LONG POND, Pa. — Story by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — Photo courtesy Brett Moffitt Racing —
Brett Moffitt will do something he’s never done before in a race car this weekend — compete at the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway.
Moffitt, 22, will turn his first laps at race speed on Sunday in the Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at the track nicknamed the “Tricky Triangle”.
Now, don’t be fooled — it doesn’t mean the young driver has never laid a tire to the track.
“I have about three laps of experience at Pocono in my life,” Moffitt explained. “Last year I went for a test and was able to hop in the car for one run. So, at least I do have that.”
Okay, maybe that makes the Grimes, Iowa native’s path this weekend with Front Row Motorsports a little bit trickier.
Nonetheless, Moffitt is excited to add a track to the list of venues he has competed at professionally — and says that the few testing laps, along with his teammates’ help, should allow his No. 34 crew to get up to speed fairly quickly over the course of the race weekend.
“[Because of all that], I have at least a little bit of a baseline,” Moffitt added. “Obviously, there’s a different rules package this year, so it will be a little bit different. But I’ve got experience shifting into those corners. It’s a really fast track, and we’re [just] not [really] used to shifting at tracks that fast.”
The Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender’s 2015 season has finally stabilized over at Front Row Motorsports, after Moffitt ran six of the first nine races of the year as a substitute for Brian Vickers at Michael Waltrip Racing. FRM announced Moffitt’s signing as the team’s primary driver in May, after former FRM pilot David Ragan moved over to fill Vickers’ seat full-time at MWR.
Moffitt has a best finish of eighth overall in the 2015 season (with MWR at Atlanta in March) and scored his best result with Front Row over the weekend at Dover, coming home in 28th. Moffitt currently ranks 32nd in Cup driver points, 20 points outside of the top 30.
The rookie says that despite the shuffle of his early season, he is happy with the progress both he and his team have made to date.
“We’re getting better each and every week,” Moffitt says. “The most important thing for me at this point of my career is seat time, going to some of these tracks that are new to me, and [continuing to race] around 42 other drivers in race conditions.”
“The more time I spend in the 34 car and with this team, the more competitive [we’re getting.] And I think that consistency will lead to some good finishes [later in the season.]”
Moffitt’s No. 34 Ford Fusion will be sponsored by Dockside Logistics this weekend at Pocono, the fourth time in 2015 that the sponsor will partner with Moffitt at FRM.
For more information on Front Row Motorsports, visit the team website at www.teamfrm.com.
The Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 takes the green flag on Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern, with live coverage on FOX Sports 1, MRN Radio and Sirius XM channel 90.
