Brett Moffitt

Brett Moffitt

Born (1992-08-07) August 7, 1992
Grimes, Iowa, United States
Awards 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
2007 Harris Clash Sport Modified winner
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
38 races run over 2 years
2015 position 34th
Best finish 34th (2015)
First race 2014 FedEx 400 (Dover)
Last race 2015 Ford EcoBoost 400 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
2012 position 71st
Best finish 71st (2012)
First race 2012 U.S. Cellular 250 (Iowa)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 1 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
2 races run over 1 year
2013 position 43rd
Best finish 43rd (2013)
First race 2013 UNOH 225 (Kentucky)
Last race 2013 Michigan National Guard 200 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of November 22, 2015.

Brett Moffitt (born August 7, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He was a developmental driver for Michael Waltrip Racing until they shut down after 2015. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, driving the No. 34 Ford Fusion for Front Row Motorsports.

Personal life

Moffitt was born August 7, 1992 in Grimes, Iowa.[1]

Career

2008 ASALMS car
Moffitt's 2009 East Series car

Moffitt began his racing career at the age of 10 in kart racing competition.[1] In 2007, Moffitt won the Harris Clash in the IMCA Sport Modified division.[2] Following several years of competition in karts and dirt track racing, Moffitt began competing on asphalt in 2008, driving in the American Speed Association's Late Model North Series.[3] He made his debut in NASCAR touring series competition in 2009, driving in the K&N Pro Series East – then known as the Camping World East Series – for a team owned by Andy Santerre; winning the pole in his first race, at Greenville-Pickens Speedway, he became the youngest driver ever to do so in the series.[4] He went on to score two wins over the course of the season, finishing the year third in series points.[3] His first win, in the fourth race of the season at South Boston Speedway in May, made Moffitt the youngest driver ever to win in the series, and the youngest to win in any NASCAR touring series;[5] the mark stood until the following season, when it was eclipsed by Darrell Wallace, Jr. in March 2010.[6]

For the 2010 season, Moffitt moved to Joe Gibbs Racing; he scored two wins during the year on his way to finishing second in points at the end of the season.[3] In 2011, he drove as a development driver for Michael Waltrip Racing, winning three times over the course of the K&N Pro Series East season and finishing third in the series standings.[3]

For 2012, Moffitt changed teams again, moving to Hattori Racing Enterprises, owned by former IndyCar and Truck Series driver Shigeaki Hattori. He won races at Richmond International Raceway and Central Pennsylvania Speedway,[3] and led the series points after nine events of the fourteen-race season.[7] A lack of sponsorship funding from HRE meant that for the final races of the season, starting at New Hampshire, the team associated with Michael Walrip Racing to field Moffitt's car.[8]

In August 2012, Moffitt made his debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, driving for RAB Racing at Iowa Speedway in the U.S. Cellular 250.[9] He finished ninth in the event.[10]

Moffit also is employed as a test driver for Michael Waltrip Racing.[1] Moffitt made his Sprint Cup Series debut with the MWR-affiliated Identity Ventures Racing in the 2014 FedEx 400.[11] Moffitt ran for IVR again at Michigan, Indianapolis, Bristol, Atlanta, Charlotte, Texas, and the season finale at Homestead.

In 2015 Moffitt drove in the No. 55 at Atlanta because MWR's regular driver Brian Vickers had off-season surgery to repair a patch placed over a hole in his heart. Moffitt played an impressive race, leading 1 lap, spending some time up in the top ten, and ultimately finished 8th for his first ever Sprint Cup top ten. Moffitt returned to the No. 55 at Fontana due to Vickers being sidelined with more blood clots,[12] also declaring for Rookie of the Year at this time. He returned to the 55 at Martinsville and Texas.

Moffitt drove the No. 34 for Front Row Motorsports at Las Vegas and Phoenix because their regular driver David Ragan will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing while JGR driver Kyle Busch is injured.[13] It was announced that Moffitt will again replace Vickers for the next 5 races as he takes blood thinner medication and cannot race while using it. Moffitt was then replaced by Michael Waltrip for the Talladega race. Ragan became the driver of the 55 at the Kansas race, after Erik Jones took over the 18 ride. Later, in the week, Front Row Motorports announced that Moffitt would return to the team at Kansas and become the primary driver of the 34 for the rest of the 2015 season except at Sonoma, Watkins Glen, and Talladega.

Moffitt ended up running 31 races and won the 2015 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year honors over contenders Jeb Burton, Matt DiBenedetto, and Alex Kennedy.

On December 10, 2015, it was learned that Moffitt would not return to the No. 34 Ford Fusion in 2016, being replaced by 2015 NASCAR Xfinity Series Champion Chris Buescher for the 2016 season.

Images

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

Nationwide Series

Camping World Truck Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. 1 2 3 "About Brett". Brett Moffitt official site. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  2. ↑ "Harris Clash Previous Winners". Harris Clash. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Brett Moffitt". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  4. ↑ Gray, Rob (March 27, 2010). "Iowa teenager Brett Moffitt returns to track in South Carolina". The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, IA). Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  5. ↑ Gray, Rob (May 31, 2009). "Moffitt, 16, sets NASCAR youth record in East series win". USA Today. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  6. ↑ "Wallace makes historic debut in NASCAR Pro Series". Fox Sports. March 30, 2010. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  7. ↑ Hamilton, Andy (July 29, 2012). "Brett Moffitt's young racing career picking up traction". The Indianapolis Star. Indianapolis, IN. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  8. ↑ Barrett, Travis (September 21, 2012). "Moffitt Gets A Helping Hand". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 2012-09-24.
  9. ↑ "Moffitt Moves Up At Iowa". SPEED Channel. Fox Sports. July 30, 2012. Retrieved 2012-08-04.
  10. ↑ Williams, Chris (August 6, 2012). "Long-term Sadler fandom finally pays off at U.S. Cellular 250". The Des Moines Register. Des Moines, IA. Retrieved 2012-08-06.
  11. ↑ Estrada, Chris (May 27, 2014). "NASCAR: Brett Moffitt set for Sprint Cup debut this week at Dover". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  12. ↑ "Brian Vickers sidelined with blood clots; Brett Moffitt returns to No. 55". Foxsports.com. March 20, 2015. Retrieved March 20, 2015.
  13. ↑ Albert, Zack (March 4, 2015). "FRONT ROW TAPS BRETT MOFFITT FOR WEST COAST SWING". NASCAR. Retrieved 2015-03-04.

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Kyle Larson		 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year
2015 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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