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Moffitt Brings It Home
Iowa native wins K&N Pro Series combination race
By Jason Christley, NASCAR
NEWTON, IOWA (May 21) - Brett Moffitt made sure the home fans went home
happy.
The 18-year-old from nearby Grimes, Iowa, dominated the Pork ‘Be Inspired’
175 presented by Tompkins Industries at Iowa Speedway Saturday night before
an announced crowd of 17,281.
He led a race-high 138 laps and coasted to a NASCAR K&N Pro Series win by
nearly four seconds over defending race winner Max Gresham.
The win comes a year after Moffitt led 54 laps at Iowa but wrecked after
contact while leading in the race's closing laps. It was the second win of
the season and sixth of his career for the Michael Waltrip Racing
development driver.
Eddie MacDonald rounded out the top three. Greg Pursley was fourth overall
and was credited with a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West win as the highest series
finisher. It is Pursley's third win of the season and fifth in the last
seven series races dating back to last year.
David Mayhew finished fifth. Ryan Gifford was sixth, followed by Brett
Thompson, Coleman Pressley, Darrell Wallace Jr. and Dylan Kwasniewski.
The race at Iowa was the fifth annual meeting between the NASCAR K&N Pro
Series East and West at the .875-mile track 30 minutes east of Des Moines,
Iowa. The race has become a showcase for the rising young talent in NASCAR.
Joey Logano won the first race in 2007 as a 16-year-old and Gresham was 17
when he won last year.
Kwasniewski and Chase Elliott, who was 11th, won the Sunoco Rookie of the
Race Award for the West and East, respectively. Both drivers are 15.
Earlier Saturday, 19-year-old Matt DiBenedetto won the pole award and led 24
of the first 25. He had just retaken the lead from Moffitt on Lap 85 when he
cut a tire to bring out the caution. He wound up 20th overall.
With the win, Moffitt unofficially edged ahead of Wallace in the season
standings by one point, 646-645.
The Pork ‘Be Inspired’ 175 will air on SPEED on June 2 at 6 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will race next at Bowman Gray Stadium in
Winston-Salem, N.C., on June 4, while the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West heads
to the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Saturday, June 11.
NKNPS Iowa 5/21/11 Unofficial Results
K&N Pro Series EastK&N Pro Series West
Race: NKNPS East Iowa 5/21/11
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 00 Brett Moffitt AdEasel/MWR Toyota 175 190 10 Running
2 23 18 Max Gresham Live Oak Plantation Toyota 175 170 Running
3 10 7 Eddie MacDonald Grimm Construction Chevrolet 175 165 Running
4 34 26 Greg Pursley Gene Price Motorsports Ford 175 180 Running
5 7 17 David Mayhew MMI Services/Ron's Rear Ends/KHI Chevrolet 175 170
Running
6 6 2 Ryan Gifford Toyota Racing Development Toyota 175 160 Running
7 26 61 Brett Thompson Rich Thompson Trucking Chevrolet 175 165 Running
8 9 14 Coleman Pressley Kingsford Toyota 175 155 Running
9 14 6 Darrell Wallace, Jr. U.S. Army Toyota 175 150 Running
10 13 3 Dylan Kwasniewski * Rockstar/Royal Purple Ford 175 160 Running
11 19 9 Chase Elliott * HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 175 146 Running
12 12 03 Cody Hodgson * Ocala Gran Prix Dodge 175 142 Running
