NSCS: Front Row Motorsports Coca-Cola 600 Race Preview

Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C.

“This will be my second time running at Charlotte. And I tested there, so it will actually be my third time on track. It’s definitely going to be a long race. We’re starting a grueling part of the season as it starts getting hot out, so you have to deal with a little more driver fatigue. I just need to do everything I can to be prepared for the long race and the heat of the summer. 

“We will be proud to pay tribute to Sgt. Bouthout on our CSX ‘Play It Safe’ Ford. It’s important to honor all of our fallen military, but it’s even more important and special when it’s from within your own team’s family. Robert is a welder with Front Row and Sgt. Bouthout was his grandfather. We’ll try to make the family proud on Sunday.”

JUST THE FACTS: Sunday night’s Coca-Cola 600 will be Moffitt’s second appearance at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but first in the 600-mile event … CSX returns as primary sponsor of the No. 34 Ford for the Memorial Day weekend race, promoting the “Play It Safe” railroad safety initiative … CSX, which was recently named the sixth-most military friendly employer on G.I. Jobs’ 2015 Top 100 Military Friendly Employers ranking, has also donated 200 tickets to send active military members to the Coke 600 as part of the Let the Troops Race program … Moffitt’s name will be replaced on the windshield decal with the name of Sgt. Renald J. Bouthout as part of NASCAR’s “600 Miles of Remembrance” … Sgt. Bouthout was the grandfather of Front Row Motorsports welder Robert Nicoletos.

“Five hundred miles is already a long time, so I don’t know that 600 is that much of a difference. By the time we get to 300 miles, you are what you are. No matter where you are on the track, you’re fighting for position at that point. And I think the guys at 25^th on back are racing harder than the guys up front.

“It means a lot to be able to have Capt. Bartley’s name on the windshield of our Speed Stick Ford. Kurt Bartley works here at the shop and he and I have become friends, so I’m proud to have that personal connection on our race car. Kurt was in the military himself, and I know this tribute makes him very proud. Capt. Bartley was killed serving his country, and there’s no service or sacrifice greater than that.”

“Six hundred miles doesn’t sound like a whole lot more than 500, but it is. It makes a difference. You know you’ve run 600 miles when you get done. But we’re looking forward to it. The track changes a lot from the start of the race to the end of the race. It’s very important to keep up with the track and keep making the right changes.

“We’re proud to have ‘The Unknown Soldier’ on the windshield of our Love’s Ford. Our hauler driver, ‘Wahoo,’ lost a lot of brothers during his time in the Marines, so this was his idea. This is for those heroes as well as any other fallen hero who doesn’t get to come home or comes home unidentified. We pay tribute to all of them.”