Moffitt Dominates In Pennsylvania
CLEARFIELD, Pa. (July 14, 2012) – Brett Moffitt held off rookie Kyle Larson in a green-white-checker finish after a late caution set up a sprint to the finish Saturday night in the Samuel 150 in the first NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race at CNB Bank Raceway Park since 1988.
Moffitt, who picked up his second win of the season and ninth overall, started from the pole and led all 153 laps of the race in the No. 11 Don Valley North Toyota Dealership Toyota. It was the second career wire-to-wire win for from Grimes, Iowa, native. The previous came in the 2011 season opener at Greenville (S.C.) Pickens Speedway.
“It was a very good night, definitely. Not only did we get a good points night, but we got the win and also got the pole. The only thing that could be better is if this thing was stuffed with $100 bills,” Moffitt said of the Samuel 150 trophy that was a cash register.
Larson, who earned his first win last month, picked up his seventh top-10 finish in eight career starts. After a wall scrape at the beginning of the race, Larson said the adjustments his No. 6 Rev Racing team made during the midway break helped him contend toward the finish.
“As soon as we took the green for the second half, I knew we were pretty good,” Larson said. “I could roll the bottom better than most could, and I could just beat them off the corners and into the next, so it was definitely a good run.”
| POS | DRIVER |
|---|---|
| 1 | Brett Moffitt |
| 2 | Kyle Larson |
| 3 | Ben Kennedy |
| 4 | Ryan Gifford |
| 5 | Bryan Ortiz |
Kennedy, fresh off of his Euro Racecar NASCAR win in Tours, France last Saturday, finished third despite suffering damage to the right front of his car early in the race when he tangled with Darrell Wallace Jr. The third-place run tied his previous career-best.
“I think we definitely had a race-winner there, unfortunately the right front tire was a bit done there at the end,” Kennedy said of his No. 96 G-Oil Chevrolet.
Ryan Gifford and Bryan Ortiz completed the top five. The rest of the top-10 finishers were Eddie MacDonald, Brandon Gdovic, Harrison Rhodes, Benny Gordon and Tim Bainey Jr.
The night was a tough one for the championship leaders coming into the race as points leader Chase Elliott suffered a flat tire during green flag racing forcing him to pit and Corey LaJoie, who entered second in the standings before the race, was forced to call it a night on Lap 82 after suffering accident damage early in the race.
Moffitt’s win, combined with the misfortune of Elliott and LaJoie, pushed Moffitt to the lead in the season standings for the first time this year. With six events remaining on the 2012 schedule, Moffitt now leads Larson 310-306 while Elliott dropped to third at 301 and LaJoie to fourth at 292.
The race was slowed eight times by caution with the final given to the field when the backstretch lights went out on Lap 147 to set up the dash to the finish following a 15-minute delay.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will return to action on July 21 at Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway with the Jegs 150.