13 11 75 Jason Bowles Fuel Doctor USA Toyota 175 155 Running
14 22 20 Eric Holmes NAPA Toyota 175 150 Running
15 28 06 Luis Martinez, Jr. King Taco/Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil Ford 175 146
Running
16 15 46 Brandon Gdovic * Aquis Comms/Montana Mike's Dodge 175 138 Running
17 3 10 Ryan Blaney * Seal Wrap/Heavy Duty/NOS Toyota 174 134 Running
18 37 98 Chad Boat * Curb Records Chevrolet 174 135 5 Running
19 18 51 Brandon Haley * Carter's Royal Ford 174 127 Running
20 1 15 Matt DiBenedetto Gear Wrench Toyota 173 129 5 Running
21 36 37 D.J. Shaw Precision JLM/Spraker Racing Chevrolet 173 121 Running
22 21 96 Ben Kennedy * Ben Kennedy Racing Chevrolet 173 118 Running
23 33 62 Andrew Smith * SavannahPawn.com Chevrolet 173 115 Running
24 38 21 Michael Self Shining Monkey/Bay Bio Diesel Chevrolet 173 142
Running
25 31 12 Daniel Suarez * Telmex/TWR/Ed Hardy Dodge 173 112 Running
26 8 66 Benny Gordon Varischetti & Sons Chevrolet 172 114 5 Running
27 17 76 Alex Bowman * X Team Racing Toyota 172 106 Running
28 5 07 Corey LaJoie * Dewey Automotive Gp/Sims Metal Dodge 172 103 Running
29 16 4 Sergio Pena Freightliner Toyota 172 100 Running
30 20 19 Rod Johnson, Jr. * Sunrise Ford/Lucas Oil/Eibach Ford 172 138
Running
31 32 42 Taylor Cuzick * Freightliner of Arizona Chevrolet 171 134 Running
32 4 39 Brennan Newberry * Drager/NTS Motorsports Chevrolet 171 130 Running
33 25 99 Travis Pastrana * Boost Mobile/PWR Toyota 171 97 Running
34 30 54 Julian Albarracin * AAIC/TWR Chevrolet 170 94 Running
35 39 71 Daryl Harr WestWorld Computers Chevrolet 170 127 Running
36 35 16 Moses Smith HASA Pool Products/NAPA Filters Toyota 165 124 Running
37 27 22 Jonathon Gomez Century Boatland Chevrolet 145 121 Accident
38 29 52 Drew Brannon * Brannon Specialties Chevrolet 109 91 Running
39 40 64 Rick Gdovic * Aquis Comms/Montana Mike's Dodge 37 88 Accident
40 24 8 Michael Cherry * Fueling Dreams Tour Toyota 34 85 Accident
RACE STATISTICS
Estimated Attendance: 17,281
Fastest Qualifier: Matt DiBenedetto, Time: 23.797 Seconds, Speed: 132.370
mph
Failed to Qualify: (18) Joey Gase * (#97), Dale Quarterley (#32), Ryan
Philpott * (#38), Tanner Whitten * (#85), John Salemi (#63), Spencer
Gallagher * (#23), Justin Funkhouser * (#55), Michelle Theriault (#45), Ryan
Lynch * (#08), Thomas Martin * (#5), Billy Kann (#13), Isaac Sherman *
(#01), Carl Harr (#2), Joe Miller * (#44), Greg Rayl (#0), Jack Sellers
(#1), Travis Milburn (#88), Cale Conley * (#27).
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 49 mins, 8 secs Average Speed: 84.186 mph Margin of
Victory: 3.753 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 5-8 (Car #64 spin Turn 2); 13-17 (Car #54 accident Turn
3 [64]); 29-32 (Car #64 accident Turn 4 [54]); 36-42 (Car #8 accident Turn
3 [37]); 44-48 (Debris Turn 1 [54]); 89-99 (Car #15 stopped Turn 3); 148-154
(Car #22 accident Turn 2 [46]). 7 for 43 laps.
Lap Leaders: Matt DiBenedetto 1-18, Brett Moffitt 19, Matt DiBenedetto
20-22, Brett Moffitt 23-84, Matt DiBenedetto 85-87, Brett Moffitt 88-92,
Chad Boat * 93-96, Benny Gordon 97-105, Brett Moffitt 106-175.
Total Laps Led: Brett Moffitt 138, Matt DiBenedetto 24, Benny Gordon 9, Chad
Boat * 4. 8 changes involving 4 drivers.
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