car, a new sponsor — well, not a new sponsor, but a new sponsor for me — Z-Line Designs. Big thanks to those guys for jumping on board for this week’s race. But, I’m definitely shooting better than ninth and better than these two (Ryan Blaney and Brett Moffitt) – that’s the biggest thing here. I think I shot for beating Blaney’s debut at Richmond and come up a little short – it’s still a good run. I love running here, so we’re going to take what we learned from the last race and hopefully come out with a top-five.”
