Thad Moffitt

Driver of the CleanPacs No. 46 Ford Fusion

Nearing the end of an impressive first season of full-time ARCA competition, Thad Moffitt clearly shares the same competitive genes that made his grandfather the NASCAR Cup Series’ all-time wins leader and his late great-grandfather, Lee Petty, likewise one of the sport’s all-time best drivers. Twelve races into his first full ARCA campaign, Moffitt ranked fifth in the standings on the strength of seven top-10 finishes, highlighted by pair of top-five results that included a fifth-place finish at Daytona International Speedway - a track synonymous with Petty family greatness.

Yet, like any racer from the Petty family lineage would be, Moffitt is hungry for more. “We’ve had some good runs, some really good runs,” said Moffitt, who is competing as a Richard Petty Motorsports development driver under the umbrella of DGR-Crosley – a race team owned by NASCAR veteran David Gilliland and Crosley Brands CEO Bo LeMastus. “We’ve also had a lot of bad luck. So, I’ve been a little bit disappointed so far – not in our performance overall, just things always seem to happen when they shouldn’t happen.”

A few setbacks won’t dampen Moffitt’s enthusiasm for carrying Racing’s Royal Family Richard Petty’s Grandson Making His Mark on the Petty family legacy or trying to carve his own unique path, which he expects to include more time in ARCA and up to seven NASCAR Xfinity Series races next season. “Everywhere I go, I’m introduced as ‘Richard Petty’s grandson,’” Moffitt said. “I still like to carry the Petty blue colors and the swooshes and the orange and blue on my driver’s suit, shoes, helmet and every- thing so people can kind of put two and two together. But at the same time, I like for them to know me as a person and my identity in racing. So, hopefully, I end up being successful enough that they’ll start remembering me as Thad Moffitt.”

Written by Jared Turner