NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Driver Brett Moffitt Wins at Greenville Pickens Speedway
- 4 Apr 2011
Moffitt won the season opening Kevin Whitaker Chevrolet 150 at Greenville Pickens Speedway in South Carolina on Saturday night. He became the first driver in five years to win the race from pole to finish. "Being able to lead from green to checkered is just awesome," Moffitt said. "To be able to start the season like that is a amazing. Hopefully we never look back." Moffitt won the 2010 season finale at Dover International Speedway in Delaware with Joe Gibbs Racing. He switched teams in the off-season, joining Michael Waltrip Racing for 2011 and taking over the car of Ryan Truex, who won the past two K&N Pro Series East championships. Truex moved up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series, leaving his team in the K&N Pro Series East in need of a driver.
Moffitt wasted no time in producing for his new team. He won the pole and was challenged only once for the lead in the race. Coleman Pressley made a move to the front on lap 136, but a caution flag came out when Derek Ramstrom spun out in turn 1.
"When he got inside of me, that kind of got me nervous," Moffitt said. "Luckily, I just kept hitting my marks and didn't worry about him. Kept doing our thing and ended up on top. It was amazing." On the ensuing restart, Moffitt pulled away and won by a margin of 0.624 seconds over Pressley. "I really pushed hard under restarts," Pressley said. "I think we gave Brett more of a run for his money on the outside than anyone else did. That might have been a little bit of experience too. I probably used up a little bit too much too fast. I should have waited until about three to go, it might have been a different outcome. It's easy to say could have, should have, would have." Rookie Alex Bowman was third, followed by rookie 15-year-old Chase Elliott and Matt DiBenedetto. Elliott is the youngest driver to start a K&N Pro Series East race. He started 26th and made up 22 spots during the race. Darrell Wallace Jr., who won the K&N Pro Series East season opener at Greenville Pickens Speedway last year, finished sixth after starting on the front row with Moffitt. There were 22 rookies in the 32-car field. Five rookies finished in the top 10. The next K&N Pro Series East race is the South Boston 150 at South Boston Speedway in Virginia on April 16. "I thought we put ourselves in a good position," Pressley said. "There at one time I thought we had the lead from Brett. Caution and restarts didn't fall our way. For the first time out with this X Team Racing, we'll take it and go South Boston and go for the win." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
