Front Row taps Brett Moffitt for West Coast swing

Moffitt turned in his best career finish — an impressive eighth place — last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway in just his eighth start in NASCAR’s top division. His attention-getting drive came in a substitute role for Brian Vickers, who plans to return to the Michael Waltrip Racing No. 55 Toyota in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FOX) at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Moffitt, who clearly benefited from his recent spike in recognition, will drive the No. 34 this weekend at Las Vegas, March 15 at Phoenix International Raceway and March 22 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California — the trio of races that make up the new West Coast Swing on the realigned 2015 Sprint Cup schedule.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to run some races for Front Row,” Moffitt said in a release provided by the Front Row team. “After last weekend, I’m obviously eager to get back into a car and keep racing. I’m grateful to (Front Row car owner) Bob Jenkins and his team for giving me the chance to do that. I’ll do my best to get some good finishes for them. I’m also thankful that Michael Waltrip Racing is allowing me to pursue this opportunity. I think it’s going to benefit everyone in the end.”

Front Row Motorsports team used veteran Joe Nemechek as a fill-in driver last weekend at Atlanta. Nemechek, who finished 33rd, filled the vacancy created when regular driver David Ragan opted to substitute in the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 Toyota for the injured Kyle Busch, who suffered multiple lower-leg fractures last month in the NASCAR XFINITY Series opener at Daytona International Speedway.

Busch’s injuries and indefinite time away from the cockpit touched off a carousel of interim driver moves, a merry-go-round that’s now revolved to Moffitt. The 22-year-old Iowa native remains under contract to the Waltrip team as a development driver, but the bulk of his Sprint Cup experience thus far has been during test sessions — before NASCAR’s ban on open testing was enacted in 2015.

With a three-race arrangement in place, both sides stand to boost their stock.

“As we anticipated, there has been heightened interest for Brett Moffitt‘s services after his solid performance last weekend in Atlanta,” said Rob Kauffman, co-owner at Michael Waltrip Racing. “While he is committed to MWR, we are happy for him to gain further valuable experience and help Bob Jenkins, Jerry Freeze and the team at Front Row Motorsports over the next few races. Bob and Front Row were very gracious with our Toyota teammates at Joe Gibbs Racing after Kyle Busch‘s unfortunate injuries by allowing David Ragan to vacate the No. 34 to drive the No. 18. We will continue to work on future opportunities for Brett.”

Ragan, who drove the No. 34 car in the season-opening Daytona 500, is expected to return to Front Row Motorsports after a span of several races with JGR as Busch’s stand-in. Though the No. 34 group will field its third driver in three Sprint Cup events this season, Jenkins said he was enticed about Moffitt’s potential with the Statesville, North Carolina organization.

“We know Brett doesn’t have a ton of Sprint Cup experience, but he’s got a lot of hours behind the wheel in testing time, and he was certainly impressive Sunday in Atlanta,” Jenkins said. “For only his eighth start, he showed a lot of poise, patience and maturity that you don’t often see in drivers that age.”

Moffitt drove seven races last year for Jay Robinson Racing, then a Michael Waltrip Racing affiliate. He is a nine-time winner in NASCAR K&N Pro Series East competition, finishing either second or third in the final standings in all five seasons in the developmental tour.

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